Emperor's New Clothes (song)

For the Sinéad O'Connor song, see The Emperor's New Clothes (song).

For the musical containing the Sharf and Loesser song The King's New Clothes, see Hans Christian Andersen (film).

"Emperor’s New Clothes" is a song by American solo project Panic! at the Disco released as the third single from the project's fifth studio album, Death of a Bachelor, on October 21, 2015 through Fueled by Ramen and DCD2.

"Emperor's New Clothes"
Single by Panic! at the Disco
from the album Death of a Bachelor
Released	October 21, 2015
Recorded	2015
Genre	Dance-rock[1]
Length	2:38
Label	DCD2
Songwriter(s)	Brendon Urie Jake Sinclair Lauren Pritchard Sam Hollander Dan Wilson
Producer(s)	Jake Sinclair
Panic! at the Disco singles chronology
"Victorious" (2015) "Emperor's New Clothes" (2015) "Death of a Bachelor" (2016)

The song was written by Brendon Urie, Jake Sinclair, Lauren Pritchard, Sam Hollander and Dan Wilson. It was produced by Jake Sinclair. The music video for the song was uploaded to YouTube the day of its release,^[2] and serves as a sequel to the music video of "This Is Gospel". "Emperor's New Clothes" was nominated for Best Track at the 2016 Kerrang! Awards.^[3]

Music video

The music video for the song "Emperor's New Clothes" was uploaded to Fueled by Ramen's official YouTube page on October 21, 2015.^[4] The video was directed by Daniel "Cloud" Campos, who produced and directed Panic! at the Disco's music video for "This is Gospel", from the album Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die! (2013). The music video takes place following the events that happened in the video for "This is Gospel" and sees Urie's transition at the moment when his body dies and his soul heads off into a white light. "Emperor's New Clothes" takes over as Brendon is in Heaven searching through the white light and fog, only to fall through a trap door down into Hell. He becomes the new devil from materials (dust) around him; turning his skin grey, and at the end is smiling evilly while the red light surrounds him as screams of the damned and loud thumping is heard from off screen.

"Emperor's New Clothes" was named Video of the Year on Rock Sound's annual reader's poll in 2015.^[5] "Emperor's New Clothes" was nominated for Best Music Video at the 2016 Alternative Press Music Awards.^[6] The music video has over 300 million views as of June 2023, making it the most watched video of Death of a Bachelor.^[4]

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2015–2016) Peak position Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[7] 89 Scotland (OCC)[8] 49 UK Singles (OCC)[9] 88 US Billboard Hot 100[10] 68 US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[11] 5

Year-end charts Chart (2015) Position US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard)[12] 81 Chart (2016) Position US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard)[13] 25

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[14]	Gold	40,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[15]	Gold	400,000‡
United States (RIAA)[16]	2× Platinum	2,000,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Emmy Mack (October 22, 2015). "Panic! At The Disco Announce New Album, Drop Freaky-Ass Video For "Emperor's New Clothes". Retrieved October 10, 2017. The music video for the huge, schizophrenic dance-rock stormer…
2. "Panic! At The Disco's New Music Video Is The Creepiest Thing You'll See All Week". Buzzfeed.com. 2015-07-24. Retrieved 2016-01-04.
3. "Kerrang! Awards nominations list in full". The Bolton News. May 4, 2016. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
4. "Panic! At The Disco: Emperor's New Clothes [OFFICIAL VIDEO]". YouTube. 2015-10-21. Retrieved 2020-01-17.
5. "Rock Sound Readers' Poll 2015: The Full Results - News - Rock Sound Magazine". Rocksound.tv. Archived from the original on 2016-01-04. Retrieved 2016-01-04.
6. Whitt, Cassie (March 18, 2016). "Here are the nominees for the 2016 AP Music Awards!". Alternative Press. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
7. "Panic at the Disco 2 Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
8. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
9. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
10. "Panic at the Disco 2 Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
11. "Panic at the Disco 2 Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
12. "Hot Rock Songs – Year-End 2015". Billboard. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
13. "Hot Rock Songs – Year-End 2016". Billboard. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
14. "Canadian single certifications – Panic! At the Disco – Emperor's New Clothes". Music Canada.
15. "British single certifications – Panic at the Disco – Emperor's New Clothes". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
16. "American single certifications – Panic! At the Disco – Emperor's New Clothes". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved June 6, 2023.