Beautiful Now

{{For|the comedy-drama film|A Beautiful Now{{!}}A Beautiful Now}}

{{Infobox song

|name = Beautiful Now

|cover = Zedd - Beautiful Now.jpg

|alt =

|type = single

|artist = Zedd featuring Jon Bellion

|album = True Colors

|released = {{Start date|2015|05|13|df=y}}

|recorded = 2014

|studio =

|genre = Progressive house

|length =

{{duration|m=3|s=38}} {{small|(album version)}}
{{duration|m=5|s=15}} {{small|(extended mix)}}

|label = Interscope

|writer =

|producer =

|chronology = Zedd

|prev_title = I Want You to Know

|prev_year = 2015

|next_title = Papercut

|next_year = 2015

|misc = {{Extra chronology

|artist = Jon Bellion

|type = single

|prev_title = Woke the Fuck Up

|prev_year = 2015

|title = Beautiful Now

|year = 2015

|next_title = All Time Low

|next_year = 2016

}}

{{External music video|{{YouTube|n1a7o44WxNo|"Beautiful Now"}}}}

}}

"Beautiful Now" is a song by Russian-born German musician Zedd from his second studio album, True Colors (2015), featuring vocals from American singer-songwriter Jon Bellion. It was written by Zedd, Bellion, Antonina Armato, David Jost, Tim James and Desmond Child. The song was released on 13 May 2015 as the album's second single. The song was commercially successful and has been featured on a number of worldwide music charts.

Background

On 8 May 2015, as part of his True Colors promotional campaign, Zedd premiered "Beautiful Now" at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, Illinois. Five days later, he announced that he would release the song onto iTunes at 9:00 PM PST.{{cite web|url=https://www.twitter.com/Zedd/status/598609527915741184|title=Zedd confirms on twitter album's next single|publisher=Twitter|access-date=14 May 2015}} A few hours prior to its release, he tweeted the lyrics from the song's beat break: "BAH BAH BAH BABABAH BAH BAH BABABAH BAH BAH BAH BABABAH BABABABA".{{cite web|url=https://www.twitter.com/Zedd/status/598695658971762689|title=Zedd post on twitter the song's chorus|publisher=Twitter|access-date=14 May 2015}} The official audio for the song was uploaded to Zedd's YouTube channel at that same time.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sl2HeP8RlfU|title=Zedd - Beautiful Now ft. Jon Bellion (Official Audio)|publisher=YouTube|date=14 May 2015}}

Composition

"Beautiful Now" is a progressive house song with influences of dance-pop written in the key of D major. It runs at 128 BPM.{{cite web|url=http://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtd.asp?ppn=MN0152446|title=Zedd "Beautiful Now" Sheet Music|date=7 July 2015|publisher=musicnotes.com|access-date=6 December 2019}}

Music video

The music video for "Beautiful Now", directed by Jonathan Desbiens, was released on 11 June 2015.

=Synopsis=

The video intertwines five different stories together. The first is of a woman who supposedly drowned her female lover in a pool; the second involves an elderly Central American man who is journeying on an unsuccessful mountain climbing attempt; the third involves the son of a man whose home is invaded by armed robbers; the fourth involves Zedd portraying a liquor store robber who becomes hostile with the management by threatening him with a knife; and the fifth depicts a distraught girl laying down on a railroad.

As the song progresses, the video intercuts to scenes of family happiness, good times with friends, dancing and rejoicing before concluding the five stories. The first woman's lover is pulled from the water before drowning, and the ex realizes the gravity of the situation; the old man attempts to climb the mountain and falls, but survives, without reaching the summit; the armed robbery victim's son confronts the hostiles at gunpoint and subdues them; Zedd's character reflects over what sunk him to his current point in life and seems to change his ways; the suicidal girl is missed by the train and reflects on her life and why she chose such an extreme act. All five people in the stories see themselves in a reflection in various surfaces as their stories are closed and they all resolve to be better people.{{cite web|url=http://jeffgluck.com/zedd-beautiful-now-video-meaning/|title=What does Zedd's "Beautiful Now" music video mean?|date=11 June 2015|publisher=JeffGluck.com|access-date=11 June 2015}}

=Reception=

As of 22 May 2025, the video has over 242 million views and over 2.1 million likes on Zedd's YouTube channel.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1a7o44WxNo|title=Zedd - Beautiful Now ft. Jon Bellion|date=11 June 2015|publisher=YouTube|access-date=22 May 2025}}

Track listing

CD single and digital download{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Now-feat-Jon-Bellion/dp/B00X6AFW18|title=Beautiful Now [feat. Jon Bellion]|website=Amazon|access-date=13 May 2015}}

"Beautiful Now" {{small|(featuring Jon Bellion)}} – 3:38

Digital download (Remixes EP){{cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/us/search?term=%22Beautiful%20Now%20(Remixes)%20%5Bfeat.%20Jon%20Bellion%5D%20-%20EP%20by%20Zedd%22|title=Beautiful Now (Remixes) [feat. Jon Bellion] - EP by Zedd|publisher=iTunes|access-date=27 September 2021}}

"Beautiful Now" {{small|(Zonderling Remix)}} – 3:55
"Beautiful Now" {{small|(KDrew Remix)}} – 4:00
"Beautiful Now" {{small|(Dirty South Remix)}} – 3:19
"Beautiful Now" {{small|(Charlie Darker Remix)}} – 4:15

Digital download (Dirty South Remix) (iTunes){{cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/nz/album/beautiful-now-feat-jon-bellion/1003281620|title=Beautiful Now (feat. Jon Bellion) [Dirty South Remix] - Single by Zedd|publisher=iTunes|access-date=16 June 2015}}

"Beautiful Now" {{small|(featuring Jon Bellion) [Dirty South Remix]}} – 3:18

Digital download (Dirty South Remix) (Spotify){{cite web|url=https://open.spotify.com/album/4QkCDr55zKXHKWu2opxJ4U|title=Beautiful Now (Rock Mafia Remix)|work=Spotify}}

"Beautiful Now" {{small|(featuring Jon Bellion) [Dirty South Remix]}} – 2:53

Grey remix

On 29 July 2015, Los Angeles-based duo Grey released their remix of "Beautiful Now" on SoundCloud as a free download. The remix is known for its significant deviation in sound from the original, using a vocoder to give Bellion's vocals a different melody and robotic distortion, and accompanying them with a darker and melodically distinct background inspired by Egyptian music. The remix quickly began receiving coverage across electronic music websites and communities, and was acclaimed for its uniqueness and originality. It also became notable for only being Grey's first release despite its professionality, leading to speculation that the alias belonged to an experienced group of producers now going anonymous.{{cite web|url=http://www.youredm.com/2015/08/22/zedd-uploads-gorgeously-dark-beautiful-now-remix-from-mysterious-new-artist/|title=Zedd Uploads Gorgeously Dark "Beautiful Now" Remix From Mysterious New Artist - Your EDM|author=Lucas|work=Your EDM|date=22 August 2015}} The alias belongs to brothers Kyle and Michael Trewartha, the former of whom previously operated under the alias Singularity.

Eventually, the remix came to the attention of Zedd, who liked and reposted the remix to his official SoundCloud page, and later released the track for purchase on iTunes on 11 September 2015.{{cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/us/album/beautiful-now-grey-remix-feat/1037086489|title=Beautiful Now (Grey Remix) [feat. Jon Bellion] - Single|work=iTunes}} Zedd has since continued to actively support Grey, playing their remix of Skrillex and Diplo's "Where Are Ü Now" featuring Justin Bieber at his True Colors Tour. He also went on to call Grey "hands down the best electronic music act right now" on Twitter.{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/Zedd/status/647853908606386176|title=Zedd on Twitter|work=Twitter}} Grey has since officially remixed two other songs from True Colors; "Papercut" and "True Colors", and toured with Zedd in 2017 as part of his Echo Tour.

Charts

=Weekly charts=

scope="row"\|Belgium Dance (Ultratop Flanders) \| 27
class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" \|+Weekly chart performance for "Beautiful Now" ! scope="col"\| Chart (2015) ! scope="col"\| Peak position
{{single chart\|Flanders Tip\|33\|artist=Zedd feat. Jon Bellion\|song=Beautiful Now\|rowheader=true\|refname="Flanders"\|access-date=26 June 2015}}
{{single chart\|Wallonia Tip\|17\|artist=Zedd feat. Jon Bellion\|song=Beautiful Now\|rowheader=true\|refname="Wallonia"\|access-date=26 June 2015}}
scope="row"\|Belgium Dance (Ultratop Wallonia) \| 32
{{single chart\|Canada\|61\|artist=Zedd\|rowheader=true\|access-date=12 August 2015}}
{{single chart\|France\|190\|artist=Zedd feat. Jon Bellion\|song=Beautiful Now\|rowheader=true\|access-date=2 September 2015}}
{{single chart\|Billboardjapanhot100\|55\|artist=Zedd\|song=Beautiful Now\|rowheader=true\|access-date=19 July 2015}}
scope="row"\|Lebanon (Lebanese Top 20){{cite web\|url=http://www.olt20.com/Zedd_#fragment-2\|title=The Official Lebanese Top 20 - Zedd\|publisher=The Official Lebanese Top 20\|access-date=2 September 2015}} \| 5
scope="row"\|Mexico Anglo (Monitor Latino){{cite web\|url=http://charts.monitorlatino.com/top20/Print/Mexico/Anglo/20150928\|title=Top 20 Inglés Del 28 de Septiembre al 4 de Octubre, 2015\|publisher=Monitor Latino\|date=28 September 2015\|access-date=24 September 2024}} \| 19
{{single chart\|Dutch100\|91\|artist=Zedd feat. Jon Bellion\|song=Beautiful Now\|rowheader=true\|refname="Megacharts"\|access-date=26 June 2015}}
scope="row"\|Netherlands Dance (Dance Top 30) \| 24
{{single chart\|Poland\|11\|chartid=1741\|year=2015\|rowheader=true\|access-date=14 September 2015}}
scope="row"\|Sweden Heatseeker (Sverigetopplistan){{Cite web\|url=https://www.sverigetopplistan.se/chart/215?dspy=2015&dspp=33\|title=Veckolista Heatseeker, vecka 33, 2015\|language=sv\|publisher=Sverigetopplistan\|access-date=2 May 2021}} \| 7
{{single chart\|Billboardhot100\|64\|artist=Zedd\|rowheader=true\|access-date=1 September 2015}}
{{single chart\|Billboarddanceelectronic\|5\|artist=Zedd\|rowheader=true\|access-date=9 July 2015}}
{{single chart\|Billboarddanceclubplay\|1\|artist=Zedd\|rowheader=true\|access-date=18 August 2015\|refname="hotdance"}}
{{single chart\|Billboardpopsongs\|15\|artist=Zedd\|rowheader=true\|access-date=2 September 2015}}

=Year-end charts=

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" \|+Year-end chart performance for "Beautiful Now" ! scope="col"\| Chart (2015) ! scope="col"\| Position
scope="row"\|US Dance Club Songs (Billboard){{cite magazine\|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2015/dance-club-songs\|title=Dance Club Songs – Year-End 2015\|magazine=Billboard\|access-date=19 August 2019\|archive-date=14 December 2015\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151214145312/http://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2015/dance-club-songs\|url-status=dead}} \| 6
scope="row"\|US Hot Dance/Electronic Songs (Billboard){{cite magazine\|url=http://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2015/hot-dance-electronic--songs\|title=Hot Dance/Electronic Songs – Year-End 2015\|magazine=Billboard\|access-date=19 August 2019}} \| 14

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+Year-end chart performance for "Beautiful Now"

! scope="col"| Chart (2015)

! scope="col"| Position

scope="row"|US Dance Club Songs (Billboard){{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2015/dance-club-songs|title=Dance Club Songs – Year-End 2015|magazine=Billboard|access-date=19 August 2019|archive-date=14 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151214145312/http://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2015/dance-club-songs|url-status=dead}}

| 6

scope="row"|US Hot Dance/Electronic Songs (Billboard){{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2015/hot-dance-electronic--songs|title=Hot Dance/Electronic Songs – Year-End 2015|magazine=Billboard|access-date=19 August 2019}}

| 14

Certifications

{{Certification Table Top|caption=Certifications for "Beautiful Now"}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Australia|award=Platinum|type=single|certyear=2025|access-date=14 May 2025}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Brazil|artist=Zedd|title=Beautiful Now|type=single|award=Platinum|relyear=2015|certyear=2024|access-date=15 July 2024}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Italy|type=single|artist=Zedd feat. Jon Bellion|title=Beautiful Now|award=Gold|relyear=2015|certyear=2016|id=3691|access-date=23 August 2016}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Japan|type=single|artist=Zedd|title=Beautiful Now|award=Gold|relyear=2015|certyear=2018|certmonth=5|digital=true|access-date=20 May 2021}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Poland|type=single|artist=Zedd|title=Beautiful Now|award=Platinum|certyear=2016|relyear=2015|access-date=15 June 2016}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Spain|artist=Zedd feat Jon Bellion|award=Gold|title=Beautiful Now|relyear=2015|type=single|certyear=2024|id=zedd-feat-jon-bellion-beautiful-now|access-date=19 November 2024}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|relyear=2015|certyear=2017|title=Beautiful Now (feat. Jon Bellion)|artist=Zedd|type=single|award=Platinum|access-date=19 March 2018}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Japan|type=single|artist=Zedd|title=Beautiful Now (feat. Jon Bellion)|award=Gold|streamsonly=true|relyear=2015|certyear=2023|certmonth=4|access-date=28 May 2023}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|noshipments=true|streaming=true|streamsonly=true}}