Katy Perry stood in the wreckage of a crashed plane in the middle of a jungle, surrounded by blinking fireflies that formed the shape of a tiger in the sky, and she began to sing about standing up for herself. This scene, which would become the visual centerpiece of the song Roar, was not a dream but a carefully constructed narrative filmed over three days in August 2013 at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden. The music video, directed by Grady Hall and Mark Kudsi, featured Perry surviving a plane crash with a negligent boyfriend played by Brian Nagel, only to be left alone to face the dangers of the wild. The story arc saw her taming a tiger, making friends with a monkey and an elephant, and eventually emerging from the jungle as the Queen of the Jungle, wearing a leopard-print bikini top and a grass skirt. The video, which has since surpassed four billion views on Vevo, became the fourth most viewed music video of 2013 and the first to reach one billion views on the platform, a milestone achieved on the 7th of July 2015. The narrative was a departure from Perry's previous work, shifting from party anthems to a story of survival and self-empowerment, yet it drew mixed reviews from critics who found the CGI dopey and the acting overly literal. Despite the criticism, the video's impact was undeniable, with the song becoming the fifth-best-selling single worldwide in 2013 according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, and selling 15 million copies globally by November 2019. The song's commercial success was matched by its cultural resonance, as it topped charts in Australia, Austria, Canada, Ireland, Israel, Lebanon, New Zealand, Scotland, Slovenia, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The song's release on the 10th of August 2013, by Capitol Records marked the beginning of a new era for Perry, who had just released her fourth studio album, Prism, and was determined to redefine her public image after years of being labeled as a pop star who only made party songs. The song's lyrics, which center on standing up for oneself and self-empowerment, were co-written by Perry with Bonnie McKee and produced by Dr. Luke, Max Martin, and Cirkut, and recorded in four different studios across California and Sweden. The track is a power pop song containing elements of arena rock, with Perry flexing diva-like vocals and singing the lyric Hey! several times in a way reminiscent of The Lumineers. The song's instrumentation is composed of pounding pianos and booming bass drums, and it follows the chord progression of B, Cm, Gm, E. Perry's vocal range spans from the low note B3 to the high note E5, and the song is in the key of B major with a moderate tempo of 90 beats per minute. The song's message of empowerment was a direct response to Perry's personal struggles, as she had undergone therapy and was sick of keeping all these feelings inside and not speaking up for herself. The song's release was preceded by a series of video teasers, including one featuring Perry burning a blue wig and another showing her at a funeral with a coffin decorated with her famous pink and white pinwheels dress. The song's cover art, which was revealed on the 8th of August 2013, features a tiger print border around Perry, who wears a blue Japanese silk sukajan jacket with the image of a tiger printed on its back. The song's lyric video, produced by Joe Humpay, Aya Tanimura, Tim Zimmer, and Tuan Le, primarily shows Perry doing daily activities such as eating breakfast, going to the bathroom, and taking a bath while texting the lyrics of Roar to friends. Some words are substituted with various Emoji characters, and the video was the target of plagiarism accusations by music producer Dillon Francis, who felt it copied the concept of instant messaging from his video entitled Messages. The song's commercial success was immediate, with Perry breaking her previous record for first-week digital sales by selling 557,000 copies in its first week, a number that surpassed the 509,000 copies sold by her previous single Firework. The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for the chart dated the 14th of September 2013, becoming Perry's eighth number one on the Hot 100 and her ninth digital number-one single. The song spent a total of two weeks at number one before it was surpassed by Miley Cyrus's Wrecking Ball. The song also reached number one on both the US Mainstream Top 40 and Adult Pop Songs, giving Perry her tenth number one on the airplay-based chart and tying her with Rihanna for the most number ones on the chart. The song also set airplay records in both of the charts, by becoming the most weekly-played song in history, with 16,065 and 5,309 plays per week, respectively. The song has also reached the top spot on both the Adult contemporary chart and Hot Dance Club Songs, and it reached number one on both the On Demand and Streaming charts, with a weekly peak of 2.1 million and 12 million, respectively. The song surpassed digital sales of four million in its seventeenth week, faster than any other song in digital history, and its sales reached 4.41 million by the end of 2013, becoming the sixth best-seller of the year. As of August 2020, the song has sold 6,600,000 copies in the US, and in June 2017, the song was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America, making Perry the first artist to achieve three Diamond certified singles, following Dark Horse and Firework. As of July 2024, Roar has since been certified 15× Platinum by the RIAA, for sales and equivalent-units of 15 million in the country. The song's success was not limited to the United States, as it also topped the Canadian Hot 100, becoming only the eleventh song to debut at number one on the chart, and it became Perry's third number-one debut, making her the artist with most number-one debuts at the time. The song also reached number one on the UK Singles Chart on the 8th of September 2013, selling 179,500 copies in its first week and ending the prolonged number-one run of Ellie Goulding's Burn. The song became Perry's fourth UK number-one single, and it spent two weeks atop the chart before being succeeded by Talk Dirty by Jason Derulo ft. 2 Chainz. The song also debuted atop the adjacent UK chart of Scotland and the Irish Singles Chart, and it was the 6th best-selling song of 2013 in the United Kingdom, where it became her second single after Firework to sell over a million copies in January 2015, thus making Katy Perry one of only 18 artists ever to achieve more than one million sales in the nation. The song has sold 1,112,787 copies in the United Kingdom as of September 2017, and has been certified quadruple platinum by the British Phonographic Industry. According to Phonographic Performance Limited, Roar was the seventh most played song across the nation in 2014. The song also reached number four on the Italian Singles Chart, where it was eventually certified platinum by the Federation of the Italian Music Industry, for sales of over 15,000 digital copies. In Spain, the single peaked at number five on the sales chart, according to PROMUSICAE. In Austria, it became a number-one on the Ö3 Austria Top 40, while in Germany and Switzerland, it reached numbers two and three, respectively. In the Belgian Ultratop 50, Roar peaked at number five in Flanders and number seven in Wallonia. In France the song peaked at number five and stayed 53 weeks, becoming Perry's fourth top-five hit after I Kissed A Girl, If We Ever Meet Again, and California Gurls. In Norway, it stayed 24 weeks and peaked at number four, becoming Perry's fifth top five in the country. Roar found placings among the top-ten of the airplay charts in Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia. Within the Billboard digital charts of Greece, Luxembourg and Portugal, Roar peaked at number two in both the Greece and Luxembourg charts and at number eight in the Portuguese chart. In Russia, on the TopHit Weekly General airplay chart, Roar debuted at number 395 on the 25th of August 2013, and it has climbed the chart, peaking at number five on the 17th of November 2013. On the TopHit Weekly Audience Choice chart, it peaked at number three on the issue dated the 27th of October 2013. The song also entered at the top of the New Zealand Singles Chart after just four days on sale, becoming Perry's ninth number-one single, second top debut and her eleventh top ten. After less than five weeks, the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand certified the single quadruple platinum, denoting sales exceeding 60,000 units. The song is listed as the 48th best-selling single of all time in New Zealand, making Perry the only singer to have the most entries, which including California Gurls, Firework and E.T. In Australia, the song became Perry's third song to top the ARIA Singles Chart after I Kissed a Girl and California Gurls. It was the country's highest performing song of the year, topping the charts for 9 weeks and selling 560,000 copies by the end of 2013. Roar has since been certified 20× platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association. On the Gaon Chart of South Korea, it reached number one on the international chart. In Japan, the song entered the Japan Hot 100 at number seven. They reached number one in both the Media Forest airplay chart in Israel, and the Lebanese Singles Chart. Similarly, in South Africa, the song peaked at number two on the EMA airplay chart. The song's commercial success was matched by its cultural impact, as it was used as the theme song of world number 1 tennis player Serena Williams during the 2014 US Open Championships, with Williams dressed in a matching leopard-themed dress, winning the championship. The song was also unexpectedly used during player introductions by the Cincinnati Bengals in their home opener against the rival Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football on the 16th of September 2013, to tie in the song's jungle theme with the team's nickname. Although the Bengals won the game 20, 10, the song drew much criticism by Bengals fans and even some of the team's players. One Bengals fan even told the Wall Street Journal that Steeler fans sitting near him were laughing at the Bengals fans throughout the game, and the Steelers themselves have used the Styx song Renegade frequently at Heinz Field since 2001. Four days after the game, the team publicly apologized, announcing that while the song would not be nixed from Paul Brown Stadium's playlist completely, the team would use a hard rock or classic rock song for player introductions moving forward. The song's live performances were equally impactful, with Perry first performing Roar at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, in a specially-made boxing ring under the Brooklyn Bridge, at the end of the ceremony. She performed the song on Saturday Night Live on the 12th of October 2013, and while hosting We Can Survive: Music for Life on the 23rd of October 2013, she performed the song with Sara Bareilles, Bonnie McKee, Ellie Goulding, Kacey Musgraves, and duo Tegan and Sara. She also performed the song on the Australian version of The X Factor on the 28th of October 2013, and the following day at the Sydney Opera House. She performed the song on German TV show Schlag den Raab on the 16th of November 2013. On the 14th of December 2013, Perry performed Roar at the NRJ Music Awards, but suffered technical difficulties which resulted in her performance being stopped by the host halfway through who asked for it to be restarted. This led many to believe that Perry had initially been lip-syncing the performance. NRJ later released an apology to Perry, stating that she had been singing live but that the wrong mix of the song was played over her live vocals, which resulted in her being visually out of sync with the backing track. On the 25th of May 2014, Perry performed the song at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in Glasgow. On the 1st of February 2015, Perry performed the song during the Super Bowl XLIX halftime show. On the 28th of July 2016, she performed it at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. On the 27th of May 2017, Perry performed the song as her finale at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in Hull. On the 4th of June 2017, Perry performed Roar at the One Love Manchester benefit concert for the victims of the Manchester Arena bombing. On the 7th of May 2023, Perry performed Roar at the Coronation Concert outside Windsor Castle in celebration of the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla. On the 30th of January 2025, Perry performed Roar at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California for FireAid to help with relief efforts for the January 2025 Southern California wildfires. On the 17th of January 2026, Perry performed Roar on Joy Awards 2026 that took place in Saudi Arabia alongside Firework and Dark Horse. The song's legacy was further cemented by its critical reception, with many critics noting similarities between Roar and Sara Bareilles's Brave. Miriam Coleman from Rolling Stone appreciated the song's easy poppy beat and its repeated refrains, factors she believed contributed to make the song a determined note for the new album. James Montgomery of MTV News described it as one of the more perfect pop songs to come down the pipeline in quite a while. Gerrick D. Kennedy from Los Angeles Times also gave a positive review, classifying Roar as a sweet, poppy confection with a bit of bite. Melinda Newman from HitFix saw the song as a great change of pace for Perry, whilst Andrew Hampp from Billboard believed it to be a return to the style of her album One of the Boys, but criticized its tempo and its lyrics that rarely rise above easy clichés and rhymes. Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine described the song as more of a yelp than a roar. The song was nominated for Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, and won two People's Choice Awards for Favorite Song and Favorite Music Video. In 2015, Perry would perform the song at the Super Bowl XLIX halftime show in Glendale, Arizona. The song's accolades included the Capricho Awards de Gato Nacional 2013 International Hit, Digital Spy Reader Awards Best Song, The Official Number One Awards Number One Single, The Official Specialist Number One Awards Number One Singles Downloads, The Official Vodafone Big Top 40 Number One Award, Queerty Awards Anthem of the Year, Vevo Certified Award, ARIA Number One Chart Awards 2014 Number One Single, Year-End Number One Single, ASCAP Pop Music Awards Most Performed Song, Billboard Music Awards Top Hot 100 Song, Top Digital Song, Top Radio Song, Top Streaming Song Video, Grammy Awards Song of the Year, Best Pop Solo Performance, MTV Video Music Awards Japan Best Video of the Year 2014, MTV Video Music Awards Japan: Best Female Video, Myx Music Awards Favorite International Video, Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards Favourite Song, NRJ Music Awards International Song of the Year, People's Choice Awards Favorite Song, Favorite Music Video, Premios Juventud Favourite Song, Not in Spanish, Radio Disney Music Awards Song of the Year 2014, Radio Disney Music Awards: RTHK International Pop Poll Awards Top Ten International Gold Songs, Super Gold Song, Webby Awards Online Film and Music Video, CMT Music Awards 2015 Performance of the Year, 2015 CMT Music Awards: RIAA Diamond Awards 2017 Diamond Song Award, Now That's What I Call Music! Awards 2018 Song of the Teens, Spotify Awards 2023 Billion-Play Award, MTV Video Music Awards 2024 VMAs Most Iconic Performance, and QQ Music 2025 20th Anniversary Top Western Songs. The song was also included in numerous listicles, including Entertainment Weekly 2013 Best Songs of the Year 5th, Google Most Googled Songs in Australia 5th, Most Googled Song Lyrics in Australia 6th, Rolling Stone Best Songs of the Year 18th, Billboard 2017 Best Empowerment Songs Placed, HuffPost Best Women's empowerment Songs Placed, Oprah Daily 2022 12th, Glamour UK 2023 8th, Paste Best Number One Songs of 2013 5th, Rolling Stone 2025 Best Max Martin Songs 37th, and Time Out Best Inspirational Songs 14th. The song's commercial success was matched by its cultural impact, as it was used as the theme song of world number 1 tennis player Serena Williams during the 2014 US Open Championships, with Williams dressed in a matching leopard-themed dress, winning the championship. The song was also unexpectedly used during player introductions by the Cincinnati Bengals in their home opener against the rival Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football on the 16th of September 2013, to tie in the song's jungle theme with the team's nickname. Although the Bengals won the game 20, 10, the song drew much criticism by Bengals fans and even some of the team's players. One Bengals fan even told the Wall Street Journal that Steeler fans sitting near him were laughing at the Bengals fans throughout the game, and the Steelers themselves have used the Styx song Renegade frequently at Heinz Field since 2001. Four days after the game, the team publicly apologized, announcing that while the song would not be nixed from Paul Brown Stadium's playlist completely, the team would use a hard rock or classic rock song for player introductions moving forward. The song's live performances were equally impactful, with Perry first performing Roar at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, in a specially-made boxing ring under the Brooklyn Bridge, at the end of the ceremony. She performed the song on Saturday Night Live on the 12th of October 2013, and while hosting We Can Survive: Music for Life on the 23rd of October 2013, she performed the song with Sara Bareilles, Bonnie McKee, Ellie Goulding, Kacey Musgraves, and duo Tegan and Sara. She also performed the song on the Australian version of The X Factor on the 28th of October 2013, and the following day at the Sydney Opera House. She performed the song on German TV show Schlag den Raab on the 16th of November 2013. On the 14th of December 2013, Perry performed Roar at the NRJ Music Awards, but suffered technical difficulties which resulted in her performance being stopped by the host halfway through who asked for it to be restarted. This led many to believe that Perry had initially been lip-syncing the performance. NRJ later released an apology to Perry, stating that she had been singing live but that the wrong mix of the song was played over her live vocals, which resulted in her being visually out of sync with the backing track. On the 25th of May 2014, Perry performed the song at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in Glasgow. On the 1st of February 2015, Perry performed the song during the Super Bowl XLIX halftime show. On the 28th of July 2016, she performed it at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. On the 27th of May 2017, Perry performed the song as her finale at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in Hull. On the 4th of June 2017, Perry performed Roar at the One Love Manchester benefit concert for the victims of the Manchester Arena bombing. On the 7th of May 2023, Perry performed Roar at the Coronation Concert outside Windsor Castle in celebration of the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla. On the 30th of January 2025, Perry performed Roar at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California for FireAid to help with relief efforts for the January 2025 Southern California wildfires. On the 17th of January 2026, Perry performed Roar on Joy Awards 2026 that took place in Saudi Arabia alongside Firework and Dark Horse. The song's legacy was further cemented by its critical reception, with many critics noting similarities between Roar and Sara Bareilles's Brave. Miriam Coleman from Rolling Stone appreciated the song's easy poppy beat and its repeated refrains, factors she believed contributed to make the song a determined note for the new album. James Montgomery of MTV News described it as one of the more perfect pop songs to come down the pipeline in quite a while. Gerrick D. Kennedy from Los Angeles Times also gave a positive review, classifying Roar as a sweet, poppy confection with a bit of bite. Melinda Newman from HitFix saw the song as a great change of pace for Perry, whilst Andrew Hampp from Billboard believed it to be a return to the style of her album One of the Boys, but criticized its tempo and its lyrics that rarely rise above easy clichés and rhymes. Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine described the song as more of a yelp than a roar. The song was nominated for Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, and won two People's Choice Awards for Favorite Song and Favorite Music Video. In 2015, Perry would perform the song at the Super Bowl XLIX halftime show in Glendale, Arizona. The song's accolades included the Capricho Awards de Gato Nacional 2013 International Hit, Digital Spy Reader Awards Best Song, The Official Number One Awards Number One Single, The Official Specialist Number One Awards Number One Singles Downloads, The Official Vodafone Big Top 40 Number One Award, Queerty Awards Anthem of the Year, Vevo Certified Award, ARIA Number One Chart Awards 2014 Number One Single, Year-End Number One Single, ASCAP Pop Music Awards Most Performed Song, Billboard Music Awards Top Hot 100 Song, Top Digital Song, Top Radio Song, Top Streaming Song Video, Grammy Awards Song of the Year, Best Pop Solo Performance, MTV Video Music Awards Japan Best Video of the Year 2014, MTV Video Music Awards Japan: Best Female Video, Myx Music Awards Favorite International Video, Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards Favourite Song, NRJ Music Awards International Song of the Year, People's Choice Awards Favorite Song, Favorite Music Video, Premios Juventud Favourite Song, Not in Spanish, Radio Disney Music Awards Song of the Year 2014, Radio Disney Music Awards: RTHK International Pop Poll Awards Top Ten International Gold Songs, Super Gold Song, Webby Awards Online Film and Music Video, CMT Music Awards 2015 Performance of the Year, 2015 CMT Music Awards: RIAA Diamond Awards 2017 Diamond Song Award, Now That's What I Call Music! Awards 2018 Song of the Teens, Spotify Awards 2023 Billion-Play Award, MTV Video Music Awards 2024 VMAs Most Iconic Performance, and QQ Music 2025 20th Anniversary Top Western Songs. The song was also included in numerous listicles, including Entertainment Weekly 2013 Best Songs of the Year 5th, Google Most Googled Songs in Australia 5th, Most Googled Song Lyrics in Australia 6th, Rolling Stone Best Songs of the Year 18th, Billboard 2017 Best Empowerment Songs Placed, HuffPost Best Women's empowerment Songs Placed, Oprah Daily 2022 12th, Glamour UK 2023 8th, Paste Best Number One Songs of 2013 5th, Rolling Stone 2025 Best Max Martin Songs 37th, and Time Out Best Inspirational Songs 14th.