"Something Just Like This" is a song by American electronic music duo the Chainsmokers and British rock band Coldplay. It was released on February 22, 2017, as the second single from the former's debut album, Memories...Do Not Open, and as the lead single of the latter's thirteenth extended play, Kaleidoscope EP.
The track reached the Top 10 in over 30 countries worldwide, including number two on the UK Singles Chart and the ARIA Charts, as well as number three on the Billboard Hot 100. It has the fifth highest digital sales of any song at over 21.5 million sales. It was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards. In 2026, the song received a 13× Platinum certification by the RIAA for selling 13 million units in the United States.
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Background
In September 2016, the Chainsmokers shared three short clips of an upcoming song featuring vocals from Coldplay frontman Chris Martin. On February 22, 2017, Spotify prematurely posted a banner ad at the top of the site's home page with a Listen Now button.
On the same date, Coldplay premiered "Something Just Like This" with the Chainsmokers on stage at the Brit Awards at the O2 Arena in London, England. They then performed the song at the 2017 iHeartRadio Music Awards at The Forum in Inglewood, California on March 5, 2017 and on their A Head Full of Dreams Tour since the Singapore show on March 31. It was performed again by Coldplay at the One Love Manchester benefit concert for the victims of the Manchester Arena bombing on June 4, 2017.
Lyric video
A lyric video for the song was also released on February 22, 2017, on the Chainsmokers' Vevo channel. As of August 2026, it has received over 2.5 billion views on YouTube. It was directed by James Zwadlo.
Composition
The song is written in the key of B minor and has a tempo of 103 beats per minute in common time. It follows a chord progression of G(add9)–Asus–Bm–Asus, and the vocals span two octaves, from G2 to G4.
Chart performance
"Something Just Like This" debuted at number 56 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart dating March 11, 2017. and soared to number five on its second week, giving the duo their fifth and most recent top ten hit as of August 2026. It also gave Coldplay their fourth top ten hit, their first since their other EDM song, "A Sky Full of Stars", reached number ten in 2014. It was the sixth best-selling track of 2017 in the United States with over 1.34 million copies. "Something Just Like This" would reach its peak of number three on the chart dating April 15, 2017, spent a total of 17 non-consecutive weeks in the top ten, as well as 39 weeks in total on the chart, and would eventually be placed at number five on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles chart for 2017, becoming both artists' highest peak on that chart, and marked the second-consecutive year where the Chainsmokers had two songs that ranked within the top ten with that chart with both "Something Just Like This" and "Closer", the latter of which ranked at number seven (for the 2016 chart, it was "Closer" and "Don't Let Me Down", which both ranked at number ten and number eight respectively).
In the United Kingdom, "Something Just Like This" debuted at number 30 on February 24, 2017, reaching number two in the following week. It spent nine consecutive weeks in the top 10 and became the ninth biggest song of the year in the country. It also set a new record for most weeks atop the Billboard Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart (79). In 2024, PPL ranked "Something Just Like This" as Coldplay's fourth-most played song on British media. A year later, the track was placed at number 53 on the list of most streamed songs of all time on Apple Music.
Critical reception
Philip Cosores from Consequence named "Something Just Like This" one of the best releases of February 2017, mentioning that "the track is a warm, sentimental, uplifting anthem" where Martin "steals the show, punctuating his verses with enough sap and self-confidence that we remember why we like pop music in the first place". 3voor12 and Uproxx listed it among the best songs of 2017. KROQ-FM placed the single at number 314 on their "Top 500 Songs from the Last 30 Years" ranking.
Covers
In 2018, The Piano Guys released a mashup on piano and cello called "Something Just Like Liszt", combining the song with Franz Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2".
Credits and personnel
The Chainsmokers
Andrew Taggart – keyboards
Alex Pall – keyboards
Coldplay
Guy Berryman – bass guitar
Jonny Buckland – lead guitar
Will Champion – drums, backing vocals, programming
Chris Martin – lead vocals, piano
Production
The Chainsmokers – production
DJ Swivel – production