"Ordinary" is a song by American singer-songwriter Alex Warren. It was released on February 7, 2025, through Atlantic Records as the lead single from his debut studio album, You'll Be Alright, Kid. Warren wrote the song with producer Adam Yaron, alongside Cal Shapiro and Mags Duval.
"Ordinary" became Warren’s breakthrough global hit and one of the defining songs of 2025. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 10 weeks and achieved historic success on U.S. Top 40 radio, spending a record-breaking 16 non-consecutive weeks at number one on Billboard's Pop Airplay chart, surpassing the previous all-time record of 14 weeks set by "The Sign" by Ace of Base in 1994. "Ordinary" became one of the most-played radio songs of the year across multiple formats and was named Billboard's Song of the Summer for 2025. In the United Kingdom, the single spent 13 non-consecutive weeks atop the UK Singles Chart, breaking a 70-year-old record previously associated with Elvis Presley for the longest-running UK number-one by an American male solo artist. The song received generally negative reviews from music critics, who criticized it as unoriginal.
"Ordinary" also topped the Billboard Global 200 for ten straight weeks, while reaching number one in over 30 countries. It also peaked within the top ten of the charts in Croatia, France, Italy, Lebanon, South Africa, and Sweden. It was the bestselling song of 2025 in Australia, Iceland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, as well as the fourth-bestselling song of 2025 globally. It is certified Diamond in Canada and France as well as Platinum or higher in thirteen additional countries.
Contents
Composition
"Ordinary" talks about the feeling of loving somebody "who makes life extraordinary".
Critical reception
The song received mixed to unfavorable reviews from music critics. Paste named it the sixth-worst song of 2025 and criticized it for sounding as "if someone fed Imagine Dragons' entire discography into ChatGPT". The New Yorker's Sheldon Pearce described it as "pummeling" and "gray", "distinctly middle-aged, destined to be played at dentist’s offices and wedding receptions from now until the end of time." Vulture believed that its lyrics had "religious and classical metaphors that wouldn't make it out of a high-school creative writing class."
Chart performance
In the United States, the song topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 10 non-consecutive weeks, becoming the second song in 2025 to spend at least ten weeks at number one on that chart. On the Billboard Pop Airplay chart, the song broke the record for the longest-running number-one song in the chart's history with 16 non-consecutive weeks at number one.
In the United Kingdom, "Ordinary" spent 13 non-consecutive weeks at number one, surpassing Ed Sheeran's 11-week reign with "Bad Habits" to become the longest-running number one of the 2020s (later surpassed by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean's "Rein Me In"). "Ordinary"'s initial 12-week run at the top gives Alex Warren the longest consecutive run at number one on the UK Singles Chart by any American male artist to date.
Music video
The music video was released alongside the song on February 7, 2025, and features Warren's wife, Kouvr Annon. He is seen chasing her through different places, including a forest, a beach, and a desert, before they finally catch up. At the end, both levitate towards the sky.
Commercial and live performances
The song received a significant boost in streaming, sales, and Shazams after Warren performed it on season 8 of the reality television show Love Is Blind. The song was also featured on the July 28, 2025, edition of WWE Raw, used as part of a video package to remember the life of professional wrestling icon and WWE Hall of Famer, Hulk Hogan who had died a few days prior on July 24. It was also used by Fox Footy on January 23, 2026, to advertise their then-upcoming coverage of the 2026 AFL season.
Warren performed the song live at Lollapalooza 2025 with country singer Luke Combs. This version was released as a promotional single on August 4.