"See You Again" is a song by American rapperWiz Khalifa featuring American singer-songwriterCharlie Puth. Produced by Puth,DJ Frank E and Andrew Cedar, who also co-wrote the song with Khalifa, the song was commissioned for thesoundtrack of the 2015 filmFurious 7 as a tribute toFast & Furious actorPaul Walker, who died in asingle-vehicle crash on November 30, 2013. The song was released on March 10, 2015, as the soundtrack'slead single. It was later included as a bonus track on the international release of Puth's debut album,Nine Track Mind (2016).
"See You Again" became both artists' biggest single to date. It spent 12 non-consecutive weeks atop the USBillboard Hot 100, tying withEminem's "Lose Yourself" for the second longest-running rap number-one single in the country behindLil Nas X's "Old Town Road", and topped theUK Singles Chart for two consecutive weeks.[2] It also reached number one in several other countries including Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand and Switzerland. The song held the record for the most-streamed track in a single day onSpotify in the United States, until it was surpassed byOne Direction's "Drag Me Down".[3] It set the record for most streams in a single week worldwide, and in the United Kingdom also in a single week.
Chris Brown (left) andEminem (right) were two of the artists originally enlisted to perform the song.
"See You Again" was written byDJ Frank E,Charlie Puth,Wiz Khalifa, and Andrew Cedar. It was produced by DJ Frank E, Charlie Puth, and Andrew Cedar,[8] with mixing provided byManny Marroquin. Frank E and Puth were approached by their publishing company, Artist Publishing Group, to develop a melody that could pay tribute to actorPaul Walker for the filmFurious 7 (2015); Artist Publishing Group then set up a first-time studio session for Puth with DJ Frank E at a studio in Los Angeles.[9]
Puth, talking about the first studio session for the song, said that when he went to the studio "[the producers] were working on this song" and it already had the "See You Again" chords, but it was a "synthy" production for a "dance song", and he later suggested the idea of the song being apiano ballad instead.[10] Puth said that he became emotionally attached while writing the lyrics of the track, recalling Vail Cerullo, a friend of Puth's from his time atBerklee College of Music, who died in a motorcycle accident in 2012.[11][12] Puth and DJ Frank E's output from the session was well received byFurious 7 filmmakers,Universal Pictures, and Atlantic. As a result, the track was further commissioned to include rapped verses based on the subject of family, combined with Puth's vocals and a pianomelody. The song then went through an extensive note-giving and production process.[13] Before choosingWiz Khalifa's version, several other rappers were offered to record the rapped parts of the song, includingEminem,50 Cent andTyga.[14][15][16] Puth said that he was initially reluctant to let the film's soundtrack label,Atlantic Records, choose his vocals for the song. In an interview with theLos Angeles Times, Puth recalled, "It just seemed to occur from out of nowhere. And basically 10 minutes later Justin (Franks [DJ Frank E]) and I wrote it, we sent it off, and I thought we'd never hear about it again".[13] Puth revealed onThe Howard Stern Show that Atlantic originally wanted to get a more established singer to sing his part, havingChris Brown,Sam Smith,Jason Derulo and others recording their own versions of the song's chorus. Puth stated that also British singerAdele "wanted to cut it". According to Puth, "none of the vocals had the [right] feeling ... What I was singing about specifically, you just couldn't hear it in their voice. I think Chris Brown got the closest to it, but they ended up, lucky me, going with my vocal".[10][17]
The song was chosen to be played at the end of the film. AfterBrian O'Conner's retirement send-off, the song can be heard as Brian andDominic Toretto drive on a mountain road, parting ways as they reach a fork.[13]
In the United States, "See You Again" debuted on theBillboard Hot 100 andHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts dated March 19, 2015, at number 100 and number 29 respectively, with first-week sales of 25,000 copies.[23][24] On the chart issued for April 18, 2015, the song climbed from number 84 to number ten on theBillboard Hot 100, selling 168,000 copies as the chart's "Digital Gainer" that week. Its climb into the top ten was the chart's biggest sinceKaty Perry's "Roar" (2013).[25] In its fifth week, "See You Again" sold 464,000 copies and rose from number ten to number one on theBillboard Hot 100. The song marked Khalifa's second number one on the chart, following "Black and Yellow" (2011), and Puth's first.[26] It topped theBillboard Hot 100 chart for 12 non-consecutive weeks. After its 12th week it was finally knocked off the top spot byOmi's hit, "Cheerleader". It is one of 33 songs to reach number one for at least 10 weeks on theBillboard Hot 100.[27][28][29] The song also topped theMainstream Top 40 andRhythmic charts for four weeks and three weeks respectively.[28][30][31] The song also topped Hot Rap Songs and Hot R&B Hip Hip Songs for 14 weeks each. As of July 7, 2016, "See You Again" has sold a total of 4,122,938 copies in the United States.[32]
The song holds the record for the most-streamed track in a single day onSpotify in the United States. It set the record for most streams in a single week worldwide during April 6 to April 12 (streamed 21.9 million times), and in the United Kingdom in a single week (streamed 3.72 million times from April 20 to April 26, 2015), which was broken byJustin Bieber's "What Do You Mean?" (streamed 3.87 million times from September 17 to September 23, 2015).[33][34][35]
"See You Again" debuted at number 22 on theUK Singles Chart issued for April 12, 2015, on streaming alone. It registered 1.8 million streams in the United Kingdom that week.[36] Following its digital release, the song climbed to number one on the chart dated April 19, 2015. It sold 193,000 units that week, becoming the fastest-selling single in the United Kingdom of 2015. The song also broke thestreaming record in the United Kingdom that week with a total of 3.68 million streams that week. It marked Khalifa's second number one on the chart—following his feature onMaroon 5's "Payphone" (2012)—and Puth's first.[37] "See You Again" sold 142,000 units during its first week at number one, and broke its own streaming record with 3.72 million streams that week.[35]Omi's "Cheerleader" replaced "See You Again" at number one the following week, selling approximately 1,000 units more than "See You Again" at number two.[38]
In New Zealand, "See You Again" debuted at number 34 on theNew Zealand Singles Chart dated March 30, 2015.[39] It topped the chart in its third week, becoming Khalifa and Puth's first number one single in the country.[40] In Australia, "See You Again" rose from number 59 to number one on theAustralian Singles Chart issued for April 11, 2015, marking Khalifa and Puth's first number one hit on the chart. The song's climb to number one was the largest in Australian Singles Chart history.[41]
The "See You Again" music video was themost-viewed video onYouTube from July 10 to August 4, 2017,[44][45] and themost-liked video on the site from August 27, 2016, to July 25, 2017.[46] As of November 25, 2025, it has received over 6.8 billion views and over 45.8 million likes, making it the site's sixthmost-viewed and fourthmost-liked video.[43][47] It was the second video ever to record two billion[48] and three billion views,[49] the third video ever to reach four billion views[50] and the fourth video ever to reach five billion views.[51]
The video begins with a shot of a cliff top at sunset, followed by Khalifa walking down a highway road. Puth is then shown singing the chorus whilst sitting at, and playing, a piano located between two cars. Khalifa's rap verses and Puth singing the second chorus andbridge are interspersed with footage fromFurious 7. After the bridge, the final movie scene showsDominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) andBrian O'Conner (Cody Walker, filling in for his brother, Paul) driving together, pulled over in their cars and smiling at each other one last time before driving away on separate roads into the sunset. After the camera pans up into the sky, the screen turns white, the words "For Paul" appear on screen and the video ends.
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. † Streaming-only figures based on certification alone.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic.Note: Select 25. týden 2015 in the date selector. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic.Note: Select 17. týden 2015 in the date selector. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic.Note: insert 201526 into search. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic.Note: Select SINGLES DIGITAL - TOP 100 and insert 201518 into search. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
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