“If I Die Young” debuted at number 57 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for the week of May 29, 2010. It also debuted at number 92 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week of July 24, 2010. In October 2010, it became the group’s first top 10 single on the Hot Country Songs chart as well as their first top 20 on the Hot 100 chart. The song became their first number one hit on the Hot Country Songs chart for the week of December 11, 2010.
The Band Perry received at least one letter in response to the song. In its envelope, the members also found a necklace with a ring on it. The letter’s author was a young girl who had recently lost her best friend to cancer. Mourning her friend’s death, the girl was contemplating suicide. Driving from work one day, she heard “If I Die Young” on the radio. Hearing “so much life in the song”, the girl changed her mind. In her letter to The Band Perry, she wrote about the necklace: “I’m sending this to you, because it’s the most important thing I own. This song literally saved my life.
The music video, which was directed by David McClister, premiered on CMT on May 27, 2010. In the video, the band is shown setting Kimberly Perry in a canoe before pushing it off into the river. Perry is holding a book containing poems by Tennyson, including “The Lady of Shalott”, which the book is opened to at the end of the music video. The video echoes a scene in Anne of Green Gables in which Anne attempts to appear as the Lady of the poem. Kimberly’s mother and her love interest (played by Kyle Kupecky) are shown plucking flower petals and visibly depressed that she has left them. Eventually, her canoe begins to take on water, she sits up. Once this occurs her brothers come back for her. When she gets back to her house, her mother and love interest embrace her. The video was filmed on location at Two Rivers Mansion outside of Nashville, Tennessee. Throughout the video, the band is also shown performing with their instruments inside of the house.
“If I Die Young” – Single by the Band Perry from the album The Band Perry
Released June 8, 2010
Songwriter Kimberly Perry
Producers Nathan Chapman and Paul Worley
Charted No.14 US Billboard Hot 100; No.1 US Hot Country Songs; No.8 Canada Country; No.82 UK
