In 2011, the producers of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 asked American singer Christina Perri to write a song for the film. She watched the movie six months before its release, then sat down with producer David Hodges to write 'A Thousand Years' for the love story of Edward and Bella. The ballad was released on October 18, 2011, through Atlantic Records.
The candlelit music video
The song was the second single from the official soundtrack, and its official music video arrived on YouTube on October 26, 2011. In the video, Perri holds a candle while scenes of her singing in a room full of candles alternate with footage from the film. The clip ends with Perri singing against a sunset. By June 2026, that video had passed 2.8 billion views.
But 'A Thousand Years' did not explode on arrival. It debuted at number 63 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the week of October 23, 2011, and peaked at number 31. That made it Perri's second top-40 hit, yet it was the years that followed that turned the song into a phenomenon. It became what the industry calls a 'sleeper hit', gaining sales steadily long after the film left cinemas. Its slow climb was not limited to the United States. In the United Kingdom, the song first reached number 32 in 2011, then rose to number 13 the following year after the release of Breaking Dawn – Part 2, and finally peaked at number 11 in 2013. The single has since been certified five-times platinum by the BPI for sales equivalent to three million units.
Diamond certification and TikTok reach
By July 2013, more than three million digital copies had been sold in the United States. On June 30, 2026, the single received a diamond certification from the RIAA for 13 million units sold in the US. The song's afterlife kept expanding: by April 2026, it had been used in over 27.1 million TikTok videos, making it the 17th most-used song on the platform worldwide. The song's reach extended far beyond English-speaking countries. It reached the top ten in Ireland and Scotland, and charted in Australia, New Zealand, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Hungary, Czechia, and Brazil. In the decade-end charts for the 2010s, it placed 46th in Australia and 79th in the United Kingdom.
The song also found a purpose beyond charts and streams. In March 2018, a group of British mothers whose children have Down syndrome created a video cover of 'A Thousand Years' to mark World Down Syndrome Day. The video went viral, and Christina Perri supported the campaign by waiving her music rights for the project. By September 2026, the video had over 12 million views.
Perri wrote 'A Thousand Years' with David Hodges, who also produced the recording. It was inspired by the romance of Edward and Bella, and that connection gave the song an emotional core that outlasted the franchise. The song's key is B-flat major, its time signature is 6/8, and Perri's vocal range spans from F3 to C5, a gentle waltz-like structure that made it ideal for weddings, memorials, and social media. The song's emotional pull has also made it a favorite for cover versions. Scottish-American actor and singer John Barrowman recorded it for his 2014 studio album You Raise Me Up. More recently, in 2026, the song featured prominently in the third season of the series Shrinking, and Perri also sang it with the actors for a backstage clip.
The original version is a gentle waltz; a second part, recorded for Breaking Dawn – Part 2, features the voice of Steve Kazee. But it is the original that endures. Fifteen years after its release, 'A Thousand Years' is no longer just a Twilight song. It is a modern standard, carried by a candlelit video and a melody that keeps finding new listeners.
Fifteen years after its release, 'A Thousand Years' is no longer just a Twilight song.