Heavy Is The Crown

"Heavy Is The Crown"
Single by Linkin Park
from the album From Zero
Released:	September 24, 2024
Format:	Digital
Live debut:	September 22, 2024
Writer:	Linkin Park
Label:	Warner Bros. Records
Linkin Park singles chronology The Emptiness Machine (2024) Heavy Is The Crown (2024)
From Zero tracklist
From Zero (Intro) The Emptiness Machine Cut The Bridge Heavy Is The Crown Over Each Other Casualty Overflow Two Faced Stained IGYEIH Good Things Go

"Heavy Is The Crown" is the fourth track from Linkin Park's eighth studio album, From Zero. The song was debuted live on September 22, 2024 in Hamburg, Germany.

Background

"Heavy Is The Crown" harkens back to an early Linkin Park sound with rap verses and big, powerful choruses, featuring a synth-heavy intro. Emily has a 15 second scream on the bridge of the song, likening the track to having a bridge as big as "Given Up" in the band's catalog.

On September 9, 2024, League Of Legends announced their schedule for their 2024 Worlds championship finals, revealing that the anthem for the event would be unveiled on September 24, with imagery of a crown on the banner. Fresh off the reveal of Linkin Park's From Zero tracklist, many fans were quick to point out the link with a new song titled 'Heavy Is The Crown.' These rumors were further fueled by interactions between the League Of Legends accounts and Linkin Park's members on social media. The League Of Legends account replied with a crown emoji to a tweet containing a video of Linkin Park performing 'The Emptiness Machine' live at their September 5, 2024 livestream event. Mike Shinoda, in turn, responded with a flame emoji under a trailer of the new season of League Of Legends' Netflix series Arcane. When asked about anything pertaining to League Of Legends on the Linkin Park Discord in the following days, Shinoda danced around the questions, teasing "what's a leaf of legumes" in response.

Versions

Note: Only the date of the very first release of each version is listed.

Studio

Title	Album	Length	Recorded	Released	Notes
Heavy Is The Crown	From Zero	2:47		September 22, 2024

Release

Linkin Park released "Heavy Is The Crown" on September 24, 2024 at 8:00 a.m. PT to be featured as the League Of Legends World Championship Anthem of 2024, following big teasers from League Of Legends about the song.

Mike Shinoda said, "It's been an amazing experience partnering with Riot to bring this anthem to the global League of Legends community. The song is a real highlight of this new era for us, harnessing our signature sound and infusing it with fresh energy. We're so excited for players and fans to experience this!"

Maria Egan, Global Head of Music at Riot Games said, "The Worlds anthem is the music moment that League players look forward to the most each year, and it has become a highly coveted fixture in music across the world. As the band embarks on this exciting new chapter, we're honoured to partner with them for the 2024 anthem. The lyrics for Heavy Is The Crown perfectly capture the narrative for this year's Worlds and they are a powerful companion to the themes of our music video."

Live

"Heavy Is The Crown" received its world premiere at the Linkin Park concert in Hamburg, Germany on September 22, 2024. This was the band's first show back in Europe since July 2017's last performance with Chester Bennington, which ended up being his last show and the premature end of the One More Light World Tour.

In the encore of the show, Linkin Park had played fan-favorite "Keys To The Kingdom" in the second encore spot, following "Papercut" but following rumors of a new song coming soon, they surprised fans in Germany with "Heavy Is The Crown" instead of "Keys To The Kingdom." As Mike and Emily were discussing the song off-mic, Joe Hahn walked up to Mike's microphone to ask fans if they wanted the band to play a new song.

Personnel

Linkin Park is

• Mike Shinoda
• Brad Delson
• Dave "Phoenix" Farrell
• Joseph Hahn
• Emily Armstrong
• Colin Brittain

Lyrics

Album Version