In 2022, Bad Omens released their third full-length album, The Death Of Peace Of Mind. Combining a mix of genres and some obvious pop, R&B, and industrial influences into their accessible brand of metalcore, it eventually saw the band sell out their recently headlining tour completely – not an easy task for any band.
An unexpected part of the album’s success was the song “Just Pretend”. Not released as a single prior to the album’s release, it started to explode in popularity soon after the album’s release, eventually becoming the #1 song on the Billboard Hot Hard Rock Songs chart. It’s now to the point where very recently, it became the band’s most-streamed song on Spotify, despite not being out for even a year at the time of this writing. In fact, it’s now at a staggering 32.9 million streams, having eclipsed “The Worst In Me”, which is at 31 million and change.
Obviously, the song exploding on TikTok was a key part of the song’s success. Much like how Knocked Loose, Bring Me The Horizon, and The Plot In You (just to name a few), the success of the song was just an extra springboard to their recent success. After all, there were 14 other songs alone on TDOPOM that helped contribute to the band’s success, as well as their previous material also being a major component in their evolution. Even so, though, it helps that the subject matter is relatable as well as well-crafted, which has undoubtedly played a role in its success. And it’s still not slowing down, which is pretty crazy.
words cannot describe how much I love just pretend by bad omens pic.twitter.com/Ls3ALHdS41
— katline (@frogfairys) October 22, 2022
Just Pretend wasn’t a single.
It popped off 6 months after the album came out and still doesn’t have a video.We promise it’s still cool to enjoy that song, don’t let the internet tell you it’s not. Think for yourself, friend.🫡
— BAD OMENS (@badomenscult) November 7, 2022
