Counting Stars was released in 2013 by American pop rock band OneRepublic as a single from their third album Native. Written and produced by frontman Ryan Tedder, the song blends folk pop, acoustic guitar and a gospel-like chant, and it became one of the band's biggest international hits. It topped charts in several countries and later found a second life online, where short chorus clips are shared on soundboards and reused in edits, lyric videos and nostalgic posts about 2010s pop music.