"Clarity" is a song by the German musician Zedd featuring the vocals of the English singer Foxes. It was released on 14 November 2012 as the third single from Zedd's debut studio album, Clarity. It won the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording at the 56th Grammy Awards in 2014. Some critics named "Clarity" among the best dance songs of all time.
"Clarity" began as a collaboration with the American musician Porter Robinson amid both's tour. They began producing the song and its chords together until their tour ended. Zedd then finished the song alone as an instrumental. The vocal part of "Clarity" was initially written by Matthew Koma for another of Zedd's tracks, "Lost at Sea". Zedd felt that that topline was "too emotional" for that song, and instead used it for "Clarity". Zedd sent a demo of the song to Robinson, who did not enjoy the result and told Zedd to finish the song himself. When Zedd listened to English singer Foxes' song "Youth", he contacted her through Skype and asked her to be the vocalist on "Clarity". After Foxes did research on Wikipedia about Zedd, she accepted the offer. The song was also co-written with Skylar Grey, and "Ghostwriter" recorded the vocals.
"Clarity" has a tempo of 128 beats per minute, and is written in the Aâ major key. Its main chord progression is BâÂÂm7sus4/EâÂÂ/Fm7/Cm7/Dâ â BâÂÂm7sus4/EâÂÂ/Fm7/Cm7/DâÂÂ/AâÂÂ. It has been characterized as electronic dance music (EDM), dance-pop, and progressive house.
"Clarity was first sent to contemporary hit radio in Italy on 14 November 2012. In January 2013, Zedd and Foxes performed an orchestral version of the song at Late Night with David Letterman. On 1 February, it was released as a standalone single on Apple Music, and a 4-track remix EP releases on 12 February 2013, by Interscope Records. Zedd released an extended mix of the song exclusively on Beatport on 18 February 2018.
A music video for "Clarity" directed by Jodeb was released on 11 January 2013. The music video featured Foxes and actor and model AJ English as a couple. The video starts with the camera panning over the desert, and later switching to see Foxes and the male lead driving in different cars, until they suddenly collide head-to-head, with enough force for both characters to rocket backward. The male lead wakes up after being knocked unconscious from the collision, and finds the injured Foxes. However, she runs away through the desert, making him follow her until she falls unconscious in the sand. A rewind of the whole event was shown afterwards, before in the final scene, the two people drive in the same car, presumably enjoying themselves. All scenes were accompanied by computer effects of collisions and other images that synchronize with the music. The music video also features a cameo from Zedd.
"Clarity" was nominated at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards for Artist to Watch. It won the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording at the 56th Grammy Awards in 2014. Zedd said winning the award "was an unbelievable and unforgettable moment in my life". It was nominated at the 2014 Radio Disney Music Awards for Best Musical Collaboration. "Clarity" was nominated for Billboard Music Award for Top Dance/Electronic Song at the 2014 Billboard Music Awards.
In 2016, Billboard chose it as the best song in Zedd's discography. In 2017, Vice ranked it as the 73rd best EDM song of all time. In 2019, Billboard staff considered it the 19th greatest dance song of the decade. That same year, Chris DeVille of Stereogum named "Clarity" a one-hit wonder for Foxes. In 2023, Billboard ranked it the 15th best EDM love song, and in 2025, they named it the 96th best dance song of all time.
Adapted from the Clarity album liner notes.