"Forever Young" is a song by German synth-pop band Alphaville, released in September 1984, by WEA, as the third single from their debut album of the same name (1984). The single was successful in Scandinavia and in the European German-speaking countries in the same year. It peaked at number 93 on the Billboard Hot 100 the following year in the United States, and number 63 in 1988. The accompanying music video was directed by Brian Ward and filmed in the United Kingdom. As of November 2025, "Forever Young" has over 1.1 billion streams on Spotify.
The single has been covered by numerous artists. It also formed the basis of Jay-Z's song "Young Forever". "Forever Young" is written in the key of C major.
In a 2022 interview, Alphaville lead singer Marian Gold said that it is "a great privilege" to have "Forever Young", as well as "Big in Japan", in "their luggage" when touring, and that he is grateful to be able to perform these songs.
Originally intended to be an upbeat dance song, producer Andreas Budde recommended paring the song down to a sparse synth-pop ballad. The band spent two days attempting to record the dance version, but were unsatisfied with the results. Budde then told them to strip away most of the tracks, leaving only the vocals and synth pads, and upon playing it back said, "This is the song."
Marian Gold originally wrote the third verse to evoke a "fascistic feeling" of the adoration of the crowd: <blockquote>
</blockquote> However, for the final recording, record executives pushed for a change, resulting in: <blockquote>
</blockquote> Gold calls the replacement "turn our golden faces into the sun" the worst lyric in the song.
Not a native English speaker, Gold received pronunciation instruction from producer Colin Pearson. The band had decided that the word "dance" in the first line should be pronounced in order for the song to sound British (specifically Southern English). Subsequently, the track uses the English pronunciation but sometimes Gold would forget this and sing the American pronunciation instead.
Originally released by Alphaville as a single in 1984, "Forever Young" was available in both its original mix and in a dance version, entitled the "Special Dance Mix". Over the years, the band has released several remixes and demo versions of the song.
In the US, the song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 95 in the week of 23 March 1985, peaking at number 93 the following week, before dropping off the chart following a four-week run; it also peaked at number 32 on the Hot Dance/Disco Club Play chart on 30 March. When re-released in 1988, the song was more successful in the US, peaking at number 65 on the Billboard Hot 100 in a total run of 14 weeks.
The song's music video, directed by Brian Ward, shows the band performing in one of the halls at Holloway Sanatorium in Virginia Water, England. A number of people from children to the elderly, dressed in ragged finery, awake to watch the band, then walk through a diamond-shaped glowing portal.
In 1987, the song topped yearly retrospective lists in San Francisco's KITS "Live 105" and New Jersey's WPST 94.5 radio stations, with Billboard calling it "the modern rock equivalent of 'Stairway to Heaven'". "Forever Young" was top on both lists, beating songs like U2's "Pride (In the Name of Love)", New Order's "Blue Monday" and the Smiths' "How Soon Is Now?".
In 2024, "Forever Young" gained wide popularity on the social media app TikTok, 40 years after the song's release. The song reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts in the United States, and stayed there for 10 weeks.
Note: "Welcome to the Sun" also appeared (in a remix and a re-recording) on 1999's Dreamscapes.
The original album version has also appeared on the following official Alphaville releases:
The "Special Dance Version" and the B-side "Welcome to the Sun" were both included on so80s presents Alphaville (2014).
In 2001, Alphaville released a new set of remixes in a "limited fan edition" called "Forever Young 2001". This single contained three music tracks, one spoken word track, and a PC-only track.
This CD was released to fans for free, only postage needed to be paid. The names of every fan who had requested a copy were printed on the inside cover. Copies were hand-signed by the band. The remixes that appear on the single have not appeared on other releases.
The cover is a still image from the video, which was created by the Cartoon Saloon.
CD single
CD promo single
Released in 2006, this CD contains two new remixes by notable remix artist Bill Hamel. It also includes a digitally remastered version of the original album version of the song. The remix reached number 31 on the Australian ARIA singles chart, peaking higher than the original version in 1986, which only charted at number 47.
In 1985, American singer Laura Branigan covered "Forever Young" for her fourth album, Hold Me (1985).
She then went on to sing it as either the encore or the final track of her live performances for years.
In 1994, German electronic group Interactive released a cover of "Forever Young" which reached number seven in Germany and number ten in both Denmark and the Netherlands. It also made the top 20 in five other countries and on the Eurochart Hot 100, the song reached number 34. This electronic dance version does not contain most of the song's lyrics and only includes a slightly modified chorus as the sole vocals. In 2002, German DJ and music producer Kosmonova remixed this version of "Forever Young". The remix peaked at number 21 in Germany and number 37 in the UK.
The music video for "Forever Young" was directed by Basil Schlegel and features kids attending and partying in a night club. It was A-listed on German music television channel VIVA in February 1995.
In 2005, Australian rock band Youth Group were asked by the producers of the American television series The O.C. to record a version of "Forever Young" for use in the show, following a positive response to the use of their single "Shadowland" in a previous episode. Their version of "Forever Young" was used in the show and the show's trailers and was included on the soundtrack album '.
Released as a single on 6 March 2006, the song reached number one on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart for two nonconsecutive weeks and also entered the top 10 in New Zealand, reaching number seven on the RIANZ Singles Chart. In the United States, the song appeared on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, peaking at number 10. The track was included on Youth Group's third studio album, Casino Twilight Dogs, released later that year.
Australian CD single
In 2010, American electronic music group Cash Cash released a cover of the song. It was released on 8 March 2010 through Universal. The song was serviced to radio in the United States on 12 May 2010.
Jean Paul Makhlouf stated that group chose to cover the song because "the idea of being forever young is just awesome," which was the reason why the group first formed. They were also inspired to cover the song due to the "many amazing memories" the band has made, such as recording a their debut studio album, hearing their song on the radio, touring the US and meeting fans across the world. Makhlouf also added: <blockquote>I'll always be a teenager at heart. Of course there's a time for work, but you can't forget about the play. I always make sure I keep a good balance of the two.</blockquote>
Credits adapted from AllMusic.
A music video for the song was released via YouTube on 29 June 2010. As of 2014, the video has since been removed.
In 2020, British singer Becky Hill released a cover version of the song. It was released on 13 November 2020 by Polydor Records and Eko Records. The song was selected as the soundtrack to the 2020 McDonald's Christmas advert in the UK.
The song raised money for FareShare, in which McDonald's donated five million meals for charity. Hill also donated 10p from every download, going to food charity FareShare. She said on her Twitter account, "'forever young' is bigger than just a nice christmas advert & song. @mcdonaldsuk has committed to funding @fareshareuk to redistribute over 5 million meals by April 2021 to families in need. at least 10p of every download goes towards a great cause. no child should be hungry".
Credits adapted from Tidal.
In October 2024, a version with French DJ and producer David Guetta and American singer Ava Max was released, featuring new verses.
The original version of "Forever Young" went viral on the video-sharing platform TikTok in September 2024, sending the song to the top of the TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart on 5 October 2024. On 7 October 2024, Max performed the extended version of Guetta's version of the song in Ibiza, Spain alongside Guetta. On October 14, she released the official announcement for its release. The track inspired over 3 million TikTok creations.
Guetta's EDM version of "Forever Young" adds Ava Max's vocals for the new verses. Throughout mid-2024, it became a staple at Guetta's F* Me I'm Famous! residency at Ushuaïa Ibiza, with Max joining Guetta onstage for a sold-out and end-of-season performance in September.