Firework (song)

"Firework" is a song by American singer Katy Perry from her third studio album, Teenage Dream (2010). She co-wrote the song with Ester Dean and the song's producers Stargate and Sandy Vee. The track was mostly recorded at StarRoc's Roc the Mic Studios, based in New York City, New York. It is a dance-pop self-empowerment anthem with inspirational lyrics, and Perry's favorite track on the album. Capitol Records released "Firework" as the third Teenage Dream single on October 26, 2010.

The song was commercially successful, charting at number one in Canada, New Zealand, and the United States while reaching the top five in Australia, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Norway, Poland, Scotland, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. It has also been certified diamond in Brazil and Canada as well as multi-platinum in Australia, Austria, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In the lattermost nation, "Firework" was the fifth-most played single on radios during 2011. The song was later certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and is one of Perry's four Diamond-certified songs, the others being "California Gurls", "Roar", "Dark Horse". "Firework" has since sold 17 million copies worldwide.

An accompanying music video, directed by Dave Meyers, was released on October 28, 2010. It portrays Perry singing and dancing around Budapest, with interspersed scenes of young people becoming confident in themselves. An open casting call for the music video drew an unprecedented 38,000 applicants. On MuchMusic's top 50 videos of 2010, "Firework" reached the top position. The music video was nominated for three awards at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, eventually winning one of those, the Video of the Year, the main and final award. "Firework" was nominated for Record of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance at the 54th Grammy Awards. The song was performed on all of Perry's concert tours since the California Dreams Tour, alongside her concert residency Play and the Super Bowl XLIX halftime show in 2015.