| "One of the Greats" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Florence and the Machine | ||||
| from the album Everybody Scream | ||||
| Released | 24 September 2025 | |||
| Studio | Long Pond Studio | |||
| Genre | [1] | |||
| Length | 6:32 | |||
| Label | Polydor | |||
| Songwriters | Florence Welch & Mark Bowen | |||
| Producers | Florence Welch, Aaron Dessner & Mark Bowen | |||
| Florence and the Machine singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"One of the Greats" is a song by indie rock band Florence and the Machine. It was released on 24 September 2025 [2] by Polydor Records as the second single to the bands sixth studio album, Everybody Scream . It was written by the bands frontwoman Florence Welch along with Mark Bowen. It followed. "One of the Greats" is an electric guitar driven gothic rock song discussing the cost of success in the music industry and the misogyny and sexism in the music industry. [3] [4]
Florence and the Machine announced "One of the Greats" via their social media on 22 September 2025 [5] along with a music video visualiser directed by Autumn de Wilde, who had collaborated with the artist in several previous music videos, including "Everybody Scream" and "Free" [6] . The track was released two days later.
Like the album the song was written for, the song discusses its message in themes of mysticism, horror, witchcraft and madness. Welch opens the song with "I crawled up from under the earth / Broken nails and coughing dirt", setting the theme of the song as an undead resurrection, akin to a zombie. The line reflects Welch's near death experience in an ectopic pregnancy on the bands Dance Fever Tour, which shaped the theme of album. [7]
The song also discusses sexism, misogyny and gender bias in the lyrics, such as "I'll be up there with the men and the 10 other women in the 100 greatest records of all time", or "It must be nice to be a man and make boring music just because you can". Both lines discuss how men have a significant advantage over women in the music industry, with more freedom and little question of legitimacy [8]
"One of the Greats" was debuted at an intimate concert in The Loft radio station in Los Angeles on 27 October 2025, four days before the albums release date. [9] It was performed again on the day of the albums release date, on Halloween, at Unsound in New York City. The song was included in the setlist for the album's promotional tour, the Everybody Scream Tour, as the encore-opener. [10]
The songs music video visualiser was directed by Autumn de Wilde who has collaborated with the band to make many of the band's music videos, including "Free", "King", and "Heaven Is Here". It depicts Welch in the back seat of a limousine wearing sunglasses and a suit with a cigarette, singing the song. [11]
| Chart (2025) | Peak Position |
|---|---|
| Official Charts Company | 3 [12] |
| Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs | 44 [13] |