“Payphone” is a song by American pop rock band Maroon 5 featuring American rapper Wiz Khalifa. It was released on April 16, 2012 by A&M Octone Records, as the lead single from the band’s fourth studio album, Overexposed (2012). The song was written by Adam Levine, Khalifa, Ammar Malik, producers Benny Blanco and Shellback, and additional producer Robopop. The song is a pop ballad that describes a romance that ended abruptly. It received favourable reviews from music critics, who praised the catchy melody and named it “a radio success”, but some others dismissed its title and Khalifa’s appearance.
In the official music video directed by Samuel Bayer, Levine takes down bank robbers and attempts to become the hero in a hail of bullets as he makes his escape. He steals a gun from a robber and then gets mistaken for one. Because of this, he must escape in a car chase from a fleet of policemen, which he does with ease. The video was positively received from critics, who considered it an enjoyable mini-action film. The video was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award for Best Pop Video but lost out to “What Makes You Beautiful” by British boy band One Direction. In July 2012, “Payphone” was named Song of the Summer for 2012 by Idolator.
On the Billboard Hot 100, the song debuted at the number three spot before peaking at number two. The song sold 493,000 copies in its first week, becoming the best sales week for a digital song by a group and also the eleventh-best sales week overall. It peaked at number one in Canada for eight consecutive weeks. It also topped the charts in the United Kingdom, making it the band’s first-ever single to do so. “Payphone” was the world’s fifth best-selling single of 2012 with 9.5 million copies sold.
