Glance Hollywood Red issue | Page 19

music The Best Songs of 2015 Hozier’s “Take Me To Church” If you are one of the 11 million people who’s watched Hozier’s ‘Take Me To Church’ video, you’ll already know that he’s not afraid to tackle the big issues. T he song was released as his debut single on 13 September 2013. In 2014, the song achieved widespread global popularity, becoming a number-one hit in 12 countries, as well as a top 10 single in 21 other territories. In the United States, it was aided by music platform Shazam and Spotify to become a rock radio hit (where it has spent 23 consecutive weeks at the top of the Hot Rock Songs chart, tied with Imagine Dragons ‘s “Radioactive” as the longest-running numberone in its history), later crossing over to the all-genre Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at number two in December 2014. The song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Song of the Year at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards. The song has been certified five times platinum in the US. In an interview with New York magazine, he elaborated: “Sexuality, and sexual orientation – regardless of orientation – is just natural. An act of sex is one of the most human things. But an organization like the church, say, through its doctrine, would undermine humanity by successfully teaching shame about sexual orientation – that it is sinful, or that it offends God. The song is about asserting yourself and reclaiming your humanity through an act of love.” Karen Grigoryan GLANCE GLANCE   