“Hero” by Weezer

"Hero" was the second advance look at Van Weezer, the band's fifteenth studio album, turning up on May 6, 2020, long before the record itself landed in 2021. It's Weezer back on the hard-rock roots the album was chasing, all heavy guitars and bounce, with Spin hearing a shot of power pop in it. Rolling Stone called it an outcast anthem about Rivers Cuomo's sense of not measuring up, and the band dedicated it to stuck-at-home dreamers, Zoom-call graduates, sourdough bakers and essential workers.

Suzy Shinn produced and recorded it, and Matty Green mixed it. The video, from Brendan Walter and Jasper Graham, follows a letter Cuomo writes as it passes from fan to fan. A piano-ballad version followed that July, and the original became the band's fifth number one on the US Alternative Airplay chart.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.