Last year, AWOLNATION‘s breakout single, “Sail,” was certified Diamond by the RIAA.

Originally released in 2010 to little fanfare, “Sail” would eventually debut on the Billboard Hot 100 a year later before hitting its peak at number 17 in 2013. All told, it spent a total of 79 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, third-longest time in the chart’s history. Its long road to success made “Sail” a so-called “sleeper hit,” a fitting term for a song frontman Aaron Bruno slept on a bit himself.

“It didn’t sound like a single to me,” Bruno tells ABC Audio. “It just sounded like something I was proud of, that was it.”

Bruno is, of course, “very grateful” for what “Sail” has become — “It still remains like an out-of-body experience,” he says — but he’s perhaps most happy for his parents.

“[Now] they [don’t] have to feel like they maybe made the wrong decision as parents by encouraging me to continue on this insane path,” he laughs.

As a staple of his live set, Bruno’s now performed “Sail” too many times to count, and he continues to be happy to add to that number.

“Evey time we play it I enjoy playing it, still, thank god,” Bruno says. He’s particularly glad “Sail” has become AWOLNATION’s go-to live song, instead of maybe some other songs off his debut record.

“I’ve often thought what it would’ve been like to have to play one of the safer-sounding songs for the rest of my life, and that would’ve been kind of a drag,” Bruno says. “So I’m very grateful that, of all those songs, one of the weirdest ones remains mandatory to play.”

AWOLNATION’s next release, a covers compilation titled My Echo, My Shadow, My Covers & Me, arrives May 6.

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