"Romantic Homicide" is a bedroom pop song by American singer-songwriter D4vd. It was released on July 20, 2022, through DistroKid and later included as the second single from his debut EP, Petals to Thorns. The song gained popularity on the social media platform TikTok in September 2022 and was re-released by Darkroom and Interscope, leading to commercial success. In 2025, the song re-entered the charts following the discovery of Celeste Rivas Hernandez's body in a Tesla vehicle registered to D4vd.
Background and composition D4vd recorded the song in his sister's closet and initially released it in July 2022. By early September, it had been featured in over 245,000 TikTok clips.
The song features "heavy guitars" and "sentimental percussions", exploring themes of unrequited love and breakups and is characterized by its short lyrics, described as having a "more profound meaning".
Release After gaining popularity on TikTok, it was released on July 20, 2022, through DistroKid, and later included as the second single from D4vd's debut EP, Petals to Thorns, released in 2023.
A live version of the song, along with a visualizer, was released on December 8, 2023, by Darkroom and Interscope.
The album cover is a stolen and edited desktop wallpaper made by artist Charli Siebert. The website where it was hosted closed in 2007.
Music video The music video for the song was released on September 7, 2022. Inspired by film noir and anime, it features an alter ego named Itami, meaning "pain" in Japanese. Directed by Tommy Kiljoy, the video depicts the character mourning and moving on from a relationship.
Charts After faring well in the charts on its first release, in 2025, the song re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 38 following the discovery of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez's body in a Tesla registered to D4vd. It also climbed 102 places to number 42 on Spotify's Global Top 50, and was number 13 in US Spotify by September 20, 2025.
Weekly charts + 2022–2023 weekly chart performance for "Romantic Homicide" Chart (2022–2023) Peakposition Australia (ARIA) 40 Canada (Canadian Hot 100) 32 Global 200 (Billboard) 35 Greece International (IFPI) 20 Lithuania (AGATA) 13 Malaysia International (RIM) 9 Netherlands (Single Tip) 4 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) 21 Singapore (Billboard) 23 Singapore (RIAS) 18 Slovakia (Singles Digitál Top 100) 52 Sweden Heatseeker (Sverigetopplistan) 2 US Billboard Hot 100 33 US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard) 4 US Alternative Airplay (Billboard) 30
+ 2025 weekly chart performance for "Romantic Homicide" Chart (2025) Peakposition Global 200 (Billboard) 30 Norway (IFPI Norge) 81 Sweden Heatseeker (Sverigetopplistan) 1 US Billboard Hot 100 38
Year-end charts + 2022 year-end chart performance for "Romantic Homicide" Chart (2022) Position US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard) 18 + 2023 year-end chart performance for "Romantic Homicide" Chart (2023) Position Global 200 (Billboard) 163 US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard) 10 + 2025 year-end chart performance for "Romantic Homicide" Chart (2025) Position US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard) 90
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