King of the Fall

The initial release of "King of the Fall" followed that of his 2014 single "Often" (which was released a month prior) and the announcement of his 2014 King of the Fall Tour.^[7][8] The two songs were released to promote his aforementioned tour and to get fans excited for his second studio album Beauty Behind the Madness, which included "Often" but excluded "King of the Fall".^[9]

The song was officially released to streaming services and digital retailers on September 25, 2020, after a six year period of unofficial uploads to streaming platforms such as Spotify.^[10] It followed the official release his remixed track "Rambo (Last Blood)" and the special Kiss Land episode of his Apple Music 1 radio show Memento Mori, which featured unreleased demos and songs from his early career.^[11]

"King of the Fall" is considered by critics and fans alike as being a staple song in the Weeknd's discography.^[12] Alyson Lewis from uDiscover Music ranked the song as being Tesfaye's second most career defining track, complimenting his delivery and saying that song contains some of his most potent verses.^[13] Pranav Trewn from Stereogum ranked the song as being the ninth best in his discography, with him praising his singing and rapping on the song and calling it a "tour de force of all the places the Weeknd's voice can go".^[14]

In 2014, due to its limited initial release, "King of the Fall" was only eligible to chart at number one on the US Billboard + Twitter Trending 140. However, following its official release to digital retailers and mainstream streaming services in 2020, the song was able to debut at number 18 on the US Billboard Hot R&B Songs chart.

The music video for "King of the Fall" was released on August 28, 2014.^[15][16] It was directed by Kid Studio and features the Weeknd walking through his hometown of Toronto.^{[17] [18]}