It 's Been Awhile - wikipedia It 's Been Awhile `` It 's Been Awhile '' Single by Staind from the album Break the Cycle Released March 20, 2001 Format CD single Recorded 2001 Genre Post-grunge Length 4 : 25 Label Elektra Songwriter ( s ) Aaron Lewis Mike Mushok Johnny April Jon Wysocki Producer ( s ) Josh Abraham Staind singles chronology `` Home '' ( 2000 ) `` It 's Been Awhile '' ( 2001 ) `` Outside '' ( 2001 ) `` Home '' ( 2000 ) `` It 's Been Awhile '' ( 2001 ) `` Outside '' ( 2001 ) `` It 's Been Awhile '' is a song recorded by American rock band Staind. It was released in March 2001 as the lead single from their album Break the Cycle. The song is Staind 's most successful and is their best - known song, becoming a No. 5 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in October 2001, their only song to reach the top 10. The song spent a second - best 20 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart ( behind only `` Loser '' by 3 Doors Down ) and a then - record 16 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart, beaten in 2007 by Foo Fighters with `` The Pretender ''. Contents 1 Content 2 Reception 3 Track listing 4 Music video 5 Charts 5.1 Year - end charts 5.2 Certifications 6 References 7 External links Content The narrator takes stock of his life and refers to his addiction and failed relationships. Lewis called the song `` an acknowledgement of the past. '' Reception Eric Aiese of Billboard reviewed the song favourably, saying that the group handles the ballad well and packs `` a lot of punch into the cut. '' Aiese said that the song `` may be the group 's greatest splash yet. '' Track listing `` It 's Been Awhile '' ( LP Clean Edit ) `` It 's Been Awhile '' ( Acoustic Version ) `` Suffocate '' ( LP Version ) Music video The music video begins with Aaron Lewis going through some old photographs, one of which happens to be the picture of his wife. The video then switches between him writing a letter to his wife and the band performing casually in a room full of candles. There are brief shots of Aaron alone in the streets and looking at himself in the mirror while having second thoughts. Throughout the video, Aaron is seen continuously smoking cigarettes. At the end of the video, one of those cigarettes falls onto the floor and burns down his apartment. The video was directed by Limp Bizkit frontman, Fred Durst. Charts Chart ( 2001 -- 02 ) Peak position Australia ( ARIA ) 24 Austria ( Ö3 Austria Top 40 ) 54 Belgium ( Ultratop 50 Flanders ) 46 Germany ( Official German Charts ) 43 Ireland ( IRMA ) 18 Netherlands ( Dutch Top 40 ) 7 Sweden ( Sverigetopplistan ) 23 Switzerland ( Schweizer Hitparade ) 79 UK Singles ( The Official Charts Company ) 15 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 5 U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks U.S. Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks 6 U.S. Billboard Top 40 Tracks Year - end charts Chart ( 2001 ) Position New Zealand ( Recorded Music NZ ) 50 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 14 Certifications Country Certification Date Sales certified Australia Gold 2002 35,000 + United States Gold 2001 500,000 + References Jump up ^ Geffen, Sasha ( October 7, 2013 ). `` In Defense of Post-Grunge Music ''. Consequence of Sound. Retrieved January 30, 2017. ^ Jump up to : Whitburn, Joel ( 2004 ). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition ( Billboard Publications ), page 595. Jump up ^ Pesselnick, Jill ( June 2, 2001 ). `` The Modern Age ''. Google Books. Billboard Magazine. Retrieved September 15, 2016. Jump up ^ Aiese, Eric ( May 12, 2001 ). Google Books. Billboard Magazine https://books.google.com/books?id=FikEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA48&dq=staind+it%27s+been+awhile+review&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjLsNum4pLPAhVCGB4KHehdAVkQ6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&q=staind%20it's%20been%20awhile%20review&f=false. Retrieved September 15, 2016. Missing or empty title = ( help ) Jump up ^ `` Australian-charts.com -- Staind -- It 's Been Awhile ''. ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved November 21, 2011. Jump up ^ `` Austriancharts.at -- Staind -- It 's Been Awhile '' ( in German ). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved November 21, 2011. Jump up ^ `` Ultratop.be -- Staind -- It 's Been Awhile '' ( in Dutch ). Ultratop 50. Retrieved November 21, 2011. Jump up ^ `` Musicline.de -- Staind Single - Chartverfolgung '' ( in German ). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH. Retrieved November 21, 2011. Jump up ^ Search for Irish peak positions Archived 2011 - 10 - 12 at WebCite Jump up ^ `` Nederlandse Top 40 -- Staind '' ( in Dutch ). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved November 21, 2011. Jump up ^ `` Swedishcharts.com -- Staind -- It 's Been Awhile ''. Singles Top 100. Retrieved November 21, 2011. Jump up ^ `` Swisscharts.com -- Staind -- It 's Been Awhile ''. Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved November 21, 2011. Jump up ^ `` Chart Stats - Staind ( UK ) ''. chartstats.com. Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 21 December 2011. ^ Jump up to : `` Staind > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles ''. Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2010 - 08 - 23. Jump up ^ `` End of Year Charts 2001 ''. Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved December 11, 2017. Jump up ^ `` Billboard Top 100 - 2001 ''. Archived from the original on March 4, 2009. Retrieved 2010 - 08 - 31. Jump up ^ `` ARIA Charts -- Accreditations -- 2002 Singles ''. Australian Recording Industry Association. Jump up ^ `` RIAA certifications ''. Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 2010 - 12 - 19. External links Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics Staind Aaron Lewis Mike Mushok Johnny April Jon Wysocki Sal Giancarelli Studio albums Tormented Dysfunction Break the Cycle 14 Shades of Grey Chapter V The Illusion of Progress Staind Compilation albums The Singles : 1996 -- 2006 Video albums The Videos Singles `` Just Go '' `` Mudshovel '' `` It 's Been Awhile '' `` Outside '' `` Fade '' `` For You '' `` Price to Play '' `` So Far Away '' `` How About You '' `` Right Here '' `` Everything Changes '' `` King of All Excuses '' `` Believe '' `` This Is It '' `` Not Again '' `` Eyes Wide Open '' `` Now '' `` Something to Remind You '' Related articles Discography Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=It%27s_Been_Awhile&oldid=851833752 '' Categories : 2001 singles Staind songs Billboard Mainstream Rock number - one singles Billboard Alternative Songs number - one singles 2000 songs Elektra Records singles Songs written by Aaron Lewis Song recordings produced by Josh Abraham Songs written by Mike Mushok Rock ballads 2000s ballads Hidden categories : Pages with citations lacking titles Pages with citations having bare URLs Webarchive template webcite links Articles with hAudio microformats Singlechart usages for Australia Singlechart usages for Austria Singlechart usages for Flanders Singlechart usages for Germany Singlechart usages for Dutch40 Singlechart usages for Sweden Singlechart usages for Switzerland Talk Contents About Wikipedia Italiano Nederlands Simple English Edit links This page was last edited on 24 July 2018, at 22 : 16 ( UTC ). 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Question: who sings the song it's been a while
Answer: American rock band Staind