Cameron Adams of The Daily Telegraph compared the song to "Take Me to Church" by Hozier for both having an "instant impact, honest lyrics and throwback to ‘real’ music in a time of corporate pop."[8]
On 23 December 2016, the song reached number two on the UK Singles Chart, scoring the Christmas number two of 2016. The song was certified Platinum on 17 February 2017 and 2× Platinum 21 July 2017 by the BPI.[14] It has sold 1,269,000 combined units in the UK as of September 2017, which comprises 522,000 copies in actual sales and 75 million in streams.[15]
In the United States, the song reached at number one on the Billboard Alternative Songs Chart and number two on Rock Airplay.[16] It was certified Gold by the RIAA on 7 July 2017,[17] and has sold 324,000 copies in the US as of September 2017.[18] It is also Rag'n'Bone Man's only entry in the Billboard Hot 100 chart, as of 2022, and reached number 74 on a chart dated 27 May 2017.
The song had widespread chart success internationally, with it reaching the #1 spot on charts in more than 15 countries. As of January 2024, the music video has received 1.8 billion YouTube views.[19]
In December 2017, Australians hip hopbeat boxer Tom Thum[130] and vocalist Ruel released a cover version with the backing track constructed exclusively from layers of Tom's vocal technique and Ruel singing over top.[131]
The video was filmed as part of YouTube Australia's Pop-Up Space in Sydney's AFTRS studios.[132][133]
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^Beech, Mark (19 December 2016). "Little Mix, Clean Bandit, Rag 'N' Bone Man Fight For Christmas No. 1". Forbes. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
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^"Rag'nBone Man's Human intro for Into the Badlands season 2". YouTube. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
^Adams, Cameron (27 October 2016). "Rag 'n' Bone Man, aka Rory Graham, to make album after hit Human". The Daily Telegraph. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
^Beaumont-Thomas, Ben; Snapes, Laura (2018-02-21). "All the wins and performances from the Brit awards 2018 – as they happened". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2018-02-22.
^"Rag'n'Bone Man - Later with Jools Holland Performance Just Confirmed". Pressparty. Sony Music UK. 14 September 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
^"Rag'n'Bone Man performs 'Human' LIVE - watch now". Yahoo7. Yahoo!. 28 October 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
^"Episode 17, Series 20, The Graham Norton Show - BBC One". BBC.
^"Rag'n'Bone Man Performs "Human" On "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" (Watch Now)". Headline Planet. 2017-02-17. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
^"Nielsen SoundScan charts – Digital Songs – Week Ending: 09/14/2017" (PDF). Nielsen SoundScan. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 September 2017. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
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^"Human (Rudimental Remix): Rag'n'Bone Man". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
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^"Rag'n'Bone Man Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
^"Rag'n'Bone Man Chart History (Canada CHR/Top 40)". Billboard. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
^"Rag'n'Bone Man Chart History (Canada Hot AC)". Billboard. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
^"Rag'n'Bone Man Chart History (Canada Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
^"Croatia ARC TOP 40". HRT. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
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^"Greek Top 20 Chart, Week 5, 2017". airplaychart.gr. Archived from the original on 1 February 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^"Greece Digital Song Sales, 21 January 2017". billboard.com. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
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^"Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Single (track) Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
^"Rag'n'Bone Man Chart History". RÚV. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
^"Russia Airplay Chart for 2017-02-20." TopHit. Retrieved 2018-12-06.
^"Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
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^"SloTop50 Slovenian official singles chart". SloTop50. Archived from the original on 5 January 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
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^"Ukraine Airplay Chart for 2017-05-29." TopHit. Retrieved 2018-12-06.
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^"Rag'n'Bone Man Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
^"Rag'n'Bone Man Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
^"Rag'n'Bone Man Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
^"Rag'n'Bone Man Chart History (Rock Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
^"Ö3 Austria Top 40 - Single-Charts 2016". oe3.orf.at. Archived from the original on 28 December 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
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^"Platz 4️⃣0️⃣ der erfolgreichsten Singles und Alben des Jahrzehnts sichern sich Rag'n'Bone Man mit "Human" (starke 12 Wochen an der Spitze) und P!nk mit "The Truth About Love" (fast 1,5 Jahre platziert). @sonymusicde" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 25 November 2019 – via Twitter.
^Copsey, Rob (11 December 2019). "The UK's Official Top 100 biggest songs of the decade". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
^"Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Rag´n´Bone Man; 'Human')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
^"Italian single certifications – Rag'n'Bone Man – Human" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 5 November 2022. Select "2019" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "Human" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione".
^"Portuguese single certifications – Rag'n'Bone Man – Human" (PDF) (in Portuguese). Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
^"Spanish single certifications – Rag N Bone Man – Human". El portal de Música. Productores de Música de España. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
^"Veckolista Singlar, vecka 7, 2017 | Sverigetopplistan" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 7 November 2020. Scroll to position 65 to view certification.
^"The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('Human')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
^Worldwide releases for digital single of "Human":
For Brazil: "Human - Single by Rag'n'Bone Man on Apple Music". iTunes Store (BR) (in Portuguese). Apple Inc. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
For Japan: "Human - Single by Rag'n'Bone Man on Apple Music". iTunes Store (JP) (in Japanese). Apple Inc. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
For New Zealand: "Human - Single by Rag'n'Bone Man on Apple Music". iTunes Store (NZ). Apple Inc. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
For the UK: "Human - Single by Rag'n'Bone Man on Apple Music". iTunes Store (UK). Apple Inc. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
For the US: "Human - Single by Rag'n'Bone Man on Apple Music". iTunes Store (US). Apple Inc. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
^"RAG 'N' BONE MAN "Human" (Radio Date: 07/10/2016)". radiodate.it. Radio Airplay S.R.L. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
^"Top 40/Mainstream > Future Releases". All Access. Archived from the original on 3 March 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
^"Tom Thum". Triple J Unearthed. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
^"Tom Thum - Human ft. Ruel (Rag n Bone Man cover)". YouTube. 7 December 2017. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
^"Tom Thum x Ruel Combine To Reinvent Rag'n'Bone Man". Clash Music. 7 December 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
^"Tom Thum Premieres New Music Video for "Human" Featuring Ruel". PM Studios. 11 December 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
^"Human (feat. Ruel) – Single by iTunes". iTunes Australia. Retrieved 27 June 2018.