"Apologize" is a song written by Ryan Tedder, which first appeared on Timbaland's second studio album Shock Value. It was then released as the third single from that album, along with the original recording by OneRepublic.
It accordingly also served as the lead single for OneRepublic's debut album Dreaming Out Loud, produced by Greg Wells.
Timbaland's version omits the guitar solo after the second verse in the original, and includes an extra line of percussion, new backing vocals, and added sound samples, in addition to sound mixing and a few other minor changes.
The song was the biggest radio airplay hit in the history of the Mainstream Top 40 chart in the United States, with 10,394 plays in one week, until its record was broken by Leona Lewis's "Bleeding Love", which was also co-written by Tedder.
The song was a major hit internationally, reaching number one in 16 countries, including Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Sweden, Turkey, and the Netherlands, as well as staying at number one for eight consecutive weeks on the Billboard Pop 100 chart.
The song peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, staying in the top-10 for 25 weeks, and spent 13 weeks at number one in Canada.