[1] The singer felt "kind of depressed" after Donald Trump was elected President of the United States in November 2016, and "definitely didn't want to write a club banger" when the "world" was "on fire".

[4] Capitol Records released the song for download two days later as the album's lead single[1][5] and onto American radio stations on February 14.

"[10] According to Thomas H. Green of The Arts Desk, "Chained to the Rhythm" is "a perfect slice of pop, lightly marinated in calypso with lyrics and a melody that brilliantly muster both existential hopelessness and remaining upbeat against bad odds".

[16] Jason Newman from Rolling Stone wrote, "Perry injects a subversive element underneath the ostensibly frothy song, lacing her lyrics with ideas of selfish comfortability and complacency.

[17] Lars Brandie from Billboard wrote the track "is built on a bed of warm, slightly-tweaked '80s keys and has its energies tuned to the dancefloor.

's Samantha Scnurr wrote the song "sounds like a soon-to-be party classic with its easy pulse and disco elements, layered underneath the upbeat veneer, Perry delivers a strong message about awareness and activism—and, according to her, how it's lacking.

"[21] Another positive review came from Jason Lipshutz of Billboard, who felt it amplified "Perry's new musical agenda at a time when she needed one" with its political themes.

According to him, "the single is built around lyrics chastising us for being 'happily numb' and 'tone deaf,' and tries to gently puncture the bubble that we create when we drown out the world's issues.

"[13] Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine praised "Chained to the Rhythm", writing, "a track with a hook that implores listeners to 'Come on, turn it up/Keep it on repeat' had better deliver the goods, and this one most definitely does.

"[17] Josh Duboff from Vanity Fair considered the song "a departure from straight-forward firework metaphors and nostalgic teenage romance anthems."

[34] On October 29, 2019, "Chained to the Rhythm" was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments of two million units.

[44] In Australia, the song reached number four on the ARIA Charts,[45] and certified double platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association for shipments of 140,000 units.

[52] The video was mostly shot at the Six Flags Magic Mountain theme park in Valencia, Santa Clarita, California, where Perry rides a stylised version of the Full Throttle roller coaster.

[50] Billboard writer Gil Kaufman wrote that the video has "a number of not-so-subtle hints at Perry's feelings about the current political climate in the nation."

[55] In the video, the guests are all taking selfies, eating sticks of candy floss in the shape of a nuclear mushroom cloud[56] and crowding around a sign for "the greatest ride in the universe.

The giant concrete dome in the park is supposedly a reference to the San Onofre nuclear power plant located on the Pacific coast.

The scene changes to "The Great American Dream Drop", where a young couple snuggles in a tiny house that gets flung high into the air and then plunges into the ground.

It shows people drinking large beakers of flaming "Inferno H2O", a bright blue, tainted liquid that makes patrons belch.

[60] Perry first sang the track live at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards on February 12, 2017, where she finished by standing in front of the United States Constitution alongside Skip Marley and closed with the message "No hate".

Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Meena Jang observed that viewers believed the skeletons resembled Donald Trump and Theresa May, and called the performance "politically charged".

[67][68] Adam Boult of The Daily Telegraph also suspected the skeletons resembled Trump and May, though wrote that "The point of the stage dressing might not have been entirely clear – and Perry refrained from saying anything overtly political".