"Cannonball" is a song written and performed by Irish folk singer Damien Rice. It was released as the second single from his debut album O, following the release of the debut single "The Blower's Daughter" and was subject of many releases in 2003 (reaching number 32 on the UK Singles Chart), 2004 (reaching number 19) and 2011 (reaching number 9). The song was picked as the winner's song for the British The X Factor in its eighth series and was released by the series winners Little Mix on 11 December 2011, topping the British and Irish Singles Charts in the first week of release.