"Without You" is a song written by musicians Pete Ham and Tom Evans of British rock group Badfinger. According to ASCAP, the ballad has been recorded by more than 180 artists since it was written and has made many appearances on the Billboard Hot 100, including the number one position. Beatle Paul McCartney once described the ballad as "...the killer song of all time.".^[1]

[edit] Badfinger origins

First recorded by the rock group Badfinger, the song was composed by two of its members. Pete Ham had written a song originally titled "If It's Love" but it had lacked a strong chorus. Tom Evans had written a song during this same period but he was disappointed with the verse section, so the duo fused their respective pieces together.^[2] The protagonist of this ballad lets a lover know that he "can't live if living is without you." Both Ham and Evans said they did not consider the song to have much potential at the time Badfinger recorded it, and the track was slotted to close Side A of their 1970 No Dice album. Badfinger's recording of the song, which is more brusque than its successors' versions, was never released as a single. In parallel to the song lyrics, both Ham and Evans later committed suicide.

[edit] Harry Nilsson version

Harry Nilsson, at the time best known for his hit "Everybody's Talkin'" and for composing such hits as Three Dog Night's "One", heard Badfinger's recording of "Without You" at a party, and mistook it for a Beatles song.^[3] After realizing it was not, he decided to cover the song for his album Nilsson Schmilsson in 1971; it stayed at number 1 on the U.S. pop chart for four weeks, from February 13 to March 11, 1972. The song also spent five weeks atop the U.S. adult contemporary chart. In the UK, the song spent five weeks at number 1 on the British pop chart, beginning on March 11, and sold almost 800,000 copies.^[4] The single was produced by Richard Perry, who later explained, "It was a different record for its time. It was a big ballad with a heavy backbeat, and although many artists have cut songs like it since, no one was doing it then."^[5] Gary Wright, then known as a member of the British group Spooky Tooth, and later a successful solo artist in his own right, played piano on the recording.^[5]

While Nilsson rarely performed live, he did perform the song with Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas in September 1992,^[6] and also performed the song with the house band, Liverpool, at various Beatlefest fan conventions.

[edit] Charts

[edit] Mariah Carey version

"Without You"
Single by Mariah Carey
from the album Music Box
B-side	"Never Forget You"
Released	January 24, 1994 (1994-01-24)
Format	CD single, cassette single, 7" single, 12" maxi single
Genre	Pop
Length	3:33
Label	Columbia
Producer	Walter Afanasieff, Mariah Carey
Certification	Platinum (Australia, Austria, Frane, Germany, Netherlands) Gold (New Zealand, Switzerland, UK, U.S.)
Mariah Carey singles chronology
"Hero" (1993) "Without You"/"Never Forget You" (1994) "Anytime You Need a Friend" (1994)

Mariah Carey's version was released as the third single off Music Box in the first quarter of 1994, and in the United States it was released on January 24, 1994, just over a week after Nilsson had died following a heart attack on January 15, 1994. In the U.S. it was promoted as a double A-side with "Never Forget You". In the song Carey dips into her lower register and is accompanied by backup singers (including herself) magnified to sound like a mighty gospel chorus.^[7] Carey said that she decided to cover the song when she heard it in a restaurant. Her version has been considered very popular on talent shows.^[8] "Without You" was later included on some non-U.S. pressings of her compilation album #1's (1998).

[edit] Chart performance

"Without You" reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, remaining in the top forty for twenty-one weeks and on the chart for twenty-three. It reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay and number 3 on the Hot 100 Singles Sales. Both radio airplay and sales were strong, and it was certified gold by the RIAA. It was ranked 16 on the Hot 100 1994 year-end charts.

"Without You" remains Carey's biggest hit outside the U.S., being largely successful across Europe. It became her first UK number 1 single, and still remains her only number 1 there as a solo artist. It debuted at number 1 on the chart and stayed at number 1 for four weeks^[9]. It was also her first chart-topper in Italy, but was most successful in Switzerland (with ten non-consecutive weeks at number 1) and the Netherlands (twelve weeks). It also topped the singles chart in Germany for four weeks and Austria for eight weeks, where Carey's success had previously been limited. It also topped the Swedish Singles Chart for eight weeks, was number 1 in Ireland for five weeks and in New Zealand for one week. It was able to make the top three in Canada, France, Norway and Australia. It was certified platinum in Australia by ARIA and in Germany and Austria by IFPI. It was also certified gold in the United Kingdom by BPI, in New Zealand by RIANZ and in France by SNEP.

[edit] ASCAP and Ivor Novello recognition

On 15 May 1995, ASCAP held its twelfth annual Pop Music Awards in Beverly Hills, California, and "Without You" was recognized as one of the 50 most-played songs of 1994 (due largely to Carey's recording). Discrepancies in ASCAP's books incorrectly attributed the song as being composed not only by Ham and Evans, but also by Badfinger's other bandmembers, Mike Gibbins and Joey Molland, and their former manager, Bill Collins. This designation and a lack of correction by ASCAP prompted the Ham Estate to boycott the ceremony. The song was also nominated for "Song Of The Year" in London at the Ivor Novello Awards.^[2]

[edit] Mariah Carey track listing

Worldwide CD single

1. "Without You" – 3:34
2. "Never Forget You" – 3:45

European maxi-CD single #1

1. "Without You" – 3:34
2. "Never Forget You" – 3:45
3. "Dreamlover (live)" – 4:09

European maxi-CD single #2

1. "Without You" – 3:34
2. "Vision of Love" – 3:28
3. "I'll Be There" – 4:28
4. "Love Takes Time" – 3:48

[edit] Charts

[edit] Sales and certifications

[edit] Other cover versions

• Chris de Burgh for the album Footsteps, released in 2008.
• Bobby Conn on the Llovessonngs EP, released in 1999.
• Antonio Cartagena, a Spanish version in salsa mode.
• Paloma San Basilio, a Spanish ballad called "Sin Ti".
• Shirley Bassey, for the album And I Love You So in 1972, and in Spanish as "Sin Ti" for the 1989 album La Mujer.
• Cilla Black for her January 1973 record, Day by Day With Cilla.
• Heart, for the album Magazine, released in April 1978.
• Pop group Brotherhood of Man recorded a version for their 20 Love Songs album in 1981.
• Gens, Italian version under the title "Per chi"..
• Air Supply, for the album The Earth Is... released in 1991.
• T.G. Sheppard on his Greatest Hits album released in 1983.
• Melissa Manchester, on the album, For The Working Girl, originally released in 1980.
• Mina, with Johnny Dorelli at the radio in the Italian translation "Per chi" (1978).
• Kelly Clarkson sang the song during her run on the first season of American Idol.
• Donny Osmond, for the album Somewhere in Time, released in November 2002.
• Jade Kwan, for the album Jade-2 Special Edition released in January 2003.
• Clay Aiken, for the album A Thousand Different Ways released in September 2006.
• Pandora, in 1992. This Spanish-language version, under the title of "Desde el dia que te fuiste" ("From the Day You Went Away"), was covered by the operatic pop band Il Divo, for the album Siempre released in November 2006.
• Leona Lewis covered the song on The X Factor.
• Tito Nieves did a salsa version (another salsa version is done by Orquesta Corinto).
• Klasse Aparte ("Sin ti," merengue version in 1996).
• Hall & Oates released the cover of this song in 2004 on their Our Kind of Soul album
• Natalia, for the album This Time released in 2003.
• Bonnie 'Prince' Billy (Will Oldham), with Bob Marley's Babylon System for the 2004 EP Pebbles and Ripples.
• Wing, for the album One Voice released in 2007.
• In 2004, Weezer front man Rivers Cuomo posted his cover of "Without You" on his MySpace page. The song was removed due to copyright issues though MP3s of the song are still floating around the web.
• Carly Smithson sang the song on the seventh season of American Idol the week Mariah Carey mentored the contestants.
• Alexandra Burke covered the song on the fifth series of The X Factor It was also released as a b-side of the "Hallelujah" single.
• Vietnamese Singer Thai Doanh Doanh covered the song on Asia 59.
• Lüszi Tóth sang the song on the fourth season of Megasztár.
• Calcinha Preta, a Brazilian forró band, with name "Paulinha."
• The Swedish artist Timo Räisänen released a cover of the song on his album And Then There Was Timo from 2008.
• In 2008, Valentina Hasan, a season two contestant of Music Idol, sang her own version of "Without You" in Engrish. Soon dubbed "Ken Lee" after the way she pronounced "Can't Live," the video of Valentina Hasan's performance quickly became a YouTube hit, and was parodied and remixed by many fans.^[24] It was a feature in the Sign of the Times on ABC's Nightline television show in March 2009.^[25]
• Elaine Paige recorded a version on her 1985 album Love Hurts.
• Colin Raye recorded this song on his Never Going Back album from 2009.

[edit] In films

In the film The Rules of Attraction, a college girl commits suicide in a bathtub while this song plays on the soundtrack.

Nilsson's version of "Without You" was also used as the opening tune to 1979's Porridge feature film.

In the film Casino, the Harry Nilsson version is playing during one of Ginger's manic episodes.

[edit] See also

• Hot 100 number-one hits of 1972 (United States)
• 1994 in British music

[edit] References