Without You (Badfinger Song)

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Without you
Bad finger
publication November 9, 1970
length 4:42
Genre (s) Soft rock
Author (s) Peter Ham , Tom Evans
Publisher (s) Apple Records
album No dice
Cover versions
1971 Harry Nilsson
1993 Mariah Carey

Without You is a song by the British group Badfinger , which appeared on their album No Dice on November 9, 1970. It was written by band members Peter Ham and Thomas Evans. Another song of the same title had been a hit with Eddie Fisher in the 1950s and with Johnny Tillotson in 1961 . Later, the interpretation of the song by Mariah Carey from 1993 became popular.

According to an anecdote by Fred Bronson , Harry Nilsson heard the song while listening to records with a friend. The next day, Nilsson called his friend to inquire about the artist, speculating that it must have been a Beatles title. 15 people searched unsuccessfully in records by the Beatles and the British band Grapefruit before someone came up with the real name “Badfinger”. Listening again was disappointing for Nilsson, but his producer Richard Perry encouraged him to record the song in his own version.

Nilsson's version of Without You appeared on the 1971 album Nilsson Schmilsson with Gary Wright on piano, Klaus Voormann on bass and Chris Spedding on guitar. The album was Nilsson's greatest success, reaching number 3 in the US album charts and recording 46 weeks in the album charts. The song Without You became a number one hit in the UK and the US , where it stayed at the top of the charts for four weeks and sold over a million copies. Nilsson received a Grammy for it . The Melody Maker magazine named the piece to the board in 1972 .

In 1993 the song was covered by Mariah Carey. It appeared on their album Music Box , which stayed at the top of the US album charts for eight weeks. Without You became her biggest hit in Europe, where he topped the charts in Germany , Austria , Switzerland and Great Britain in 1994 .

Other well-known covers are by Air Supply , Heart , Shirley Bassey , Timo Räisänen , Katie Melua and Chris de Burgh . In the period from 1970 to 1989, 41 albums were placed in the US album charts, on which the song Without You was covered.

Chart placements

Charts Top ranking Weeks
Chart placements
Germany (GfK) Germany (GfK) 1 (34 weeks) 34
Austria (Ö3) Austria (Ö3) 1 (24 weeks) 24
Switzerland (IFPI) Switzerland (IFPI) 1 (33 weeks) 33
United Kingdom (OCC) United Kingdom (OCC) 1 (14 weeks) 14th
United States (Billboard) United States (Billboard) 3 (23 weeks) 23

Awards for music sales

Country / Region Award Sales
Awards for music sales
(country / region, Award, Sales)
Australia (ARIA) Australia (ARIA) Platinum record icon.svg platinum 70,000
Germany (BVMI) Germany (BVMI) Platinum record icon.svg platinum 500,000
France (SNEP) France (SNEP) Gold record icon.svg gold 250,000
New Zealand (RMNZ) New Zealand (RMNZ) Gold record icon.svg gold 7,500
Austria (IFPI) Austria (IFPI) Platinum record icon.svg platinum 50,000
Switzerland (IFPI) Switzerland (IFPI) Gold record icon.svg gold 25,000
United States (RIAA) United States (RIAA) Gold record icon.svg gold 500,000
United Kingdom (BPI) United Kingdom (BPI) Gold record icon.svg gold 400,000
All in all Gold record icon.svg5 × gold
Platinum record icon.svg3 × platinum
 1,802,500

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ For the chart positions of different songs of this title see Whitburn, Joel: Top Pop Singles 1955-1993 . Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Ltd., 1994, p. 812
  2. ↑ This anecdote is narrated in Bronson, Fred: The Billboard Book of Number One Hits . 3rd revised and expanded edition. New York City, New York: Billboard Publications, 1992, p. 307
  3. ^ Tilch, KD: Rock LPs 1955-1970. Vol. 3: MS . 3rd ext. Hamburg: Taurus Press, 1990, p. 1170f
  4. ^ Whitburn, Joel: Top Pop Albums 1955-1996 . Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Ltd., 1996, p. 568
  5. ^ Nugent, Stephen / Fowler, Anne / Fowler, Pete: Chart Log of American / British Top 20 Hits, 1955-1974 . In: Gillett, Charlie / Frith, Simon (eds.): Rock File 4 . Frogmore, St. Albans: Panther Books, 1976, p. 360
  6. ^ Whitburn, Joel: Top Pop Singles 1955-1993 . Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Ltd., 1994, p. 433 - U.S. Catalog Number: RCA 0604
  7. ↑ On March 3, 1972, Nilsson received a gold record for his single Without You and on the same day for his album Nilsson Schmilsson . White, Adam: The Billboard Book Of Gold And Platinum Records . 2nd revised edition, London: Omnibus Press, 1990, p. 168
  8. ^ Whitburn, Joel: Top Pop Albums 1955-1996 . Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Ltd., 1996, p. 130 - U.S. Catalog Number: Columbia 53205
  9. ^ Whitburn, Joel: Top Pop Album Tracks 1955-1992 . Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc., 1993, p. 496
  10. ↑ Mariah Carey - Without You chart placement in Germany. GfK Entertainment , accessed on July 1, 2018 .
  11. ↑ Mariah Carey - Without You chart placement Austria. In: Austriancharts.at. Hung Medien, accessed July 1, 2018 .
  12. ^ Mariah Carey - Without You, chart placement in Switzerland. In: Hitparade.ch. Hung Medien, accessed July 1, 2018 .
  13. ^ Mariah Carey - Without You Charthistory United Kingdom. Official Charts Company , accessed July 1, 2018 .
  14. ↑ Mariah Carey - Without You chart placement in the United States. Billboard , accessed July 1, 2018 .
  15. ↑ ARIA single charts. ariacharts.com.au, accessed July 1, 2018 .
  16. ↑ Gold / platinum database. musikindustrie.de, accessed on July 1, 2018 .
  17. ↑ NZ charts. nztop40.co.nz, accessed July 1, 2018 .
  18. ↑ Gold & Platinum. ifpi.at, accessed on July 1, 2018 .
  19. ↑ precious metal. hitparade.ch, accessed on July 1, 2018 .
  20. ↑ Gold & Platinum. riaa.com, accessed July 1, 2018 .
  21. ↑ BPI Awards. bpi.co.uk, accessed July 1, 2018 .