The Rose (song)

"The Rose"
Single by Bette Midler
from the album The Rose
Released	1980
Genre	Pop
Length	3:40
Label	Atlantic
Writer(s)	Amanda McBroom
Producer	Paul A. Rothchild
Bette Midler singles chronology
"When a Man Loves a Woman" (1980) "The Rose" (1980) "My Mother's Eyes" (1980)

"The Rose" is a pop song written by Amanda McBroom and made famous by Bette Midler, who performed it in the 1979 movie, The Rose. Since then it has been covered by a variety of artists.

Bette Midler version

"The Rose" is featured in the 1979 film of the same name, in which it was performed by Midler. The single peaked at #3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and #1 on the adult contemporary chart, and it was certified gold by the RIAA for over half a million copies sold. McBroom won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, although she was not nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Midler won the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "The Rose".

There are two mixes of the song. The single mix features orchestration, while the version in the film (and on its soundtrack) includes an extended introduction while doing away with the orchestration in favor of piano-and-vocals only.

Preceded by "Lost in Love" by Air Supply

Billboard Adult Contemporary (chart) number-one single May 10, 1980 (five weeks)

Succeeded by "Little Jeannie" by Elton John

Conway Twitty version

"The Rose"
Single by Conway Twitty
from the album Dream Maker
Released	January 17, 1983
Genre	Country
Label	Elektra
Writer(s)	Amanda McBroom
Producer	Conway Twitty, Jimmy Bowen
Conway Twitty singles chronology
"We Did But Now You Don't" (1982) "The Rose" (1983) "Lost in the Feeling" (1983)

Country singer Conway Twitty recorded a cover version in 1983. His version, off his album Dream Maker, was a Number One country hit in U.S. and Canada. Conway Twitty's version was his 30th number one single on the U.S. country chart.

Chart performance

Chart (1983)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles	1
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	1

Preceded by "If Hollywood Don't Need You (Honey I Still Do)" by Don Williams	Billboard Hot Country Singles number-one single March 12, 1983	Succeeded by "I Wouldn't Change You If I Could" by Ricky Skaggs
Preceded by "Last Thing I Needed First Thing This Morning" by Willie Nelson	RPM Country Tracks number-one single March 26, 1983

Westlife version

"The Rose"
Single by Westlife
from the album The Love Album
Released	November 6, 2006
Format	CD Single
Recorded	Studio 301, Stockholm, Sweden & Metropolis Studio, London
Genre	Pop
Length	3:39
Label	SonyBMG
Writer(s)	Amanda McBroom
Producer	Quiz & Larossi
Westlife singles chronology
"Amazing" (2006) The Rose (2006) "Home" (2007) "The Rose CD2"

"The Rose" was covered by Irish boyband Westlife and was released as the first and only single from their eighth studio album, The Love Album. It reached #1 on the UK Singles Chart for one week in November 2006. This became the group's 14th number-one single. The single has sold over 140,000 copies in Britain so far. The band gave their first live performance of the song on Miss World 2006.

Tracklisting

UK CD1

1. "The Rose" - 3:40
2. "Solitaire" - 5:07

UK CD2

1. "The Rose" - 3:40
2. "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You" - 3:47
3. "If" - 2:42
4. "The Rose" (Video) - 3:55

Music video

The video for this single was presented in black and white and shows the emotions and events leading up to a couple's wedding procession. The band members are clad in suits and are shown in a checkered-floor room. During the initial period of the video's release, fans were given the opportunity to customise the music video by digitally adding their names to various elements such as the wedding invitation card. A coloured version of the music video was later made available.

Chart performance

Chart (2006)	Peak position
Austrian Singles Chart	67
European Hot 100 Singles	4
Irish Singles Chart	1
Sweden Singles Chart	4
Swiss Singles Chart	85
UK Singles Chart	1

Preceded by "Put Your Hands Up For Detroit" by Fredde Le Grand	UK Singles Chart number-one single November 12, 2006 (1 week)	Succeeded by "Smack That" by Akon
Preceded by "The Saints Are Coming" by U2 & Green Day	Irish Singles Chart number-one single November 16, 2006 (1 week)

Other versions

• American alternative rock band Mudhoney recorded a cover of the song for the 1988 compilation album Sub Pop 200.
• Japanese pop singer Ayahi Takagaki features this song on her foreign-language cover album, melodia.

Cultural references

Kurt Cobain mockingly sang the first line of this song at the beginning of Nirvana's famed 1992 Reading Festival appearance. On the television show Family Guy, in the episode "Baby Not on Board," the Griffins sing an abbreviated version of "The Rose" after Peter suggests they sing a driving song. In the Two and a Half Men episode City of Great Racks, a version of the song by LeAnn Rimes was played during a montage of Rose and Charlie. The song was also briefly played in the movie Napoleon Dynamite during the "Happy Hands Club" scene. The Irish/German "Kelly Family" did a recording of 'The Rose' as well.

See also

• The Rose (film)

References

Notes

External links

• History of the Rose by Amanda McBroom