Breakaway (Kelly Clarkson song)

"Breakaway"
Song

"Breakaway" is a 2004 song co-written by Avril Lavigne, Bridget Benenate and Matthew Gerrard, produced by John Shanks and recorded by pop rock singer Kelly Clarkson. It was the first single in North America, Latin America, Brazil, and Australia, and the fifth single in Europe and Indonesia, from Clarkson's second album, Breakaway.

History

The song was co-written by Lavigne for her 2002 debut album, Let Go, but she did not release it because at the time she did not feel the song suited her album. It was given to Kelly Clarkson, who recorded it for the soundtrack of the 2004 film The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement.

The song was released as a single in the U.S. in July 2004. After two underperforming singles, "Low" and "The Trouble with Love Is", a few critics had written off Clarkson as an American Idol has-been, and neither they nor Clarkson's management team expected the song to become a big hit. The team were already planning a release for the first single from her second album, believing that the popularity of "Breakaway" would wane by late 2004. RCA Records planned for her second album to be released in December, with the first single scheduled for October.

The situation changed in August 2004, when "Breakaway" entered the Billboard Hot 100 and slowly began to climb it. It gradually became one of the biggest hits of late 2004, peaking at number six on the Hot 100 in November, becoming Clarkson's first top ten single since "Miss Independent" in 2003. Because of the slow-burning success of "Breakaway", RCA Records pushed back the release of Clarkson's next single, moved the release of the album to November and titled it Breakaway to attract fans of the song. "Breakaway" is one of the songs with the most longevity on the Hot 100, not leaving until July 2005; this can be partly attributed to its steady digital download sales, which have gained the single an RIAA gold certification.

"Breakaway" spent a record twenty consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. The song also shares the record for the longest run at number one for a female artist — twenty-one weeks — with Céline Dion's "A New Day Has Come". "Breakaway" is the longest running number-one on the chart from a film soundtrack.

In Australia "Breakaway" debuted and peaked at number ten. The song was extremely popular in Canada and reached number three. It was the fifth single from the album in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, with a UK release date of June 26, 2006. The song became Clarkson's eighth top forty hit in the UK, peaking at number twenty-two.

Music video

File:Kelly Clarkson - Breakaway (Music Video) - US Version.jpg

Clarkson in the U.S. music video for "Breakaway".

Because "Breakaway" was recorded for The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, the music video is tied in with the film. Clarkson wanted the video to be balanced between the theme of the song and the theme of the film. The video includes both themes, starting with a young actress representing Clarkson as a child, who can be seen looking forlorn. Years pass, and an adult Clarkson, now a star, is seen attending the fictional premiere of The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement. Scenes from the film can be seen when Clarkson remembers her past, and how she "broke away". Originally the video was supposed to include more scenes of Clarkson growing up at a more gradual pace, but they had to be eliminated because of time constraints.

The music video released in the UK was filmed at the London Hammersmith Apollo when Clarkson toured Europe. Another video was released for the European release of the single; it is essentially the same as the U.S. video, but with the references to The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement removed.

Release Dates

"Breakaway" was released over a 2 year period.

United States, Canada: July 13, 2004

Australia: August 7, 2004

United Kingdom: June 26, 2006

Europe: July 28, 2006

Charts

Chart (2004/2005/2006)	Peak position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	10
Brazil Hot 100	17
Canadian Singles Chart	3
Dutch Top 40	9
German Single Chart 100	13
Indonesian Singles Chart	1
Irish Singles Chart	12
Mexican Digital Sales Chart	65

Chart (2004/2005/2006)	Peak position
Mexican Top 100 Airplay	74
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart	12
Singapore Top 10 Airplay	1
UK Top 75	22
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	6
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary	1
U.S. ARC Weekly Top 40	2
World Chart Show	10