Alone

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"Alone"
Single by Heart
from the album Bad Animals
B-side	"Barracuda" (live)
Released	May 16, 1987
Genre	Hard rock
Length	3:39
Label	Capitol
Writer(s)	Billy Steinberg, Tom Kelly
Producer	Ron Nevison
Heart singles chronology
"If Looks Could Kill" (1986) "Alone" (1987) "Who Will You Run To" (1987)

"Alone" is a song composed by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly. It first appeared on via Steinberg and Kelly's pet project, 1983's I-Ten, Taking a Cold Look. It was later recorded by John Stamos in his role as Gino Minelli, on the original soundtrack of the CBS sitcom Dreams in 1984. American rock band Heart made it a number one US and Canadian hit in 1987. Twenty years later, Céline Dion recorded it for her album Taking Chances.

Heart version

The song was given to Heart and released as the first single from their ninth studio album Bad Animals in May 1987. Heart's version is a power ballad that begins with a piano line and a subdued vocal from Ann Wilson before exploding into an amplified hard rock chorus. The song has been covered numerous times on American Idol as well as by artists such as Celine Dion, but is viewed as being exceptionally difficult to cover because of Ms. Wilson's legendary performance. According to a Songfacts interview with Steinberg, Kelly (an experienced session singer) provided the high harmony parts on the record.^[1] "Alone" is Heart's biggest hit, spending three weeks at number 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 that July. It ranked number 2 on the Billboard Year-End Top Pop Singles of 1987. It is also their most successful single in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number 3 on the UK Singles Chart.The song's popular video featured the band in a synched live performance. An "unplugged" version of the song later appeared on Heart's 1995 album The Road Home.

Extended version

An extended version of "Alone", clocking in at 5:45, was mixed and released as an additional track to the Japanese CD single release of Heart's third single from "Bad Animals", "There's the Girl". Much sought after and extremely hard to find, this is the only known available format for this version.

Chart performance

Original release

Year-end charts

2009

2010

"Alone"
Single by Celine Dion
from the album Taking Chances
Released	May 5, 2008 (2008-05-05)
Format	Music download
Recorded	Conway Studios, Studio at the Palms
Genre	Pop rock
Length	3:24
Label	Columbia, Epic
Writer(s)	Billy Steinberg, Tom Kelly
Producer	Ben Moody
Celine Dion singles chronology
"A cause" (2008) "Alone" (2008) "My Love" (2008)

Celine Dion version

Celine Dion covered "Alone" for her 2007 album Taking Chances. It was released as the second single in Europe and North America, and third in the United Kingdom. "Eyes on Me" was released as the second single in the United Kingdom instead.

"Alone" was produced by Ben Moody, ex-member of Evanescence.

Dion performed it in various TV shows, during her promotional tour for the Taking Chances album, in November and December 2007. The song debuted in November 2007 at number 85 on the UK Singles Chart. After selling 12,535 copies, it entered the U.S. Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles at number 24 and Canadian Hot 100 at number 57.

Officially "Alone" debuted on radio in Sweden in December 2007.^[17] The next month it entered the Swedish Singles Chart, due to strong digital sales, and peaked at number 52.^[18]

The song premiered on other European radio stations in January 2008. Celine Dion promoted "Alone" at that time in France, performing it on Star Academy. In France, the song was released simultaneously with "A cause," featured on D'elles. "Alone" was also serviced to radio at the end of March in Canada and in mid-April in the United States.

The digital single release in the UK on May 5, 2008 was coincided with the British leg of the Taking Chances Tour.

The music video was taken from Dion's CBS TV special That's Just the Woman in Me and released in early March 2008.^[19]

In October 2008, "Alone" was included on the European version of My Love: Essential Collection. A live version was included in the Taking Chances World Tour: The Concert CD/DVD.

Formats and track listings

UK digital single

1. "Alone" – 3:23

Charts

Other versions

• The Romanian rock singer Dida Drăgan, accompanied by new wave band Monolit (headed by Sorin Chifiriuc), covered this song in 1987, in a Roumanian version named "Singurătate".
• The Australian singer Robert Forster covered this song on his 1995 album I Had a New York Girlfriend.
• The Mexican singer Marianne covered the song in 1995 in a Spanish version named "Sola".
• The Finnish progressive metal band Warmen covered this song for their 2002 album Beyond Abilities. The vocals were provided by Kimberly Goss.
• A dance-pop version of the song was recorded by Kim Sozzi in 2006.
• Carrie Underwood, Gina Glocksen, Ramiele Malubay, Allison Iraheta and Jacob Lusk have all covered this song on their live performances on American Idol. Malubay's cover was released as "Alone (American Idol Studio Version) - Single" on the iTunes Music Store in March 2008. Iraheta's live performance version was released as "Alone (American Idol Performance) - Single" in February 2009. Lusk's studio recording was released as "Alone (American Idol Performance) - Single" and as part of the "American Idol Top 12 Season 10" compilation album in March 2011. Following Underwood's performance, judge Simon Cowell correctly predicted that she would win the competetion. He further predicted that she would outsell all previous Idol contestants.
• Melissa O'Neil, Ashley Coles and Mark Day have all covered this song on their live performances on Canadian Idol.
• Penelope had covered this song on her live performance on Pinoy Idol, second Philippine version of Pop Idol.
• American singer Becca covered this song as a b-side to her single "I'm Alive" in 2008.
• Jill Gioia performed "Alone" on elimination night in week 5 of Rock Star: Supernova.
• The Dutch symphonic metal band After Forever recorded a cover which was released on the compilation Metallic Emotions (Vol. 1)
• The Puerto Rican singer Janina Irizarry covered this song for her third studio album, but in a Spanish version named "Fantasma"
• The song was covered on the hit television series Glee and was performed by Matthew Morrison and Kristen Chenoweth.
• Doctors Rak and Tak performed this song on America's Got Talent during New York auditions.
• Alyssa Reid had a hit in 2011 with the single, "Alone Again" that samples the original song, while adding new lyrics and a rap verse.

Appearances in other media

• The song is featured at the end of the Cold Case episode called "Lonely Hearts."
• A cover version of the song is featured in the video game Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol.
• "Alone" is sampled in the 1999 electronic song "Keep it Up" by J&R Project.
• Used in a 2009 Burger King commercial
• Sung by Kristin Chenoweth and Matthew Morrison on Glee in the episode "The Rhodes Not Taken".
• Appears in the Off-Broadway production Power Balladz.
• Sampled by Ras Kass on his track "Gotten By On My Own" on his Quarterly mixtape in 2009.
• Appears in an episode of the BBC comedy series Miranda in 2010.
• The piano intro from this song is used in "What If" by Jason Derülo.
• In 2011, The X Factor's Cari Fletcher performed "Alone".
• Played in the season 7 episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia "Storm of Century", when Dennis sees Jackie Denardo.
• The Heart version of the song is available as downloadble content for Rock Band 3.

References