"18 and Life" is a song by American heavy metal band

Skid Row A skid row or skid road is an impoverished area, typically urban, in English-speaking North America whose inhabitants are mostly poor people " on the skids". This specifically refers to poor or homeless, considered disreputable, downtrodden or fo ...

. It was released in June 1989 as the second single from their self-titled debut album. The

power ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner.J. M. C ...

is the band's biggest hit, reaching 4 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 11 on the ''Billboard''

Album Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...

chart. It was certified

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by the

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(RIAA) on September 13, 1989, when it sold 500,000 copies. The song also charted at No. 12 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, No. 6 in Canada, and No. 5 in Ireland. In April 2015, Skid Row released a new version of the song with then-lead vocalist

Tony Harnell Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...

Theme

The title of the song alludes to its subject, 18-year-old Ricky, receiving a sentence of

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...

for the

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

of another teen. The song paints Ricky's youth as his undoing. It was believed for a long time that guitarist Dave Sabo got the idea from a newspaper article about an 18-year-old named Ricky who was sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering his friend with a gun, that due to alcohol, he most likely guessed was not loaded. However, in an interview with the Professor of Rock,"Haunting 80s Murder Song Was Censored by MTV..Still Scaled the Top of the Charts , Professor of Rock," Sep 6, 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YV616FvWFys Sabo states that the original inspiration was his brother Rick's life after coming home from Vietnam. The writing process eventually led the song to being about an accidental murder. The music video also alludes to this.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

Skid Row - official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:18 And Life 1989 songs 1989 singles Skid Row (American band) songs Atlantic Records singles Music videos directed by Wayne Isham Rock ballads Songs about crime Songs about prison Songs based on actual events Songs written by Dave Sabo Songs written by Rachel Bolan Teenage tragedy songs