"Anything Is Possible" is a song co-written by

Chris Braide Christopher Braide (born 1973) is an English songwriter, record producer and singer, formerly based in Malibu, Los Angeles, California, United States. Braide is known for being a pianist. First signed as a solo artist by David A. Stewart in t ...

and

Cathy Dennis Catherine Roseanne Dennis (born 25 March 1969)Gregory, Andy (2002) ''International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002'', Europa; , p. 133 is a British singer, songwriter, record producer and actress. She was the vocalist for D Mob, which had the s ...

for the winner of the first series of ''

Pop Idol ''Pop Idol'' is a British music competition television series created by Simon Fuller which ran on ITV from 2001 to 2003. The aim of the show was to decide the best new young pop singer (or "pop idol") in the UK based on viewer voting and par ...

'' in the United Kingdom.

Will Young William Robert Young (born 20 January 1979) is a British singer-songwriter and actor who came to prominence after winning the 2002 inaugural series of the ITV talent contest '' Pop Idol'', making him the first winner of the worldwide '' Idol ...

won the competition and therefore released the song as his debut single, with production by Dennis and Oskar Paul. It debuted at number one 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 ...

, and has been certified 3× platinum by the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with ...

. It has since become the 14th best-selling single of all time in the UK, as well as the second best-selling UK single of the 21st century.

Background and writing

''Pop Idol'' creator

Simon Fuller Simon Fuller (born 17 May 1960) is a British entrepreneur, artist manager, and film and television producer renowned for nurturing and inspiring world class entertainment talent. He is the creator of the ''Idols'' TV format, including the UK s ...

asked

and

to write a song for the show, having been impressed by "

Have You Ever "Have You Ever" is a song by British pop group S Club 7, released as a single on 19 November 2001. Following the success of the group's 2000 '' Children in Need'' track, " Never Had a Dream Come True", the BBC asked S Club 7 to perform the 200 ...

", a song the pair had written for

S Club 7 S Club 7 were a British pop group from London, created by former Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller and consisting of members Bradley McIntosh, Hannah Spearritt, Jo O'Meara, Jon Lee, Paul Cattermole, Rachel Stevens and Tina Barrett. The gro ...

. The song was recorded by the final three acts in the show,

Gareth Gates Gareth Paul Gates (born 12 July 1984) is an English singer-songwriter and actor. He was the runner-up in the first series of the ITV talent show ''Pop Idol'' in 2002. As of 2008, Gates had sold over 3.5 million records in the UK. He is ...

and

Darius Danesh Darius may refer to: Persian royalty ;Kings of the Achaemenid Empire * Darius I (the Great, 550 to 487 BC) * Darius II (423 to 404 BC) * Darius III (Codomannus, 380 to 330 BC) ;Crown princes * Darius (son of Xerxes I), crown prince of Persia ...

. After winning the show, Young released the song as his debut single and it was later included on his debut studio album, ''

From Now On From Now On may refer to: Film * ''From Now On'' (1920 film), an American film of 1920 * ''From Now On'' (film), a 2007 Portuguese film directed by Catarina Ruivo Music Albums * ''From Now On'' (Jaki Graham album) or the title song, 1989 * ''Fro ...

'' (2002). In an interview with HitQuarters, Braide said the song was written in Dennis' front room at her

baby grand piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

and recorded on a small

Dictaphone Dictaphone was an American company founded by Alexander Graham Bell that produced dictation machines. It is now a division of Nuance Communications, based in Burlington, Massachusetts. Although the name "Dictaphone" is a trademark, it has ...

. When the song, as recorded by Young, proved an immediate smash hit, Dennis supposedly phoned Braide and said: "You won't believe this, but that little song that we wrote in three hours is selling 100,000 copies a day." In 2011, Young first expressed his dislike of the song, telling ''

Elle ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...

'' magazine: "I've never done "Anything is Possible" live. I hate it. I absolutely hate it." In 2022, he told the

Official Charts Company The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. In the United Kingdom, its charts in ...

: "I just think it’s such a terrible song. I only ever sang it once ..It's dreadful. I used to call it "Anything is Puss-able." It’ll never be performed again, unless somebody pays me a huge amount of money. Awful."

Chart performance

The song was performed on the ''Pop Idol'' live final by both Young and Gates. Young went on to win the show, and released "Anything Is Possible" as a double A-side single, along with "

Evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, whic ...

", which was also recorded by the final three and performed by the final two. The single went straight to the number one spot on the

and stayed there for three consecutive weeks, only to be knocked off the top spot by Gates' debut single, "

Unchained Melody "Unchained Melody" is a 1955 song with music by Alex North and lyrics by Hy Zaret. North wrote the music as a theme for the prison film '' Unchained'' (1955), hence the song title. Todd Duncan sang the vocals for the film soundtrack.Robert Rodr ...

". It became the fastest-selling debut in UK chart history, selling 403,027 copies on its day of release. It went on to sell over 1,790,000 copies, and in the official list of the all-time best-selling singles in the UK in November 2012, it appeared 14th. It was the biggest selling single of the 2000s, and was also the biggest selling single of the 21st century until June 2015, when it was overtaken by " Happy" by Pharrell Williams.

Music video

A music video for "Anything Is Possible" was filmed in

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

in the week of 11 February 2002. In 2011, Young express his dislike of the video in an interview with ''

'' magazine, saying: "I can't bear "Evergreen" or "Anything is Possible," they're absolutely shocking. And you wouldn't believe the amount of money that was spent on those videos ..Dreadful videos. At one moment it looks like I'm in love with a tree! Dreadful. Really odd. Dreadful. No, no, no. No."

Track listing

Notes * signifies a co-producer

Credits and personnel

Credits are lifted from the ''

'' album booklet. Studio * Mastered at Transfermation (London, England) Personnel * Cathy Dennis – writing, backing vocals, programming, production * Chris Braide – writing *

Lance Ellington Lance Ellington (born 22 June 1957) is an English singer, songwriter and actor. Ellington, the only son of the band leader Ray Ellington, specialises in swing and big ballads. He has worked with many artists including Sting, George Michael, Glo ...

– backing vocals * Sylvia Mason-James – backing vocals * Friðrik "Frizzy" Karlsson – guitar * Pete Murray – keyboards * Oskar Paul – production, programming *

Adrian Bushby Adrian Bushby is a recording engineer, mixer and producer. He works from his home studio in London, England and has recorded and mixed for artists including; New Order, Placebo, U2, Spice Girls, Feeder, Jamie T and Maxïmo Park. In 2008 he ...

– mixing * Richard Dowling – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

"Anything Is Possible" lyrics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anything Is Possible (Will Young Song) 19 Recordings singles 2002 songs 2002 debut singles Bertelsmann Music Group singles Gareth Gates songs Number-one singles in Scotland Pop Idol RCA Records singles Song recordings produced by Cathy Dennis Songs written by Cathy Dennis Songs written by Chris Braide Syco Music singles UK Singles Chart number-one singles Will Young songs