"Beautiful in White" is a song recorded by Irish singer-songwriter

Shane Filan Shane Steven Filan (born 5 July 1979) is an Irish pop singer. He is one of the two lead singers of pop vocal group Westlife, which was formed in 1998, disbanded in 2012, and regrouped in 2018. Westlife have released thirteen albums, embarked on ...

from his third studio album, ''

Love Always ''Love Always'' is the debut album of American R&B duo K-Ci & JoJo, released on June 17, 1997, by MCA Records. It was recorded at various studios in New York and the Los Angeles area in 1996 and 1997. It was produced by JoJo and several others, ...

'' (2017). The track was originally written by

Savan Kotecha Savan Harish Kotecha is an American songwriter and record producer from Austin, Texas. Kotecha is of Indian (Gujarati) descent. He was also the executive music producer of the 2020 film '' Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga'', for ...

and

Arnthor Birgisson Arnthor Birgisson (Icelandic: Arnþór Birgisson, born 12 February 1976 in Reykjavík, Iceland) is an Icelandic-Swedish songwriter and producer. Arnþór moved to Sweden in 1978 at age two and lives in Stockholm. Information As young Arn� ...

for a then-upcoming album of Filan's band,

Westlife Westlife is an Irish pop vocal group formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1998. The group currently consists of members Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan, and Nicky Byrne. Brian McFadden was a member, until he left in 2004. The group temporarily di ...

. After it was rejected, Filan's 2006

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

of the track surfaced online in 2010 and gained much success in Asia where it was a popular wedding song and making it as one of their

sleeper hit In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit is a film, television series, music release, video game, or some other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release but became a success later on. A sleeper hit may have little prom ...

s. The singer eventually acknowledged the song's popularity four years later, and in 2017, he re-recorded the song for ''Love Always''. In addition to including it on the Love Always Tour (2017–18) setlist, Filan also performed "Beautiful in White" on two television series, ''

Rising Star Indonesia ''Rising Star Indonesia'' is a reality singing competition of Israeli origin that began airing on RCTI on 28 August 2014. This program is based on the Israeli singing competition, HaKokhav HaBa and produced by Israel-based, Keshet Media, '' Rising ...

'' and '' Immortal Songs: Singing the Legend''. Its music video was later released in July 2018.

Background and composition

"Beautiful in White" is a song written by

and

. At Kotecha's request, Filan recorded a demo of the song sometime around 2006. The session took place at the Abbey Road Studios, and "Beautiful in White" was his only track recorded there. When the demo was leaked in 2010, it quickly received positive reaction from Westlife's fan base and its Asian audience. Due to the great reception whenever he performed the song live, Filan later re-recorded "Beautiful in White" for his third studio album ''

'' (2017), with a new

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handled by Rawling Meehan. The album contained both original material and

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s of famous love songs; "Beautiful in White" was among the original ones. According to the news website

VnExpress ''VnExpress'' is a Vietnamese online newspaper, run by FPT Group. It was the first newspaper in Vietnam that was not produced in paper format.

, the track was written based on Johann Pachelbel's "

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", which has also been a popular wedding song. It was composed in the traditional

verse–chorus form Verse–chorus form is a musical form going back to the 1840s, in such songs as " Oh! Susanna", " The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze", and many others. It became passé in the early 1900s, with advent of the AABA (with verse) form in the T ...

in C major, with Filan's vocal ranging from the chords of E₄ to B₅. The track's lyrics describes the speaker's feelings when he first met his bride wearing a wedding dress. Prior to this release, the demo was often incorrectly credited as being recorded by

Shayne Ward Shayne Thomas Ward (born 16 October 1984) is an English actor and singer. He rose to fame as the winner of the second series of ''The X Factor''. His debut single, "That's My Goal", was released in the United Kingdom on 21 December 2005 an ...

instead of Filan.

Live performances and music video

On 13 March 2017, Filan performed " My Love" and "Beautiful in White" while appearing on an

episode An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic work or documentary production, such as a series intended for radio, television or streaming consumption. The noun ''episode'' is derived from the Greek term ''epeisodion'' (), meaning th ...

of ''

season 2 Season 2 may refer to: * ''Season 2'' (Infinite album) * '' 2econd Season'' See also

* {{disambig ...

. On 19 May 2018, the singer performed "Beautiful in White" on the Korean competition show '' Immortal Songs: Singing the Legend''. The theme of that week's episode had its contestants performing his and Westlife's music; Filan was invited to appear as a guest judge. Later on 8 July of that same year, he sang the song during the private wedding ceremony of Chryseis Tan and Faliq Nasimuddin, who are the heirs to two top Malaysian companies,

Berjaya Corporation Berjaya Corporation Berhad (; formerly known as the Berjaya Group Berhad, Inter-Pacific Industrial Group Berhad and Raleigh Berhad) is a Malaysia-based corporation which controls a wide array of businesses, including consumer marketing, Property ...

and

Naza The Naza Group of Companies is a Malaysian business conglomerate involved in many types of business ranging from motoring to education. The group began operations in 1975 as a motor trading company. The motoring sector remains the most impo ...

, respectively. Members of the English band

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was another act that performed at the event. "Beautiful in White" was also included on the setlist for Filan's Love Always Tour (2017–18). Jonathan Lambert, who had previously directed Filan's music video for "Unbreakable", also directed "Beautiful in White". The video was released on the Filan's 39th birthday, 5 July 2018, via his

Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, ...

account. On the day before, he

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about its release and posted a behind the scenes clip from the shoot on Instagram. Shot entirely in black and white, the video features a young couple (the male lead portrayed by Filan's nephew and godson, Killian Filan) getting married. Interspersed with the narrative are scenes of Filan performing the song at the D-Light Studios in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, Ireland. The singer wanted to create "something classy and timeless," so as a result, the final product was a "performance-based" video. " tis very simple and elegant," he added.

Credits

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Love Always''. *

– writing *

– writing * Rawling Meehan –

* Paul Meehan – mixing,

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, programming * Adam Phillips – guitar * Brian Rawling – drums

Charts

References

{{authority control 2006 songs 2017 singles 2010s ballads Shane Filan songs Pop ballads Wedding songs Songs written by Savan Kotecha Songs written by Arnthor Birgisson Compositions by Johann Pachelbel