"Forever" is a

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 ...

by the American rock band

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

. It was released as the second single from the 1989 album ''

Hot in the Shade ''Hot in the Shade'' is the fifteenth studio album by American rock band Kiss, released in 1989. It is the first Kiss studio album since 1981's ''Music From "The Elder"'' to feature lead vocals from someone other than Paul Stanley or Gene Simmons ...

''.

Background

The song was co-written by

Paul Stanley Paul Stanley (born Stanley Bert Eisen; January 20, 1952) is an American musician who is the co-founder, frontman, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss. He is the writer or co-writer of many of the band's most popula ...

and

Michael Bolton Michael Bolotin
, The Jewish Historical Society of New Haven, 1998. (born February 26, 1953), known professio ...

. "Forever" begins with Stanley singing over an

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

intro, with the rest of the band joining during the first chorus. The song was remixed at Electric Lady Recording Studios in New York, by Michael Barbiero and Steve Thompson for commercial release as a single. A

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devi ...

was released to promote the song. It received heavy airplay on MTV, attaining the #1 position on the channel's "Most Requested Videos" show several times. The clip is perhaps the most understated video Kiss has released, as it shows the band playing the song in an empty room. "Forever" peaked at number 8 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart on April 21, 1990, making it the group's first US Top 40 single since "

I Was Made for Lovin' You "I Was Made for Lovin' You" is a song by American hard rock band Kiss, originally released on their 1979 album, ''Dynasty''. It was released as the A-side of their first single from the album, with "Hard Times" as the B-side. History The son ...

" reached number 11 in 1979. It was the band's ninth and, to date, last Top 40 American single. It also reached number 17 on '' Billboard'''s

Hot Mainstream 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 i ...

on March 17, 1990.

Personnel

– lead vocals, acoustic guitar *

Bruce Kulick Bruce Howard Kulick (born December 12, 1953) is an American guitarist and since 2000 a member of the rock band Grand Funk Railroad. Previously, Kulick was a long-time member of the band Kiss (19841996). He was also a member of Union with John ...

– electric guitar, bass, acoustic guitar solo, backing vocals *

Eric Carr Paul Charles Caravello (July 12, 1950 – November 24, 1991), better known professionally as Eric Carr, was an American musician who was the drummer for the rock band Kiss from 1980 to 1991. Caravello was selected as the new Kiss drummer afte ...

– drums, percussion, backing vocals * Phil Ashley – keyboards

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

1980s ballads 1989 songs 1990 singles Kiss (band) songs Geffen Records singles Songs written by Michael Bolton Songs written by Paul Stanley Hard rock ballads {{metal-song-stub