"Never Alone" is a song written by

Gary Burr Gary Burr, born in Meriden, Connecticut, is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, primarily in the country music genre. Many of the songs he has written have become Top-10 hits, the first of which was " Love's Been A Little B ...

Sarah Buxton Sarah Jane Buxton (born July 3, 1980) is an American country music singer, formerly signed to the independent Lyric Street Records. Between 2006 and 2008, she issued three singles from an extended play titled '' Almost My Record'', in addition t ...

, and Victoria Shaw and recorded by American songwriter and pianist

Jim Brickman James Merrill Brickman (born November 20, 1961) is an American pop songwriter, pianist and radio host. Brickman has earned two Grammy nominations for his albums ''Peace'' (2003) for Best Instrumental, and ''Faith'' (2009) for Best New Age Album ...

. Originally recorded with American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer

Sara Evans Sara Lynn Evans (; born February 5, 1971) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She is also credited as a record producer, actress, and author. She had five songs reach the number one spot on the '' Billboard'' country songs ch ...

on vocals for his 2006 album, ''Escape'', it was famously re-recorded with American

country pop Country pop (also known as pop country or urban cowboy) is a fusion genre of country music and pop music that was developed by members of the country genre out of a desire to reach a larger, mainstream audience. Country pop music blends genres ...

trio

Lady Antebellum Lady A (formerly known as Lady Antebellum) is an American country music group formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2006. The group is composed of Hillary Scott (lead and background vocals), Charles Kelley (lead and background vocals, guitar) ...

for its release as a single. This latter version was released to digital retailers through

Savoy Records Savoy Records is an American record company and label established by Herman Lubinsky in 1942 in Newark, New Jersey. Savoy specialized in jazz, rhythm and blues, and gospel music. In September 2017, Savoy was acquired by Concord Bicycle Music. ...

on February 20, 2007 and impacted American

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

radio that spring. Lady Antebellum’s female vocalist,

Hillary Scott Hillary Dawn Scott-Tyrrell (born April 1, 1986) is an American singer and songwriter. She is the co-lead singer of Lady A, previously known as Lady Antebellum, a country music group that was formed in 2006, and is signed to Big Machine Records. ...

, is sometimes credited individually alongside Lady Antebellum . "Never Alone" is primarily a

new-age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars conside ...

song with additional influences of

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

and pop genres and is instrumented primarily by

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 ...

. Its lyrics discuss the idea of

unconditional love Unconditional love is known as affection without any limitations, or love without conditions. This term is sometimes associated with other terms such as true altruism or complete love. Each area of expertise has a certain way of describing uncon ...

and support as well as the importance of holding onto one's

faith Faith, derived from Latin ''fides'' and Old French ''feid'', is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or In the context of religion, one can define faith as "belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". Religious people often ...

through difficult times. The song was released to generally positive reviews, who complimented its country

crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...

appeal, and was a success on adult contemporary radio. It peaked at number 14 on the ''Billboard''

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

airplay chart in July 2007, earning Brickman his 22nd entry on the chart and 13th top-15 hit. Furthermore, the song was Lady Antebellum's first entry on a ''Billboard'' chart before their proper debut single, " Love Don't Live Here", was released in October of that year; they would later match this position with their own single, "

I Run to You "I Run to You" is a song recorded by American country music group Lady Antebellum. It was released on January 26, 2009, as the third and final single from the group's self-titled debut album. Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood, who ...

" in 2009 before topping the AC chart with " Need You Now" that same year.

Composition

"Never Alone" is a

sentimental 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 ...

composed by

, and Victoria Shaw. It has an approximate duration of three minutes and forty seconds (3:40) on the single version performed by Jim Brickman and Lady Antebellum. According to the digital sheet music published by Musicnotes.com through Kobalt Music Publishing, the song was originally composed in the key of

D major D major (or the key of D) is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative minor is B minor and its parallel minor is D minor. The D major scale is: : Ch ...

and set in time to a slow, rhythmic tempo of approximately 56 BPM. The vocal range spans from a low note of F to a high note of B. The song also draws on influences

and

contemporary Christian music Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith and s ...

in its vocal arrangement and lyrical themes. "Never Alone" deals with the concept of

and delivers a positive message that someone will always be there to support you if you have faith.

performs

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

on the single version, with

vocal harmonies Vocal harmony is a style of vocal music in which a consonant note or notes are simultaneously sung as a main melody in a predominantly homophonic texture. Vocal harmonies are used in many subgenres of European art music, including Classical chora ...

from her

group members,

Charles Kelley Charles Burgess Kelley (born September 11, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter and lead singer and founding member of the country music trio Lady A, which was formed in 2006 and are signed to Big Machine Records. Early life and career Kelle ...

and

Dave Haywood David Wesley Haywood (born July 5, 1982) is an American country musician and songwriter. He is one-third of the American country music band Lady A, in which he plays guitar, piano and mandolin, and sings backing vocals. Early life Haywood's fat ...

. Jim Brickman plays the piano on the track, while Haywood additionally plays

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

. The track was produced by Dan Shea for its release as a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

Critical reception

Chuck Taylor of ''Billboard'' was complimentary of the collaboration, noting the song's potential for

success on the country music and adult contemporary formats. "Never Alone" was ranked as Brickman's second-best song by ''AXS'' in September 2015, with reviewer Michelle Lavallee praising Scott's vocal performance in particular.

Music video

The music video for "Never Alone" was directed by Glenn Sweitzer and premiered June 12, 2007. It features Brickman and Lady Antebellum performing the song in a recording studio, with most of the shots centering either on Scott singing or Brickman playing on the piano.

Album appearances

In addition to the Evans version appearing on ''Escape'', the Lady Antebellum version of "Never Alone" was featured on the 2009

re-issue In the music industry, a reissue (also re-release, repackage or re-edition) is the release of an album or single which has been released at least once before, sometimes with alterations or additions. Reasons for reissue New audio formats Re ...

of ''Valentine'' (originally released in 2002), a 2010 CD/

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

compilation also titled ''Never Alone'', and two

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

s – ''Ultimate Love Songs'' (2008) and ''More Greatest Hits'' (2012).

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Cover version

* " Velkommen hjem" on the album Til deg, by

Sissel Kyrkjebø Sissel Kyrkjebø (; born 24 June 1969), also simply known as Sissel, is a Norwegian soprano. Sissel is considered one of the world's top crossover sopranos. Her musical style ranges from pop recordings and folk songs, to classical vocals and op ...

The lead-song of this album is "Velkommen hjem" (Welcome Home), a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

translation of Victoria Shaw's "Never Alone". It's a country-influenced ballad and was translated by the

musician Guren Hagen. Sissel asked him to write the lyrics in Norwegian to the melody of "Never Alone". This song was a big hit on Norwegian radio and has been performed by Sissel on several occasions. Sissel performed "Velkommen hjem" as a duet with Swedish singer

Carola Carola is a female given name, the Latinized form of the Germanic given names Caroline or Carol. People named Carola include: Acting * Carola Braunbock (1924–1978), Czech-born East German actress *Carola Höhn (1910–2005), German actres ...

on the Norwegian-Swedish talkshow

Skavlan ''Skavlan'' was a Norwegian-Swedish television talk show hosted by Norwegian journalist Fredrik Skavlan. It premiered in Sweden on Sveriges Television (SVT) in January 2009, and the first guests to appear on the show were former Prime Minister o ...

in November 2010 and later in December as a duet with Danish singer

Poul Krebs Poul Krebs (born 28 May 1956 in Aarhus, Denmark) is a Danish pop/rock singer, songwriter and musician. He has released 23 albums and compilations, several topping the Danish Albums Chart. Krebs grew up in Aarhus and was in his youth a talented h ...

on the Danish Christmas TV-concert ''DR's store juleshow''. * "莫忘初衷" by the Taiwanese band

Power Station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many p ...

References

{{authority control 2006 songs 2007 singles Jim Brickman songs Lady A songs Sara Evans songs Savoy Records singles Songs written by Gary Burr Songs written by Sarah Buxton Songs written by Victoria Shaw (singer) Song recordings produced by Dan Shea (producer) Pop ballads Country ballads