"No Matter What" is a song from the 1996 musical '' Whistle Down the Wind'' that was popularised by Irish

boyband A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Ma ...

Boyzone Boyzone were an Irish boy band, created in 1993 by talent manager Louis Walsh. Before even recording any material, Boyzone made an appearance on RTÉ's ''The Late Late Show''. Their most successful line-up was composed of Keith Duffy, Step ...

in 1998 when they recorded it to tie in with the show's first UK production. The song was written by

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musica ...

and

Jim Steinman James Richard Steinman (November 1, 1947 – April 19, 2021) was an American composer, lyricist and record producer. He also worked as an arranger, pianist, and singer. His work included songs in the adult contemporary, rock, dance, pop, mus ...

, while Lloyd Webber, Steinman and Nigel Wright produced the track, with additional production by Franglen & Lupino. The song was also featured on the US edition of the soundtrack to the 1999 film ''

Notting Hill Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a cosmopolitan and multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival and Portobello Roa ...

'', and was released to American radio on 10 May 1999. The song became their fourth 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 ...

, with its three-week stay atop the chart making it Boyzone's longest-running number-one single. It also became the band's first and only song to have any chart success in the US. Jewels & Stone did a remix for the song for dance clubs which was popular. In the UK, the song has sold 1.15 million copies and another 3 million worldwide. The song was performed by

Meat Loaf Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally as Meat Loaf, was an American rock singer and actor. He was noted for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. He is on t ...

as a B-side to his " Is Nothing Sacred" single in 1999.

Critical reception

British newspaper ''

Birmingham Evening Mail The ''Birmingham Mail'' (branded the ''Black Country Mail'' in the Black Country) is a tabloid newspaper based in Birmingham, England but distributed around Birmingham, the Black Country, and Solihull and parts of Warwickshire, Worcestershire an ...

'' wrote, "

Tina Arena Filippina Lydia "Tina" Arena (born 1 November 1967) is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician, musical theatre actress and record producer. She is one of Australia's highest-selling artists and has sold over 10 million records worldwid ...

has already had one hit from the

stage musical ' Whistle Down The Wind' - but expect this one to do even better. As a change

Stephen Gately Stephen Patrick David Gately (17 March 197610 October 2009) was an Irish singer, who, with Ronan Keating, was co-lead singer of the pop group Boyzone; all of Boyzone's studio albums during Gately's lifetime hit number one in the United Kingd ...

shares lead vocals on what is essentially a simple but hugely memorable

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

. Prepare that number one spot now." A reviewer from '' Daily Record'' noted that it "shows a depth of maturity that bodes well for the future", later adding that the band "are continuing their efforts to evolve into a group which will be able to appeal to an older audience."

Music video

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 made to accompany the song. It shows an African man leaving in a hot air balloon. The members of Boyzone are standing on the ground watching him depart. The African man eventually drops a small golden cross, in reference to the Christian themes of the play, "Whistle Down the Wind", from which the song originates. The video is filmed in The Roundhouse, London.

Track listings

* UK CD1 # "No Matter What" – 4:34 # "Where Have You Been?" – 3:08 # " All That I Need" (Phil Da Costa's Oxygen edit) – 3:35 * UK CD2 and Australian CD single # "No Matter What" – 4:34 # "She's the One" – 3:12 # "Live Interview with Boyzone" (CD ROM video) * UK cassette single # "No Matter What" – 4:34 # "Where Have You Been?" – 3:08 * European CD single # "No Matter What" – 4:34 # "She's the One" – 3:12 * European maxi-CD single # "No Matter What" (album version) – 4:34 # "

Father and Son Father and Son or Fathers and Sons may refer to: Literature * ''Father and Son'' (book), a 1907 memoir by Edmund Gosse *Father and Son (comics), cartoon characters created by E. O. Plauen * ''Fathers and Sons'' (novel), an 1862 novel by Ivan Tur ...

" – 2:47 # "

Words A word is a basic element of language that carries an objective or practical meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no conse ...

" – 3:55

Credits and personnel

Credits are lifted from the '' By Request'' album booklet. Studios * Recorded at Skratch Studios,

Metropolis Studios Metropolis Studios is a music production and entertainment industry company established in 1989 by Gary Langan, Carey Taylor and Karin Clayton.Donald Brackett It is located in the Powerhouse, a Grade II listed building, at 70 Chiswick High Ro ...

Sarm West Studios Sarm Studios is an independent Recording studio, recording studio in London. Originally founded in east London in 1973, the studio's original location was renamed Sarm East Studios in 1982 when Jill Sinclair and Trevor Horn purchased Basing Street ...

(London, England), FLM Studios (Hollywood, California), and Barking Dog Studios (New York City) Personnel * Andrew Lloyd Webber – music, production, executive production * Jim Steinman – lyrics, production, executive production *

Tracy Ackerman Tracy Ackerman is a British singer and songwriter. She works with several other British songwriters including Andy Watkins and Paul Wilson of Absolute and Mark Taylor. Ackerman has written for artists including Geri Halliwell, Cher, Boyzone, Tina ...

– backing vocals (London) * Andy Caine – backing vocals (London) * Friðrik Karlsson – guitar (London) * Michael Thompson – electric and acoustic guitars (Los Angeles) * Nigel Wright – keyboards (London), production * Lee McCutcheon – keyboard programming (London) * Franglen & Lupino – additional production, arrangement ** Angela Lupino – bass (Los Angeles) **

Simon Franglen Simon Franglen (born Westminster, London, England) is an English composer of classical and film music. He is also a record producer and former musician. His credits include four of the list of top grossing films and six of the list of best-sell ...

– keyboards, programming, engineering (Los Angeles) * Steve Rinkoff – mixing, engineering (London) *

Mick Guzauski Nathan "Mick" Guzauski is an American multi-platinum mixing engineer and sound engineer. His work spans a wide range of styles, including jazz, R&B, Latin, rock, pop, easy listening, funk and hip hop. He won a 2002 Latin Grammy for Thalía ...

– mixing (Los Angeles) * Robin Sellars – engineering (London) * Alex Black – engineering assistant (London) * Tom – engineering assistant (Los Angeles)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1990s ballads 1998 singles Boyzone songs Dutch Top 40 number-one singles Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Island Records singles Meat Loaf songs Number-one singles in Denmark Number-one singles in New Zealand Number-one singles in Norway Number-one singles in Scotland Polydor Records singles Song recordings produced by Jim Steinman Songs from musicals Songs with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber Songs written by Jim Steinman UK Singles Chart number-one singles