"The Rose" is a pop song written by

Amanda McBroom Amanda McBroom (born August 9, 1947) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Notable among the songs she has written is "The Rose (song), The Rose", which Bette Midler sang in the The Rose (film), film of the same name, and which has been ...

Bette Midler Bette Midler (;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American singer, actress, comedian and author. Throughout her career, which spans over five decades, Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Be ...

made the song famous when she recorded it for her 1979 film '' The Rose'', in which it plays during the closing credits. It has been recorded multiple times, including by

Conway Twitty Harold Lloyd Jenkins (September 1, 1933 – June 5, 1993), better known by his stage name Conway Twitty, was an American singer and songwriter. Initially a part of the 1950s rockabilly scene, Twitty was best known as a country music performer. ...

and Westlife who had US Country & Western and UK number one hits with the song, respectively.

Background and Bette Midler version

"The Rose" was first recorded by Bette Midler for the soundtrack of the 1979 film '' The Rose'', in which it plays under the closing credits. However, the song was not written for the movie: Amanda McBroom recalls, "I wrote it in 1977 r1978, and I sang it occasionally in clubs. ... Jim Nabors had a local talk show, and I sang The Rose"on his show once." According to McBroom, she wrote "The Rose" in response to her manager's suggestion that she write "some

Bob Seger Robert Clark Seger ( ; born May 6, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded as Bob Seger and the Last Heard and The Bob Seger System throughout the 1960s, break ...

-type tunes" to expedite a record deal: McBroom obliged by writing "The Rose" in 45 minutes. Said McBroom: "'The Rose' is ... just one verse usicallyrepeated three times. When I finished it, I realized it doesn't have a bridge or a hook, but I couldn't think of anything to dd" McBroom's composition was one of seven songs selected by Midler from thirty song possibilities proffered by

Paul A. Rothchild Paul Allen Rothchild (April 18, 1935 – March 30, 1995) was a prominent American record producer of the 1960s and 1970s, widely known for his historic work with the Doors, producing Janis Joplin's final album ''Pearl'' and mid-60s production of ...

, the producer of ''The Rose'' soundtrack album. Reportedly Rothchild had listened to over 3,000 songs in order to assemble those thirty possibilities. Released as the second single from ''The Rose'' soundtrack album, "The Rose" hit number 1 on the '' Cashbox'' Top 100 and peaked at number 3 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

chart. Additionally, it was number 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart for five weeks running. The single was certified Gold by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

for over a million copies sold in the United States. Midler won the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "The Rose", beating out formidable competition from Barbra Streisand and

Donna Summer LaDonna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the " Queen of Disco", while her mus ...

among others. There are two mixes of the song. The single mix features orchestration, while the version in the film (and on its soundtrack) includes an extended introduction while doing away with the orchestration in favor of piano-and-vocals only. "The Rose" did not receive a nomination for the

Academy Award for Best Original Song The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who have composed th ...

. Despite not having been recorded prior to the soundtrack of the film ''The Rose'', the song had not been written for the film. According to McBroom, AMPAS inquired of her if the song had been written for the movie, and McBroom answered honestly (that it had not). McBroom did however win the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for "The Rose", as that award's governing body, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), does not share AMPAS' official meticulousness over a nominated song's being completely original with its parent film. In 2004 "The Rose" finished #83 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of the top tunes in American cinema.

Personnel

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 ...

* David Campbell -

string String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

s * Lincoln Mayorga - piano *

- harmony vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Conway Twitty version

Country singer

recorded a cover version in 1982. His version, from his album ''

Dream Maker ''Dream Maker'' is a webseries that stars Audrina Patridge as an up-and-coming talent manager who moves from Hollywood to Detroit to start her own talent agency. Written and directed by Asher Levin and produced by YOBI.tv, the series follows the ...

'', was a number one country hit in US and Canada; it became his 30th number one single on the US country chart.

Track listing

7-inch single # The Rose - 3:32 # It's Only Make Believe - 2:18

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

The Dubliners version

The Dubliners recorded a duet with

the Hothouse Flowers Hothouse Flowers are an Irish rock band that combine traditional music of Ireland, Irish music with influences from soul, Gospel music, gospel, and rock. Formed in 1985 in Dublin, they started as street performers. Their first album, ''People ...

for Rose Week and released "The Rose" as a single in 1991, reaching no. 2 in the Irish Singles Chart.

Charts

Westlife version

"The Rose" was covered by Irish

boy band 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 song, love songs marketed towards girls and young ...

Westlife and was released as the first and only single from their seventh studio album '' The Love Album'' (2006). It reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the group's 14th and most recent number-one single in the United Kingdom. The single has sold over 200,000 copies in the UK to earn a silver

certification Certification is the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestation or confirmation of certain characteristics of a ...

from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).

Music video

The video for this single was presented in two versions: one in

black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

and the other in color. It shows the emotions and events leading up to a couple's wedding procession. The band members are clad in suits and are shown in a checkered-floor room. During the initial period of the video's release, fans were given the opportunity to customise the music video by digitally adding their names to various elements such as the wedding invitation card.

Track listings

UK CD1 # "The Rose" – 3:40 # "Solitaire" – 5:07 UK CD2 # "The Rose" – 3:40 # "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You" – 3:47 # "If" – 2:42 # "The Rose" (video) – 3:55

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

In popular culture

An adaptation of the song entitled "Hǎo xiǎng nǐ" (好想你, "I Truly Miss You") by Taiwanese singer YoYo (金瑞瑶) was released in 1984. The song was featured in the ending scene of the 1991 Studio Ghibli film '' Only Yesterday'', directed by Isao Takahata. The ending theme song, sung by

Miyako Harumi , born Harumi Kitamura (, ''Kitamura Harumi'') in Kyoto, is a Japanese '' enka'' singer. She made her debut in 1964. Her popularity has lasted: she makes frequent appearances in the annual television spectacular ''Kōhaku Uta Gassen'' and has a ...

, is titled "Ai wa Hana, Kimi wa sono Tane" (愛は花、君はその種子, "Love Is a Flower, You Are the Seed"), a Japanese translation of Amanda McBroom's composition "The Rose". The song appears in '' Napoleon Dynamite'' in the scene where he is performing with the Happy Hands Club for his class. The song also appeared in the Richard Simmons exercise video ''Dance Your Pants Off!''. A cover of the song was featured in the 2008 ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffin family, Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter Griff ...

'' episode "

Baby Not on Board "Baby Not on Board" is the fourth episode in the Family Guy (season 7), seventh season of the American animated series, animated television series ''Family Guy''. It originally aired on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network in the United State ...

". During the episode, the Griffin family (except for Stewie) sings the song as a family road trip song. The song was also covered in the episode "Maybe Tomorrow" of ''

True Detective ''True Detective'' is an American anthology crime drama television series created and written by Nic Pizzolatto. The series, broadcast by the premium cable network HBO in the United States, premiered on January 12, 2014. Each season of the ...

'', and in the first episode of the third season of ''

Goliath Goliath ( ) ''Goləyāṯ''; ar, جُليات ''Ǧulyāt'' (Christian term) or (Quranic term). is a character in the Book of Samuel, described as a Philistine giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''gigas'', cognate giga-) a ...

''. A six part a cappella arrangement of the song by Nic Raines, created for The King's Singers, was included in the King's Singers 2019 EP release " The Library, Vol. 1" and also in a 2019 music video for YouTube. The song was featured in the 2021 Korean drama series '' Youth of May'', aired on KBS2.

References

External links

* by

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rose, The 1977 songs 1980 singles 1983 singles 1991 singles 2006 singles Bette Midler songs Conway Twitty songs Westlife songs Eva Cassidy songs Song recordings produced by Jimmy Bowen Song recordings produced by Paul A. Rothchild Cashbox number-one singles Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Number-one singles in Scotland UK Singles Chart number-one singles Best Original Song Golden Globe winning songs Pop ballads Atlantic Records singles Elektra Records singles Soul ballads Sony Music singles RCA Records singles Sony BMG singles Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance 1970s ballads Songs written by Amanda McBroom