"Watch Over You" is a song by American

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

band

Alter Bridge Alter Bridge is an American rock band from Orlando, Florida. The band was formed in 2004 by vocalist and rhythm guitarist Myles Kennedy, lead guitarist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall and drummer Scott Phillips. After their former band Cr ...

. Written by lead guitarist

Mark Tremonti Mark Thomas Tremonti (born April 18, 1974) is an American guitarist and singer, best known for his tenures with the rock bands Creed and Alter Bridge. He is a founding member of both bands, and has also collaborated with many other artists over ...

and lead vocalist

Myles Kennedy Myles Richard Bass (born November 27, 1969), known professionally as Myles Kennedy, is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Alter Bridge and the lead vocalist in guitarist S ...

, it was produced by Michael "Elvis" Baskette and featured on the band's 2007 second studio album '' Blackbird''. The track was released as the second

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 ...

from the album on January 14, 2008, peaking at number 19 on the US ''

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 ...

Mainstream Rock Songs 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 in Ma ...

chart. An alternate version of the track featuring additional vocals by

Lacuna Coil Lacuna Coil is an Italian gothic metal band from Milan. Since their formation in 1994, the group has had two name changes, being previously known as Sleep of Right and Ethereal, and they have recorded nine studio albums, two extended plays, two ...

singer

Cristina Scabbia Cristina Adriana Chiara Scabbia (; born 5 June 1972) is an Italian singer, best known as one of the two vocalists of gothic metal band Lacuna Coil. Scabbia used to write an advice column in the popular rock magazine ''Revolver'', alongside mus ...

was also later made available as a digital download.

Promotion and release

"Watch Over You" was released as the second

from '' Blackbird'' on January 14, 2008. The song was also featured in a number of episodes of ''

Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew ''Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew'', later called simply ''Rehab with Dr. Drew'', is a reality television show that aired on the cable network VH1 in which many of the episodes chronicle a group of well-known people as they are treated for alco ...

'', which led to it becoming known as an "unofficial anthem" for the show. It is usually played in a "stripped down" acoustic format, often by lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist

alone. In April 2008, an alternate version of "Watch Over You" featuring additional vocals by

singer

was released as a single. Speaking about the collaboration, Scabbia claimed that she was "honoured and grateful for the awesome experience".

Music video

The

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 promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for "Watch Over You" was directed by John Cummings. The video contains footage from the second season of ''Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew'', including scenes in which former

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...

drummer

Steven Adler Steven Adler (born Michael Coletti; January 22, 1965) is an American musician. He was the drummer and co-songwriter of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s. Adler was fired from Guns N' Roses ...

is featured. It shows Myles singing inside the warehouse. At the end of the video, he is seen outside of the warehouse.

Reception

Commercial

"Watch Over You" entered the US ''

chart at number 30 for the week of February 2, 2008. It peaked at number 19 four weeks later, spending a total of 13 weeks on the chart. It was also the first single by the band to register on the

Adult Pop Songs The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen B ...

chart, on which it spent three weeks at number 40 in early 2009.

Critical

Tom Shackleford of AXS named "Watch Over You" as one of Kennedy's six best vocal performances, claiming that "The song's cooler, autumn-like feel really showcases Kennedy's singing with a beautiful, held-out chorus line before picking up and turning things up a notch as the song reaches its climax".

Track listings

Chart positions

References

{{Authority control 2007 songs 2008 singles Alter Bridge songs Rock ballads Songs written by Myles Kennedy Songs written by Mark Tremonti Song recordings produced by Michael Baskette Universal Republic Records singles