"What's Forever For" is a song written by Rafe Van Hoy and first recorded by
England Dan & John Ford Coley
England Dan & John Ford Coley were an American soft rock duo composed of Danny Wayland "England Dan" Seals and John Edward "John Ford" Coley, active throughout the 1970s. Native Texans, they are best known for their 1976 single "I'd Really Lov ...
on their 1979 album ''
Dr. Heckle and Mr. Jive''.
The song saw its biggest success when it was recorded by 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, ...
artist
Michael Martin Murphey
Michael Martin Murphey (born March 14, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter best known for writing and performing Western music, country music and popular music. A multiple Grammy nominee, Murphey has six gold albums, including ''Cowboy Songs' ...
. It was released in June 1982 as the second single from his album, ''
Michael Martin Murphey
Michael Martin Murphey (born March 14, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter best known for writing and performing Western music, country music and popular music. A multiple Grammy nominee, Murphey has six gold albums, including ''Cowboy Songs' ...
''. The song was Murphey's first of two number ones on the country chart. The single went to number one for one week and spent 16 weeks in the country top 40. On the
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 ...
, "What's Forever For" was his final top 40 hit, peaking at number 19.
The song is also one of his most well known in the Philippines, along with "
Maybe This Time".
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Cover versions
*
Anne Murray
Morna Anne Murray (born June 20, 1945) is a retired Canadian singer. Her albums, consisting primarily of pop, country, and adult contemporary music, have sold over 55 million copies worldwide during her over 40-year career.
Murray was the fir ...
on her 1980 album ''
Somebody's Waiting
''Somebody's Waiting'' is the fifteenth studio album by Canadian country pop artist Anne Murray, released in March 1980 via Capitol Records. The album charted lower in the U.S. than most of Murray's other releases from the same period, peaking ...
'', released by Capitol Records. "What's Forever For" was also included as the B-side of her Beatles cover hit, "
I'm Happy Just to Dance with You
"I'm Happy Just to Dance with You" is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and recorded in 1964 by the English rock band the Beatles for the film soundtrack to ''A Hard Day's Night''. Lead vocals are by George Harrison, whose perfo ...
".
*
T. G. Sheppard
William Neal Browder (born July 20, 1944) is an American country music singer-songwriter, known professionally as T. G. Sheppard. He had 14 number-one hits on the US country charts between 1974 and 1986, including eight consecutive number ones ...
on his 1981 album ''
I Love 'Em All'', released by Warner Bros. Records.
*
Daryl Somers
Daryl Paul Somers (né Schulz; 6 August 1951) is an Australian television personality and musician, and a triple Gold Logie award-winner. He rose to national fame as the host and executive producer of the long-running comedy-variety program '' ...
on his 1982 single.
*
Johnny Mathis
John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standard music, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum s ...
on his 1982 album
Friends in Love, released on Columbia Records.
*
Billy Gilman
William Wendell Gilman III (born May 24, 1988) is an American singer. Starting as a young country artist, he is known for his debut single " One Voice", a top 40 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and a top 20 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country ...
on his 2000 album ''
One Voice'', released by Epic Records.
*
Filipino
Filipino may refer to:
* Something from or related to the Philippines
** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines.
** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...
acoustic singer
Nyoy Volante
Niño del Mar Coching Volante (born January 25, 1978), better known as Nyoy Volante, is a Filipino acoustic pop singer-songwriter and actor.
Early life and education
Volante was born on January 25, 1978, to parents Oliver Volante and Evangelin ...
covered the song on his 2008 album, ''Heartstrings''.
*
Jeff Trachta
Jeff Trachta (born October 6, 1960 in Staten Island, New York) is an American actor and singer, best known for portraying Thorne Forrester on the soap opera ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' from 1989 to 1996. He was the second of four actors to play ...
and
Bobbie Eakes
Bobbie Diane Eakes (born July 25, 1961) is an American actress and singer. She is known for her role as Macy Alexander on ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' (1989–2000, 2001, 2002–2003) and for her role as Krystal Carey on '' All My Children'' ...
, on the
soap opera
A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
''
The Bold and the Beautiful
''The Bold and the Beautiful'' (often referred to as ''B&B'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. It premiered on March 23, 1987, as a sister show to the Bells' other soap opera ''The Yo ...
''.
*
Tonny Willé and Marco Bakker
*
John Conlee
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second E ...
on the album ''With Love'' in 1981 on MCA.
*
B.J. Thomas
Billy Joe Thomas (August 7, 1942 – May 29, 2021) was an American singer widely known for his pop, country and Christian hits of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.
Popular songs by Thomas include "Hooked on a Feeling" (1968), "Raindrops Keep Fallin' ...
on his 2000 album ''You Call That a Mountain''.
*
Olivia Newton-John
Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British-Australian singer, actress and activist. She was a four-time Grammy Award winner whose music career included 15 top-ten singles, including 5 number-one singles on the ...
on her 1998 album ''
Back With a Heart
''Back with a Heart'' is the sixteenth studio album by British-Australian singer Olivia Newton-John. It was released by MCA Nashville on 12 May 1998 in the United States. Her first album in four years, it marked her return to country music after ...
'', Japanese release.
References
1978 songs
1982 singles
England Dan & John Ford Coley songs
Anne Murray songs
John Conlee songs
T. G. Sheppard songs
Michael Martin Murphey songs
Billy Gilman songs
B. J. Thomas songs
Song recordings produced by Jim Ed Norman
Liberty Records singles
Songs written by Rafe Van Hoy
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