"What's Left of Me" is a song co-written and recorded by American singer

Nick Lachey Nicholas Scott Lachey ( ; born November 9, 1973) is an American singer, actor, television personality, and host. He rose to fame as the lead singer of the multi-platinum-selling boyband 98 Degrees, and later starred in the reality series '' Newl ...

. It was released on February 21, 2006 as the lead single from his second album, '' What's Left of Me''. To date, it is Lachey's most successful single as a solo artist, reaching number 6 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. The song has also been recorded by

Leandro Lopes Leandro Lopes Luiz (born January 24, 1984), best known as Leandro Lopes, is a Brazilian pop rock and axé music singer and songwriter. He rose to fame after winning the first season of the reality television show ''Ídolos Brazil''. Biograph ...

, winner of the first season of Brazilian reality television show '' Ídolos'', and was released as Lopes's first single.

Composition

"What's Left of Me" is a

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

ballad that lasts for 4 minutes and 5 seconds. The song's instrumentation includes string instruments and guitars. Lyrically, the song expresses the pain of Lachey's divorce from his first wife

Jessica Simpson Jessica Ann Simpson (born July 10, 1980) is an American singer, actress, entrepreneur and philanthropist. After performing in church choirs as a child, Simpson signed with Columbia Records in 1997, aged seventeen. Her debut studio album, '' Swe ...

since they separated in the previous year in 2005 and later divorced in June.

Track list

Digital download: #What's Left of Me (main version) Europe CD single: #What's Left of Me (album version) #Don't Shut Me Out (bonus cut) #What's Left of Me (Passengerz remix) #What's Left of Me (Jack D. Elliott remix)

Music video

Lachey was documented on a MTV special that was aired on April 22, 2006 called "What's Left of Me". Following the special, a Making The Video was aired, covering the production process. The clip itself was premiered to the world at the end of the show. The video features

Vanessa Minnillo Vanessa Joy Lachey (née Minnillo; born November 9, 1980) is an American actress, beauty pageant titleholder, fashion model, and television host. She was named Miss Teen USA in 1998. She has been a New York–based correspondent for ''Entertain ...

(whom he would later marry), a former

Miss Teen USA Miss Teen USA is a beauty pageant formerly run, since 1983, by the Miss Universe Organization for girls aged 14–19. Unlike its sister pageants Miss Universe, which currently broadcasts on Fox and Miss USA, this pageant is webcast on the Mis ...

, and former ''

Total Request Live ''Total Request Live'' (known commonly as ''TRL'') was an American television program broadcast on MTV that premiered on September 14, 1998. TRL featured popular music videos played during its countdown, and was also used as a promotion tool by ...

'' VJ, who in the video clip presumably plays Jessica Simpson. As the video progresses, objects from a house begin to disappear, such as a laptop computer, a stereo, some pictures, furniture, and products inside the fridge. At the end of the video, the wedding ring that Minnillo is wearing on a necklace also disappears, and seconds later Minnillo disappears before Nick's eyes. A final shot of Lachey standing on an empty house projects the theme of the song, and shows that there's nothing 'left of him'. Many references to Lachey's personal life with Simpson are made: most specifically the wedding ring on the necklace disappearing, and the presence of a camera crew filming Lachey and Minnillo (a reference to Lachey's personal discomfort over the making of the show '' Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica'').

Chart performance

"What's Left of Me" was one of the early successes of 2006. "What's Left of Me" debuted at No. 89 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and eventually reached a peak position of No. 6 becoming Lachey's highest charting song as a solo artist. "What's Left of Me" remained on the Billboard Hot 100 for a total of twenty-five weeks. The song also performed well on other

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 ...

charts, including the Billboard

Pop 100 The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009. It ranked songs based on airplay on Mainstream Top 40 radio stations, singles s ...

where it reached a peak position of number 5. Thanks to the success of the single the album had an extremely strong debut at No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' 200 for the week of May 14, 2006. ''What's Left of Me'' sold 172,000 copies for that week, which was already a significant improvement upon the first week sales of his debut album, ''

SoulO ''SoulO'' is Nick Lachey's debut album as a solo artist, after leaving the boy band 98 Degrees. The album was released in the US on November 11, 2003 on Universal Records. "Could You Love" was recorded earlier by Youngstown on their second alb ...

'', which only sold 171,000 in total.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Leandro Lopes version

Background

In the same year of "What's Left of Me"'s original release,

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...

's executives chose for

and Lucas Poletto, the two finalists of the first season of '' Ídolos'', to record the song which was called "''Deixo A Voz Me Levar''" (

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

for ''"Let The Voice Carry Me"''), in preparation for a single release as soon as the winner was announced. Leandro and Lucas sang the song on July 27, 2006. Upon Leandro winning the competition, "Deixo A Voz Me Levar" was released on October 6, 2006 as the first single from his first album entitled '' Leandro Lopes: Por Você'' (English: ''Leandro Lopes: For You'').

Music video

Filming of Leandro Lopes' first music video started around September 2006 in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

, São Paulo. The video was directed by Pietro Sargentelli and first premiered on October 13, 2006 on

MTV Brasil MTV Brasil was a Brazilian over-the-air television network owned by Grupo Abril focused on the youth. The network was launched on 20 October 1990, as the first specialty television network to broadcast over-the-air, becoming the local version ...

Track listings

*CD single #"Deixo A Voz Me Levar" – 3:09

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:What's Left Of Me (Song) 2006 singles Music videos directed by Ray Kay Nick Lachey songs Songs written by Emanuel Kiriakou Songs written by Lindy Robbins Songs written by Nick Lachey Songs written by Jess Cates Pop ballads Rock ballads Songs about heartache 2000s ballads