"Without You" is a

power ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romance (love), romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn m ...

by American heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. It was originally released on their 1989 album, '' Dr. Feelgood''.

Background

The song features Mick Mars playing a steel guitar during the intro and the solo, a clean electric guitar arpeggio on the verses and bridge, and various licks on a distorted electric guitar throughout. In the ''Dr. Feelgood'' album's liner notes, the composition is said to be about

Tommy Lee Thomas Lee Bass (born October 3, 1962) is an American musician and founding member of the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. As well as being the band's long-term drummer, Lee founded rap metal band Methods of Mayhem and has pursued solo musical ...

's relationship with

Heather Locklear Heather Deen Locklear (born September 25, 1961) is an American actress famous for her role as Amanda Woodward on ''Melrose Place'' (1993–1999), for which she received four consecutive Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress – Television ...

Music video

The music video was shot at the Grand 1894 Opera House in Galveston, Texas on January 15, 1990, following Mötley Crüe's

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

concert. Produced by

Sharon Oreck Sharon Oreck is an American film, music video and commercial producer. She has Oscar and Grammy nominations in addition to other awards. She is credited with coining the term ''populence''. Oreck has been married to cinematographer Bill Pope si ...

through O Pictures and photographed by

Bill Pope Bill Pope, A.S.C. (born June 19, 1952) is an American cinematographer and filmmaker known for his collaborations with directors Sam Raimi, The Wachowskis and Edgar Wright. He has also photographed and directed numerous music videos for artists like ...

, "Without You" is the first of two Crüe videos to be directed by Mary Lambert under the alias "Blanche White" ("blanche" meaning "white" in French). Lambert's original idea for the video was "to do a motorcycle movie" but Mötley Crüe objected, as they had done that before (in the music video for " Girls, Girls, Girls").'' Headbangers Ball'', MTV, early 1990 The final clip, which was described by

Nikki Sixx Nikki Sixx (born Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr.; December 11, 1958) is an American musician, best known as the co-founder, bassist, and primary songwriter of the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. Prior to forming Mötley Crüe, Sixx was a me ...

as having a very "surreal" touch to it, includes various abstract images, a live jaguar (Czar from the Exotic Cat Refuge and Wildlife Orphanage in Kirbyville), a violin ensemble playing during the slide solo, and the band playing in an Ancient Egypt-fashioned scenario. Traces of Persian cultural tradition are present in the last few seconds of the studio release.

Personnel

* Vince Neil - vocals * Mick Mars - guitar *

- bass *

- drums

Chart positions

Released as the album's third single in 1990, "Without You" reached #8 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 charts in the United States, #11 on the

Mainstream Rock Chart 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 i ...

, and #39 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 ...

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Without You (Motley Crue song) 1989 songs 1990 singles Mötley Crüe songs Songs written by Nikki Sixx Songs written by Mick Mars Song recordings produced by Bob Rock Glam metal ballads Elektra Records singles 1980s ballads