"When the Stars Go Blue" is a popular

alternative country Alternative country, or alternative country rock (sometimes alt-country, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative), is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that differ significantly in style ...

song composed and originally recorded by solo artist and former

Whiskeytown Whiskeytown was an American alternative country band formed in 1994 from Raleigh, North Carolina. Fronted by Ryan Adams, the group included members Caitlin Cary, Phil Wandscher, Eric "Skillet" Gilmore, and Mike Daly. They disbanded in 2000 with ...

band member

Ryan Adams David Ryan Adams (born November 5, 1974) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, artist, and poet. He has released 23 albums, as well as three studio albums as a former member of alt-country band Whiskeytown. In 2000, Adams left ...

. It was first released on his album ''

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

'' on September 25, 2001, and has been described as the "most gorgeous

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

" on that album. "When the Stars Go Blue" has been covered by many artists, including Irish band

the Corrs The Corrs are an Irish family band that combine pop rock with traditional Irish themes within their music. The group consists of the Corr siblings, Andrea (lead vocals, tin whistle, mandolin, ukulele), Sharon (violin, keyboards, vocals), Car ...

(featuring

Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by his stage name Bono (), is an Irish singer-songwriter, activist, and philanthropist. He is the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Born and raised in Dublin, he attended M ...

of U2),

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, ...

singer

Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has released 16 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, four for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those album ...

, and Norwegian artists

Venke Knutson Venke Knutson (born 20 October 1978) is a Norwegian singer. Since 2003, she has had six top 10 hits in Norway. Life and career Venke Knutson was born in Birkeland, in 1978. She was the youngest of three sisters, in a musical family, and she go ...

and

Kurt Nilsen Kurt Erik Nilsen () (born 29 September 1978) is a Norwegian pop/country singer. He won the first season of the Norwegian reality show ''Idol'', which aired on TV 2 in May 2003. He then won a one-off international version of ''Pop Idol'' called ...

as a duo.

Personnel

*Ryan Adams - vocals, acoustic guitar *Richard Causon - piano *Ethan Johns - 12 string guitar, harmonium, electric piano, mandocello, Chamberlain strings, drums *

Julianna Raye Julianna Raye is an American songwriter, singer, actress, entrepreneur, and mindfulness teacher. Music She became briefly well known in 1993 when her work as a backing singer and songwriter persuaded producer Jeff Lynne and Warner Bros. Records ...

- background vocals

The Corrs version

Irish band

recorded the song on their album '' VH1 Presents: The Corrs, Live in Dublin'', featuring U2's

. The cover was released on April 15, 2002, in the United States, reaching number 11 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 ...

Adult Alternative Airplay Adult Alternative Airplay (also known as Triple A or Triple A Airplay, and formerly Adult Alternative Songs and Triple A Songs) is a record chart currently published by ''Billboard'' that ranks the most popular songs on adult album alternative radi ...

chart and number 18 on the

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

. The song was remixed for their album '' Dreams: The Ultimate Corrs Collection'' in 2006.

Charts

Release history

Tim McGraw version

In 2006, the song was released by

as the first single from his compilation album '' Tim McGraw Reflected: Greatest Hits Vol. 2''. Heribert Severing, creator and writer of severing.nu, included McGraw's version of "When the Stars Go Blue" on his list of the top Country singles of 2006.

Chart performance

"When the Stars Go Blue" debuted at number 35 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs for the week of March 18, 2006.

Certifications

Venke Knutson and Kurt Nilsen version

Norwegian singers

and ''

World Idol ''World Idol'' (Germany: ''SuperStar Weltweit'', Arab World: ''SuperStar El Alaam'') is a one-off international version of the singing competition television show ''Pop Idol'', featuring winners of the various national ''Idol'' shows around t ...

recorded a duet that appears in Venke Knutson's album 2005 ''Places I Have Been''. The song was released as a single in Norway in February 2006, reaching number 14 on the

Norwegian Singles Chart VG-lista is a Norwegian record chart. It is presented weekly in the newspaper '' VG''. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continents around the world. The data are collected by Nie ...

Other versions

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

girlband Wonderland performed the track for their debut performance on television in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The recorded studio version was included the band's debut album '' Wonderland''. It was also featured in ''

One Tree Hill One Tree Hill may refer to: * "One Tree Hill" (song), a 1987 song by U2 referencing One Tree Hill, New Zealand volcanic peak * ''One Tree Hill'' (TV series), a 2003–2012 American drama series named for the U2 song ** ''One Tree Hill'' (soundtr ...

'' as a hit song by fictional characters

Haley James Scott ''One Tree Hill'' is an American television series created by Mark Schwahn for The WB in 2003. After its third season, The WB and UPN merged to form The CW, which then became the broadcaster for the show in the United States. Schwahn served as ...

and

Chris Keller The characters of '' Oz'', fictional characters on the television series about prison life, are a diverse mixture of inmates from various gangs and prison staff. Main inmates Key Other inmates The Aryans The Aryans are a f ...

(real life singers

Bethany Joy Lenz Bethany Joy Lenz (born April 2, 1981) is an American actress, singer-songwriter and filmmaker. She is known for her portrayal of Haley James Scott on The WB / The CW television drama ''One Tree Hill'' (2003–2012). She also starred as Michell ...

and

Tyler Hilton Tyler James Hilton (born November 22, 1983) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. Hilton began his professional career in music in 2000. '' Rolling Stone magazine'' compared him to his contemporary, Howie Day, while others have compared H ...

) and features on the ''One Tree Hill'' Soundtrack. The song was performed by Blake Lewis on American Idol Season 6, originally airing on April 17, 2007. His cover of the song made it to #92 of the pop charts in 2007. On July 16, 2006, Phil Lesh covered the song in the first set of a show at Charter One Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois. The show was made available for purchase via compact disc by

Phil Lesh and Friends Phil Lesh and Friends is an American rock band formed and led by Phil Lesh, former bassist of the Grateful Dead. Phil & Friends is not a traditional group in that several different lineups of musicians have played under the name, including g ...

. On April 5, 2014, Lesh covered the song in the first set of a show at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York.

In popular culture

The song inspired
novel of the same name

References

{{The Corrs 2001 songs 2002 singles 2006 singles Ryan Adams songs Tim McGraw songs The Corrs songs Song recordings produced by Mitchell Froom Song recordings produced by Byron Gallimore Song recordings produced by Tim McGraw Pop ballads Rock ballads Country ballads 143 Records singles Atlantic Records singles Curb Records singles Lava Records singles Music videos directed by Sherman Halsey Songs written by Ryan Adams