"The Rose" is a

pop song Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...

written by Amanda McBroom. Bette Midler made the song famous when she recorded it for her 1979 film '' The Rose'', in which it plays during the closing credits. It has been recorded multiple times, including by Conway Twitty and

Westlife Westlife is an Irish pop vocal group formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1998. The group currently consists of members Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan, and Nicky Byrne. Brian McFadden was a member, until he left in 2004. The group temporarily di ...

who had US Country & Western and UK number one hits with the song, respectively.

Background and Bette Midler version

"The Rose" was first recorded by Bette Midler for the soundtrack of the 1979 film '' The Rose'', in which it plays under the closing credits. However, the song was not written for the movie: Amanda McBroom recalls, "I wrote it in 1977 r1978, and I sang it occasionally in clubs. ...

Jim Nabors James Thurston Nabors (June 12, 1930 – November 30, 2017) was an American actor, singer, and comedian, widely known for his signature character, Gomer Pyle. Nabors was discovered by Andy Griffith while working at a Santa Monica nightclub, an ...

had a local talk show, and I sang The Rose"on his show once." According to McBroom, she wrote "The Rose" in response to her manager's suggestion that she write "some Bob Seger-type tunes" to expedite a record deal: McBroom obliged by writing "The Rose" in 45 minutes. Said McBroom: "'The Rose' is ... just one verse usicallyrepeated three times. When I finished it, I realized it doesn't have a bridge or a

hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...

, but I couldn't think of anything to dd" McBroom's composition was one of seven songs selected by Midler from thirty song possibilities proffered by Paul A. Rothchild, the producer of ''The Rose'' soundtrack album. Reportedly Rothchild had listened to over 3,000 songs in order to assemble those thirty possibilities. Released as the second single from ''The Rose'' soundtrack album, "The Rose" hit number 1 on the '' Cashbox'' Top 100 and peaked at number 3 on the '' Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. Additionally, it was number 1 on the

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

chart for five weeks running. The single was certified

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 me ...

by the RIAA for over a million copies sold in the United States. Midler won the

Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance was a Grammy Award recognizing superior vocal performance by a female in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. It was discontinued after the 2011 Grammy season. The awar ...

for "The Rose", beating out formidable competition from

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...

and Donna Summer among others. There are two mixes of the song. The single mix features orchestration, while the version in the film (and on its soundtrack) includes an extended introduction while doing away with the orchestration in favor of piano-and-vocals only. "The Rose" did not receive a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Despite not having been recorded prior to the soundtrack of the film ''The Rose'', the song had not been written for the film. According to McBroom,

AMPAS The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion ...

inquired of her if the song had been written for the movie, and McBroom answered honestly (that it had not). McBroom did however win the

Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song The Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song is a Golden Globe Award that was awarded for the first time in 1962 and has been awarded annually since 1965 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The award is presented to the songwriters of a ...

for "The Rose", as that award's governing body, the

Hollywood Foreign Press Association The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) is a nonprofit organization of journalists and photographers who report on the entertainment industry activity and interests in the United States for media (newspaper, magazine and book publication ...

(HFPA), does not share AMPAS' official meticulousness over a nominated song's being completely original with its parent film. In 2004 "The Rose" finished #83 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of the top tunes in American cinema.

Personnel

* Bette Midler - lead vocals * David Campbell - string arrangements *

Lincoln Mayorga Lincoln Mayorga (born March 28, 1937) is an American pianist, arranger, conductor and composer who has worked in rock and roll, pop, jazz and classical music. Life and career Pop music in the 1950s and '60s Mayorga was born in Los Angeles, Cal ...

- piano * Amanda McBroom - harmony vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Conway Twitty version

Country singer Conway Twitty recorded a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

in 1982. His version, from his album '' Dream Maker'', was a number one country hit in US and Canada; it became his 30th number one single on the US country chart.

Track listing

7-inch single # The Rose - 3:32 # It's Only Make Believe - 2:18

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

The Dubliners version

The Dubliners The Dubliners were an Irish folk band founded in Dublin in 1962 as The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group, named after its founding member; they subsequently renamed themselves The Dubliners. The line-up saw many changes in personnel over their fifty-ye ...

recorded a duet with the Hothouse Flowers for Rose Week and released "The Rose" as a single in 1991, reaching no. 2 in the Irish Singles Chart.

Charts

Westlife version

"The Rose" was covered by Irish boy band

and was released as the first and only single from their seventh studio album '' The Love Album'' (2006). It reached number one 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 ...

, becoming the group's 14th and most recent number-one single in the United Kingdom. The single has sold over 200,000 copies in the UK to earn a silver certification from the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with ...

(BPI).

Music video

The video for this single was presented in two versions: one in black and white and the other in color. It shows the emotions and events leading up to a couple's wedding procession. The band members are clad in suits and are shown in a checkered-floor room. During the initial period of the video's release, fans were given the opportunity to customise the music video by digitally adding their names to various elements such as the wedding invitation card.

Track listings

UK CD1 # "The Rose" – 3:40 # "Solitaire" – 5:07 UK CD2 # "The Rose" – 3:40 # "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You" – 3:47 # "If" – 2:42 # "The Rose" (video) – 3:55

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

In popular culture

An adaptation of the song entitled "Hǎo xiǎng nǐ" (好想你, "I Truly Miss You") by Taiwanese singer YoYo (金瑞瑶) was released in 1984. The song was featured in the ending scene of the 1991

Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio headquartered in Koganei, Tokyo."Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment". ''Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment''. Retrieved 2020-12-14. It is best known for its animated feature films, and h ...

film '' Only Yesterday'', directed by

Isao Takahata was a Japanese director, screenwriter and producer. A co-founder of Studio Ghibli, he earned international critical acclaim for his work as a director of Japanese animated feature films. Born in Ujiyamada, Mie Prefecture, Takahata joined Toe ...

. The ending theme song, sung by Miyako Harumi, is titled "Ai wa Hana, Kimi wa sono Tane" (愛は花、君はその種子, "Love Is a Flower, You Are the Seed"), a Japanese translation of Amanda McBroom's composition "The Rose". The song appears in ''

Napoleon Dynamite ''Napoleon Dynamite'' is a 2004 American comedy film produced by Jeremy Coon, Chris Wyatt and Sean Covel, written by Jared and Jerusha Hess and directed by Jared Hess. The film stars Jon Heder in the role of the titular character, a nerdy ...

'' in the scene where he is performing with the Happy Hands Club for his class. The song also appeared in the

Richard Simmons Milton Teagle "Richard" Simmons (born July 12, 1948) is an American fitness personality and public figure, known for his eccentric, flamboyant, and energetic personality. He has promoted weight-loss programs, most prominently through his ''Swe ...

exercise video ''Dance Your Pants Off!''. A cover of the song was featured in the 2008 '' Family Guy'' episode " Baby Not on Board". During the episode, the Griffin family (except for Stewie) sings the song as a family road trip song. The song was also covered in the episode "Maybe Tomorrow" of '' True Detective'', and in the first episode of the third season of '' Goliath''. A six part a cappella arrangement of the song by Nic Raines, created for

The King's Singers The King's Singers are a British a cappella vocal ensemble founded in 1968. They are named after King's College in Cambridge, England, where the group was formed by six choral scholars. In the United Kingdom, their popularity peaked in the 19 ...

, was included in the King's Singers 2019 EP release " The Library, Vol. 1" and also in a 2019 music video for YouTube. The song was featured in the 2021

Korean drama Korean dramas (; RR: ''Han-guk deurama''), more popularly known as K-dramas, are television series in the Korean language, made in South Korea. They are popular worldwide, especially in Asia, partially due to the spread of Korean popular cultu ...

series ''

Youth of May ''Youth of May'' () is a 2021 South Korean television series starring Lee Do-hyun, Go Min-si, Lee Sang-yi, and Keum Sae-rok. It premiered on KBS2 on May 3, 2021, and aired on every Monday and Tuesday at 21:30 ( KST) until June 8, 2021, for 12 e ...

'', aired on

KBS2 The Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) () is the national broadcaster of South Korea. Founded in February 1927, it is one of the leading South Korean television and radio broadcasters. KBS operates seven radio networks, ten television channels, a ...

References

External links

* by Amanda McBroom * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rose, The 1977 songs 1980 singles 1983 singles 1991 singles 2006 singles Bette Midler songs Conway Twitty songs Westlife songs Eva Cassidy songs Song recordings produced by Jimmy Bowen Song recordings produced by Paul A. Rothchild Cashbox number-one singles Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Number-one singles in Scotland UK Singles Chart number-one singles Best Original Song Golden Globe winning songs Pop ballads Atlantic Records singles Elektra Records singles Soul ballads Sony Music singles RCA Records singles Sony BMG singles Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance 1970s ballads Songs written by Amanda McBroom