"Don't Know Much" (also titled as "All I Need to Know" on other versions) is a song written by

Barry Mann Barry Mann (born Barry Imberman; February 9, 1939) is an American songwriter and musician, and was part of a successful songwriting partnership with his wife, Cynthia Weil. He has written or co-written 53 hits in the UK and 98 in the US. Early ...

Cynthia Weil Cynthia Weil (October 18, 1940 – June 1, 2023) was an American songwriter who wrote many songs together with her husband Barry Mann. Weil and Mann were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987, and in 2011, they jointly received the ...

and

Tom Snow Thomas Righter Snow (born 1947 in Princeton, New Jersey) is an American songwriter. Biography Snow has written songs for Gayle McCormick "( Even a Fool Would Let Go" with Kerry Chater – a song covered by a number of artists including Kenn ...

. Mann was the first to record the song in 1980, gaining a minor chart hit in the US. The song was made famous when it was covered as a duet by

Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is an American singer who has performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin music. Ronstadt has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three A ...

and

Aaron Neville Aaron Joseph Neville (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer renowned for his distinctively smooth, vibrato-heavy tenor and a genre-crossing career that spans R&B, soul, gospel, jazz, country, and pop. He gained national prominence with hi ...

in 1989. Their version was a worldwide success, topping the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are ...

and reaching the top 10 in several territories.

History

The song first appeared on

's self-titled 1980 album, released on Casablanca Records.

Bill Medley William Thomas Medley (born September 19, 1940) is an American singer best known as one-half of the Righteous Brothers. He is noted for his bass-baritone voice, exemplified in songs such as "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'". Medley produced a n ...

scored a ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart success with it rising to number 88 in April 1981. The next month, the song hit number 29 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

Bette Midler Bette Midler ( ;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and author. Throughout her five-decade career Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Bette Midler, numero ...

recorded a version with changed lyrics under the title "All I Need to Know", charting at number 77 in 1983. In 2000, Barry Mann re-recorded the song with

Brenda Russell Brenda Russell (née Gordon; born April 8, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, producer, and keyboardist. Russell has a diverse musical range which encompasses Rhythm and blues, R&B, pop music, pop, soul music, soul, dance music, dance, and ...

on his album ''Soul and Inspiration'', released on Atlantic Records.

Bill Medley version

In 1981, American singer-songwriter

covered the song for his eighth studio album, ''Sweet Thunder''. Medley's version was a minor hit, reaching number 88 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 29 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 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

chart.

Charts

Bette Midler version

In 1983, American actress and singer

covered the song for her 1983 album ''

No Frills A no-frills or no frills service or product is one for which the non-essential features have been removed to keep the price low. The term "Ruffle (sewing), frills" originally refers to a style of fabric decoration. Something offered to customers f ...

'' under the title "All I Need to Know", with changed lyrics. Midler's version reached number 39 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Adult Contemporary chart, number 77 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and number 5 on the ''RPM'' Adult Contemporary chart, having its highest peak there.

Charts

Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville duet version

The song was covered on

's triple-platinum 1989 album '' Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind'' in a duet with

. It was introduced to Ronstadt and Neville by

Steve Tyrell Steve Tyrell (born Stephen Louis Bilao III, December 19, 1944) is an American singer and record producer. He won a 2004 Grammy Award as the producer of the Rod Stewart studio album '' Stardust: The Great American Songbook, Volume III''. He also h ...

. Co-produced by Tyrell and

Peter Asher Peter Asher (born 22 June 1944) is an English guitarist, singer, manager and record producer. He came to prominence in the 1960s as a member of the pop music vocal duo Peter and Gordon before going on to a successful career as a manager and re ...

, it was released as a single in the United States in 1989, peaking at number two on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number one on the

Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on airplay data submitted to ''Billboard'' by stat ...

chart. The single was Ronstadt's 10th and last top-10 hit and was certified

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

, eventually selling over 900,000 copies in the United States. In the United Kingdom, the song peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. It also peaked at number one in Ireland, number two in Australia, and reached the top five in Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, and New Zealand. "Don't Know Much" won Ronstadt and Neville the 1990

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and was nominated for Song of the Year.

Critical reception

"Don't Know Much" received favorable reviews from music critics. American magazine ''

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 advertis ...

'' deemed it "a strong send-off" from the album. Swedish ''

Expressen (''The Express'') is one of two nationwide evening newspapers in Sweden. Describing itself as independent liberal, was founded in 1944; its symbol is a wasp and its slogans are "it stings" or " to your rescue". The newspaper awards the cultu ...

'' called it "heavenly", adding, "What a lovesong." Robin Katz from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' complimented it as a "brilliant insight into aging." Cary Darling from ''

Orange County Register ''The Orange County Register'' is a paid daily List of newspapers in California, newspaper published in California. The ''Register'', published in Orange County, California, is owned by the private equity firm Alden Global Capital via its Digit ...

'' labeled it as a "soaring, wide-screen

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

." Jan DeKnock of ''

Orlando Sentinel The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region, in the United States. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company. The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by pare ...

'' described it as "a killer ballad." A reviewer from ''

People Magazine ''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC (company), IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''Peopl ...

'' felt "their voices fuse like sunlight beaming through a stained-glass window." James Hunter of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' praised it as "brilliant". Californian ''

Santa Cruz Sentinel The ''Santa Cruz Sentinel'' is a daily newspaper published in Santa Cruz, California, covering Santa Cruz County, California, and owned by Media News Group, which is controlled by Alden Global Capital. History The paper was owned by the McP ...

'' called it a "tender love ballad duet." Ken Tucker from ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' declared it as "a pretty Barry Mann-Cynthia Weil weeper."

Music video

In the accompanying

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for "Don't Know Much", both Neville and Ronstadt portray a middle-aged couple that are remembering their past and all the difficulties that they seem to have faced together.

Track listings

Personnel

*Linda Ronstadt, Aaron Neville – vocals, vocal harmonies *Don Grolnick – acoustic piano *Michael Landau – electric guitar *Leland Sklar – bass *Carlos Vega – drums *Michael Fisher – percussion *The Skywalker Symphony Orchestra arranged by David Campbell; concertmaster – Pavel Farkas

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1980 songs 1981 singles 1989 singles 1980s ballads Linda Ronstadt songs Aaron Neville songs Bill Medley songs Bette Midler songs Male–female vocal duets Songs written by Tom Snow Songs written by Barry Mann Songs with lyrics by Cynthia Weil Song recordings produced by Peter Asher Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Elektra Records singles Liberty Records singles Atlantic Records singles Pop ballads