"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 actor, singer-songwriter, producer, TV 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 ser ...

. 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, winner of the first season of

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

ian 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 and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

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 Johnson (née Simpson; born July 10, 1980) is an American singer, actress, and fashion designer. After performing in church choirs as a child, Simpson signed with Columbia Records in 1997, aged seventeen. Her debut studio album, '' ...

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 television host, model and actress. She was named Miss Teen USA in 1998. She has been a New York–based correspondent for ''Entertainment Tonight'' and hosted ''Total Req ...

(whom he would later marry), a former

Miss Teen USA Miss Teen USA is a beauty pageant that has been run since 1983 by the Miss Universe Organization for girls aged 14–19 years old as of January 1st of the competition year. They must be US citizens, and cannot have been married, pregnant, or ...

, and former ''

Total Request Live ''Total Request Live'' (commonly abbreviated as ''TRL'') is an American television program that premiered on MTV on September 14, 1998. The early version of ''TRL'' featured popular music videos played during its countdown and was also used as ...

'' 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 advertis ...

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 ...

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'', 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 Leandro Lopes 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 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 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, 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 and entertainment. The network was launched on 20 October 1990, as the first specialty television network to broadcast over-the-air, becoming ...

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