"When You're Gone" is a song by Canadian musician
Bryan Adams
Bryan Guy Adams (born November 5, 1959) is a British and Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and photographer. He is estimated to have sold between 75 million and more than 100 million album, records and Single (music), si ...
featuring English singer
Melanie C
Melanie Jayne Chisholm (born 12 January 1974), commonly known as Melanie C or Mel C, is an English singer and songwriter. She rose to fame in the mid-1990s as a member of the pop group the Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Sporty Spice. W ...
, from the former's eighth studio album, ''
On a Day Like Today'' (1998). The song was written by
Eliot Kennedy
Eliot Kennedy (born 29 March 1969) is an English songwriter and record producer based in Sheffield. He has worked with artists such as Céline Dion, Rebbie Jackson, Billie Piper, The Spice Girls, Aretha Franklin, Mary J. Blige, Donny Osmond, Br ...
and Adams, while produced by Adams and
Bob Rock
Robert Jens Rock (born April 19, 1954) is a Canadian record producer, recording engineer and musician.
In 1976, Rock joined Little Mountain Sound Studios, starting out as a recording engineer and sound mixer. During his time there, he coll ...
. It was released by
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...
on November 30, 1998, as the second
single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
from the album in addition to being Melanie C's first single outside the
Spice Girls
The Spice Girls are an English girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Mel B ("Scary Spice"), Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"), Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"), Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"), and Victoria Beckham ("Posh Spice"). They have sold over 10 ...
. Musically, it contains genres of
pop
Pop or POP may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Pop music, a musical genre
Artists
* POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade
* Pop! (British group), a UK pop group
* Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band
Album ...
,
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 ...
and
soft rock
Soft rock (also known as light rock or mellow rock) is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in the United States and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, mel ...
, and is performed as a duet between Adams and Melanie C with a
guitar solo
A guitar solo is a melody, melodic passage, instrumental section (music), section, or entire piece of music, pre-written (or improvised) to be played on a classical guitar, classical, electric guitar, electric, or acoustic guitar. In 20th and ...
.
"When You're Gone" received generally favorable reviews from
music critics
Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...
, who praised the production and Melanie C's vocals. The song peaked at number three on the
UK Singles Chart and at number four on the Australian
ARIA Singles Chart
The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...
. An 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 ...
was released by German
film director
A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...
Marcus Nispel
Marcus Nispel (born 26 May 1963) is a German film director and Film producer, producer, best known for several high-profile American remakes such as ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' (2003). He has also di ...
, which depicts Adams and Melanie C inside a house. Adams recorded another version of "When You're Gone" with Canadian-American actress
Pamela Anderson
Pamela Denise Anderson (born July 1, 1967) is a Canadian-American actress, model and media personality. She rose to prominence after being selected as the February 1990 ''Playboy'' Playmate of the Month. She went on to make regular appearan ...
for his
compilation album
A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...
, ''
Anthology
In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...
'' (2005), and as a new version with Melanie C for his album of re-recordings, ''Classic Pt II'' (2022).
Background and release
"When You're Gone" was written by
Bryan Adams
Bryan Guy Adams (born November 5, 1959) is a British and Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and photographer. He is estimated to have sold between 75 million and more than 100 million album, records and Single (music), si ...
and
Eliot Kennedy
Eliot Kennedy (born 29 March 1969) is an English songwriter and record producer based in Sheffield. He has worked with artists such as Céline Dion, Rebbie Jackson, Billie Piper, The Spice Girls, Aretha Franklin, Mary J. Blige, Donny Osmond, Br ...
during production of the former's eighth studio album ''
On a Day Like Today'' (1998).
Adams initially sought American musician
Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She is noted for her Optimism, optimistic and Idealism, idealistic subject matter, and incorporation of genres including Rock music, rock, Po ...
to perform the song as a duet, but did not receive a response from her. He unexpectedly encountered
Melanie C
Melanie Jayne Chisholm (born 12 January 1974), commonly known as Melanie C or Mel C, is an English singer and songwriter. She rose to fame in the mid-1990s as a member of the pop group the Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Sporty Spice. W ...
inside a hotel elevator in Los Angeles, where he asked her to appear on "When You're Gone". Adams first met Melanie C on British music chart television show ''
Top of the Pops
''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...
'' (''TOTP''), during the
Spice Girls
The Spice Girls are an English girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Mel B ("Scary Spice"), Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"), Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"), Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"), and Victoria Beckham ("Posh Spice"). They have sold over 10 ...
' performance of their 1996 song "
Wannabe
"Wannabe" is the debut single by the British girl group the Spice Girls, released on 26 June 1996. It was written by the Spice Girls, Matt Rowe and Richard "Biff" Stannard and produced by Rowe and Stannard for the group's debut album, ''Spice ...
". The song was recorded at
the Warehouse Studio
The Warehouse Studio is a multi-media recording facility and photography studio in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, owned by Bryan Adams.
Building
The studio is within the Oppenheimer Building, a three-story Victorian building recognized ...
in
Vancouver
Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
, Canada, from June to August 1998, with Adams and
Bob Rock
Robert Jens Rock (born April 19, 1954) is a Canadian record producer, recording engineer and musician.
In 1976, Rock joined Little Mountain Sound Studios, starting out as a recording engineer and sound mixer. During his time there, he coll ...
handling production.
Kennedy recorded Melanie C's vocals and sent them to the Canadian studio where Adams worked from, to be inserted into the song.
"When You're Gone" was first released on radio
airplay
Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...
in Europe before being distributed as a single on November 30, 1998. The following month, on December 23, a CD single was issued in Japan. In the United States, A&M Records serviced the song to
contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...
on March 2, 1999. "When You're Gone" is Melanie C's first appearance on a single since beginning a solo career,
and is Adams' second single from ''On a Day Like Today''.
In 2005, Adams recorded a duet of "When You're Gone" with Canadian-American actress
Pamela Anderson
Pamela Denise Anderson (born July 1, 1967) is a Canadian-American actress, model and media personality. She rose to prominence after being selected as the February 1990 ''Playboy'' Playmate of the Month. She went on to make regular appearan ...
for his
compilation album
A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...
titled ''
Anthology
In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...
'' (2005). He phoned Anderson five times to convince her to record the song, as the latter initially thought she was being ''
Punk'd
''Punk'd'' is an American hidden camera–practical joke reality television series that first aired on MTV in 2003. It was created by Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg, with Kutcher serving as producer and host. It bears a resemblance to both ...
''. In July 2022, Adams and Melanie C released a new version of "When You're Gone" from ''Classic Pt II'', the former's album containing re-recorded songs.
Composition and critical reception
Musically, "When You're Gone" is a
pop
Pop or POP may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Pop music, a musical genre
Artists
* POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade
* Pop! (British group), a UK pop group
* Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band
Album ...
,
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 ...
and
soft rock
Soft rock (also known as light rock or mellow rock) is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in the United States and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, mel ...
song, which contains similarities to
jangle-pop.
The song is performed as a duet between Adams and Melanie C.
A
guitar solo
A guitar solo is a melody, melodic passage, instrumental section (music), section, or entire piece of music, pre-written (or improvised) to be played on a classical guitar, classical, electric guitar, electric, or acoustic guitar. In 20th and ...
consisting of 16-
bars is played midway through the song. According to the
sheet music
Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed Book, books or Pamphlet, pamphlets ...
published at Musicnotes.com by
EMI Music Publishing
EMI Music Publishing Ltd. is a British multinational music publishing company headquartered in London, owned by Sony Music Publishing.
In May 2018, Sony Music Publishing agreed to increase its stake in EMI to 90%, pending regulatory approva ...
, "When You're Gone" is based on
common time, the
tempo
In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...
is 126 beats per minute, and is played in the
key of
C major
C major is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and its parallel min ...
. The vocal range of both artists spans from the low note of G
4 to the high note of A
5.
Dave Simpson of ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' wrote that "When You're Gone" is Adams' best written song, while ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
'' writer Alexandra Haddow opined in a 2021 article that it is "one of the best pop songs of the last twenty years".
JC Villamere of ''
Entertainment Tonight Canada
''Entertainment Tonight Canada'' (commonly shortened to ''ET Canada'') is a Canadian entertainment news television series that aired on the Global Television Network from 2005 to 2023. Its branding and format were based on the American entertainm ...
'' regarded the song to be an "absolute banger", and the ''
Daily Record'' stated that it is a "catchy tune". Writing for ''
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 ...
'',
Chuck Taylor praised the natural
melody
A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of Pitch (music), pitch and rhythm, while more figurativel ...
, radiant
hook
A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved/bent back or has a deeply grooved indentation, which serves to grab, latch or in any way attach itself onto another object. The hook's d ...
, and infectious energy of the song, which he compared to Adams' 1985 song "
Summer of '69
"Summer of '69" is a song recorded by the Canadian singer Bryan Adams from his fourth album, ''Reckless (Bryan Adams album), Reckless''. It is an up-tempo rock song about a dilemma between settling down or trying to become a rock star. The tra ...
", but critiqued that Melanie C's "rousing background vocals" is a gimmick to give the song exposure in the United Kingdom.
However,
Sam Taylor
Samuel, Sam or Sammy Taylor (male first name) may refer to:
Arts
* Sam Taylor (director) (1895–1958), American film director and screenwriter
* Samuel W. Taylor (1907–1997), American author
* Samuel A. Taylor (1912–2000), playwright and sc ...
of ''
The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.
In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...
'' considered the song to be "jarring" and described Melanie C's vocals as "wailing atonally". Writing about the rendition performed by Adams and Anderson, Keith Caulfield of ''Billboard'' criticized the latter's "featherweight background vocals", which were buried in the song and considered "novelty" for radio stations.
Commercial performance
"When You're Gone" debuted at the peak of number three on the
UK Singles Chart dated December 12, 1998, where it remained on the chart for 15 weeks.
The song sold 921,000 combined equivalent-sales in the United Kingdom as of May 2021,
and was certified platinum by the
British Phonographic Industry
BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...
(BPI) as a result.
"When You're Gone" peaked at number three on 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 ...
, where it remained for 16 weeks.
The song peaked at number six on the Norwegian
VG-lista
VG-lista is the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from Norwegian and international artists. It is presented weekly in the newspaper ''Verdens Gang, VG''. The data is collected by Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Soundscan Inte ...
, where it spent 15 weeks on the chart,
and was certified gold by the
International Federation of the Phonographic Industry
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a non-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland and founded in Italy in 1 ...
(IFPI).
On the Swedish
Sverigetopplistan
Sverigetopplistan (, lit. "the Sweden top list") is the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from IFPI Sverige. It was formerly known as Topplistan (1975–1997) and Hitlistan (1998–2007) and has been known by its current name si ...
, "When You're Gone" bowed at number eight, where the song remained on the chart for 17 weeks.
On the Australian
ARIA Singles Chart
The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...
, "When You're Gone" debuted at number 29 on the chart dated December 6, 1998. The song peaked at number four on the chart dated January 24, 1999, and charted for 21 weeks.
It received a platinum certification by the
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival Records (Australia), Festival, Sony Music ...
(ARIA), for selling 70,000 equivalent units in the country.
In New Zealand, "When You're Gone" charted at number 15 on the
New Zealand Singles Chart
The Official Aotearoa Music Charts, formerly the Official New Zealand Music Chart (), is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The M ...
, where it spent 13 weeks on the chart.
In Canada, the song peaked at number 12 on the ''
RPM
Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines.
One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz.
Standards
ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...
'' Top 100 Singles chart dated February 15, 1999.
Music video and live performances
An 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 ...
was directed by German
film director
A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...
Marcus Nispel
Marcus Nispel (born 26 May 1963) is a German film director and Film producer, producer, best known for several high-profile American remakes such as ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' (2003). He has also di ...
and released in 1998. It depicts Adams and Melanie C running around a house. Writing for ''The Guardian'', Richard Benson described Adams' appearance as "green of face". On May 22, 2020, a
high-definition (HD) version of the video was uploaded on
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
. A new music video for the re-recorded version of "When You're Gone" by Adams and Melanie C was released in 2022.
"When You're Gone" is frequently performed at Adams' concerts as an
acoustic version, which he picks an audience member to sing the song alongside him. Melanie C regularly included "When You're Gone" on the setlist of her live concerts.
On January 8, 1999, Melanie C and Adams appeared on ''TOTP'' to perform "When You're Gone" as a duet. Adams performed "When You're Gone" in the first week of the live show on the
third season of ''
The X Factor Australia'' in September 2011.
In November 2011, Adams appeared halfway through the contestants' group performance of the song on the
eighth season of ''
The X Factor UK
''The X Factor'' is a British reality television music competition, and part of the global ''X Factor'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Premiering on 4 September 2004, it was produced by Fremantle's British entertainment company, Thames (T ...
''. Melanie C performed "When You're Gone" with Irish singer
Nathan Carter
Nathan Kane Tyrone Carter (born 28 May 1990) is a British-born Irish country music singer based in the UK and Ireland. He Nathan Carter discography, has released thirteen studio albums and six live albums as of December 2022, five of which pea ...
on the second season of ''The Nathan Carter Show'' on
RTÉ One
RTÉ One is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by RTÉ. It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís Éireann'' on 31 December 1961, it was renamed ''R ...
in November 2017, and with Adams during his concert in her hometown of
Widnes
Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom censuses, 2021 census had a population of 62,400.
Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, ...
in July 2022.
Track listing
UK
CD single
A CD single is a single (music), music single in the form of a compact disc (CD). Originally the ''CD single'' standard (as defined in the Rainbow Books, Red Book) was an 8 cm (3-inch) "mini CD" (''CD3''); later on the term referred to any si ...
1
UK CD single 2
UK
cassette single
A cassette single (CS), also known by the trademark cassingle, or capitalised as the trademark Cassette Single, is a music single (music), single supplied in the form of a Compact Cassette. The cassette single was introduced in 1980 in music, 1 ...
Australian CD single
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:When You're Gone (Bryan Adams Song)
1998 songs
1998 singles
A&M Records singles
Bryan Adams songs
Male–female vocal duets
Melanie C songs
Music videos directed by Marcus Nispel
Song recordings produced by Bob Rock
Songs written by Bryan Adams
Songs written by Eliot Kennedy
Torch songs