"You'll Never Walk Alone" is a
show tune from the 1945
Rodgers and Hammerstein musical ''
Carousel''. In the second act of the musical, Nettie Fowler, the cousin of the protagonist Julie Jordan, sings "You'll Never Walk Alone" to comfort and encourage Julie when her husband, Billy Bigelow, the male lead, stabs himself with a knife whilst trying to run away after attempting a robbery with his mate Jigger and dies in her arms. The song is
reprise
In music, a reprise ( , ; from the verb 'to resume') is the repetition or reiteration of the opening material later in a composition as occurs in the recapitulation of sonata form, though—originally in the 18th century—was simply any re ...
d as an epilogue in the final scene to encourage a graduation class of which Louise Bigelow (Billy and Julie's daughter) is a member as the Starkeeper is about to give them a graduation sermon. The now invisible Billy, who has been granted the chance to return to Earth for one day in order to redeem himself, watches the ceremony and at the end of the Starkeeper's homily is able to silently motivate Louise and Julie to join in with the song as the whole congregation unite in singing along with them urged on by the Starkeeper as he ascends to paradise.
The song is also sung at
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
clubs around the world, where it is performed by a massed chorus of supporters on match day; this tradition developed at
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founded in ...
after the chart success of the 1963 single of the song by the local
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
group
Gerry and the Pacemakers on their album ''How Do You Like It?''.
In some areas of the United Kingdom and Europe, "You'll Never Walk Alone" became the anthem of support for medical staff, first responders, and those in
quarantine
A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals, and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have bee ...
during the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. The composition is sometimes treated by performers as a religious song, such as with the 1967 version by
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...
, which was featured on his album ''
You'll Never Walk Alone'' and several of his
gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...
albums.
Background
Christine Johnson, who created the role of Nettie Fowler, introduced the song in the original
Broadway production. Later in the show
Jan Clayton, as Julie Jordan, reprised it, with the entire cast joining in.
In the 1956
film adaptation
A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...
, the song was introduced by
Claramae Turner as Nettie, also the weeping Julie Jordan (
Shirley Jones
Shirley Mae Jones (born March 31, 1934) is an American actress and singer. In her six decades in show business, she has starred as wholesome characters in a number of musical films, such as ''Oklahoma! (film), Oklahoma!'' (1955), ''Carousel (fi ...
) tries to sing it but can't; the song is reprised by Julie with the entire cast as the end.
Other versions
Gerry and the Pacemakers
In the UK, the song's most successful
cover was released in 1963 by the
Liverpudlian Merseybeat group
Gerry and the Pacemakers, peaking at number one on the
UK Singles Chart for four consecutive weeks. The band's version also reached the top of the charts in Australia, New Zealand and 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 ...
.
[ Click or tap "Search Charts", and then search for "You'll Never Walk Alone".]
Liverpool F.C.
After becoming a chart hit, the song gained popularity among
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founded in ...
fans, and quickly became the
football anthem of the club, which adopted "You'll Never Walk Alone" as its official motto on its
coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...
.
The song is sung by its supporters before the start of each home game at
Anfield with the Gerry and the Pacemakers version being played over the
public address system.
[Nik Brumsack]
The story of 'You'll Never Walk Alone'
, independent.co.uk, April 14, 2014. In 2013, the 50th anniversary of the song being sung on the Kop, Simon Hart of ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' wrote,
According to former player
Tommy Smith, lead vocalist
Gerry Marsden presented Liverpool manager
Bill Shankly with a recording of his forthcoming cover single during a pre-season coach trip in the summer of 1963. "Shanks was in awe of what he heard. ... Football writers from the local newspapers were travelling with our party and, thirsty for a story of any kind between games, filed copy back to their editors to the effect that we had adopted Gerry Marsden's forthcoming single as the club song." The squad were subsequently invited to perform the track with the band on ''
The Ed Sullivan Show
''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the ''CB ...
'' with Marsden stating, "Bill came up to me. He said, 'Gerry my son, I have given you a football team and you have given us a song'."
Shankly picked the song as his eighth and final selection for the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
's ''
Desert Island Discs'' on the eve of the
1965 FA Cup Final. As Liverpool fans sang "You'll Never Walk Alone" at
Wembley during the 1965 FA Cup Final win over
Leeds
Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
, commentator
Kenneth Wolstenholme referred to it as "Liverpool's signature tune".
Marsden told
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...
how, in the 1960s, the
disc jockey
A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...
at Anfield would play the top 10 commercial records in descending order, with the number one single played last, shortly before kickoff. Liverpool fans on the Kop would sing along, but unlike with other hit singles, once "You'll Never Walk Alone" dropped out of the top 10, instead of disregarding the song, supporters—chanting 'Where's our song?'—continued to sing it.
In retirement, according to his granddaughter Karen Gill, Shankly would get out the gramophone and "put the record on and play it, so we would hear it in the house."

In his commentary on the memorial service following the
Hillsborough disaster
The Hillsborough disaster was a fatal crowd crush at a football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989. It occurred during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in the tw ...
in 1989,
Peter Jones recited the lyrics, which were then sung by a cathedral choir.
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...
's recording of the song from her 1971 live album ''
Amazing Grace'' was played by
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...
DJ and Liverpool fan
John Peel in his first show following the disaster. In 2019, during a
Take That concert at Anfield, Gerry Marsden made a guest appearance to sing the song with
Gary Barlow. Reflecting on 60 years of "You'll Never Walk Alone" as the club's anthem, in 2023 Liverpool manager
Jürgen Klopp
Jürgen Norbert Klopp (; born 16 June 1967) is a German football executive and former Manager (association football), manager and Football player, player. He is widely regarded as one of the best football managers in the world. Klopp has been ...
stated, "Simple but powerful lyrics, a real message. Some things have changed since then
he 1960sbut obviously what it means to the people has never changed."
In 1995, the Gerry and the Pacemakers version peaked at number 34 on the
Dutch Single Top 100
The Dutch Single Top 100 or Single Top 100 is a Dutch chart, based on official physical single sales, legal downloads and since July 2013 streaming and composed by Dutch Charts. It is one of the three official charts, the other two being the Du ...
on the week ending March 18 and number 24 on the
Dutch Top 40
The Dutch Top 40 () is a weekly music chart compiled by ''Stichting Nederlandse Top 40''. It started as a radio program titled "Veronica Top 40", on the offshore radio, offshore station Radio Veronica in 1965. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" ...
on the week ending April 1. It re-entered the Irish Singles Chart in 2012, peaking at number four on the week ending September 20.
Other teams
The song was adopted by Scottish team
Celtic after a 1966
Cup Winners' Cup semi-final against Liverpool at Anfield, and is now sung by Celtic fans prior to every home
European tie,
[Aldred, Jessica]
Liverpool or Celtic: who Walked Alone first?
''The Guardian''. March 12, 2003. and later by Germany's
Borussia Dortmund
Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...
, which Liverpool went on to play in the cup final.
When Celtic and Liverpool played in the quarterfinals of the
2002-03 UEFA Cup, Gerry Marsden performed the song at
Celtic Park before both teams took the field and both sets of fans sang along.
The song has also been adopted by Dutch team
FC Twente
Football Club Twente (), sometimes known internationally as FC Twente Enschede, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from the city of Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub E ...
after it was officially given to them by the Anfield stadium speaker
George Sephton during the last game in
Diekman Stadion, before moving to the new
Arke Stadion. Today, Twente fans sing the song before every home game. Elsewhere in the Netherlands,
Feyenoord
Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...
and
SC Cambuur have adopted the song as well, with Feyenoord using the
Lee Towers version from his 1976 album ''It's Raining in My Heart''.
Additional football teams which now use the song include
1. FSV Mainz 05
1. Fußball- und Sport-Verein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05 or simply Mainz 05 (), is a German professional sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top tie ...
,
TSV 1860 Munich
, commonly known as TSV 1860 München (; ''sechzig'' locally ; lettered as ) or 1860 Munich, is a sports club based in Munich. The club's association football, football team plays in the 3. Liga, the third tier of German football league system ...
, Austria's
FC Admira Wacker, Belgium's
Club Brugge KV,
KV Mechelen
Yellow Red Koninklijke Voetbalclub Mechelen (), often called KV Mechelen (, KVM) or simply by their former French name Malinois /ˌmalɪˈnwɑː/, is a Belgian professional association football, football club based in Mechelen in the Antwerp (pr ...
and
K.V. Kortrijk, Italy's
Genoa CFC, Japan's
FC Tokyo, Spain's
CD Lugo, and Greece's
ARIS. In
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...
, the song has been adopted by German
Deutsche Eishockey Liga side
Krefeld Pinguine and
Croatian Medveščak Zagreb.
Some years later, after witnessing a rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone" at Anfield in 2007, the President of the
Spanish Olympic Committee
The Spanish Olympic Committee (, COE) is responsible body for Spain's participation in the Olympic Games. Members of the committee are 35 sports federations, which elect the Executive Council composed of the president and 23 members.
History
...
,
Alejandro Blanco, said he felt inspired to seek lyrics to his country's wordless national anthem, the
Marcha Real
The (; ) is the national anthem of Spain. It is one of only four national anthems in the world – along with those of National Anthem of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Inno Nazionale della Repubblica, San Marino and Anthem o ...
, ahead of
Madrid's bid to host the
2016 Olympic Games.
During the
2014 Hong Kong protests, legislator
Tam Yiu Chung quoted the song during a
Legislative Council of Hong Kong
The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, colloquially known as LegCo, is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Hong Kong. It sits under People's Republic of China, China's "one country, two systems" c ...
meeting, to salute the
Hong Kong Police, who had received widespread criticism for using excessive force against pro-democracy protesters. More than 2,000 Liverpool Football Club fans in Hong Kong condemned his inappropriate use of the song, comparing his support of the police action to the police actions in the
1989 Hillsborough disaster, where
South Yorkshire Police were found to have distorted facts relating to the
unlawful killing by negligence of 97 Liverpool supporters.
On 13 March 2016, after
Borussia Dortmund
Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...
's 2–0 win against 1. FSV Mainz 05 in the German
Bundesliga
The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...
, supporters of both teams performed the song to commemorate a Dortmund fan who died from a
cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...
in the stands during the game.
The Crowd
A special recording of the song was made in solidarity with
Bradford City following the
Valley Parade fire in 1985 when 56 spectators died and many more were seriously injured. The song was performed by
charity supergroup the Crowd, which featured Gerry Marsden,
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...
and others, and spent two weeks at number one in the UK and Ireland in June 1985.
Marcus Mumford
Marcus Mumford, lead singer of the British
folk rock
Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...
band
Mumford & Sons, released a cover version of "You'll Never Walk Alone" as a single on March 20, 2020, through
Glassnote Records. Mumford's version was originally recorded for the
Apple TV+ sports comedy-drama ''
Ted Lasso
''Ted Lasso'' ( ) is an American sports film, sports comedy-drama television series developed by Jason Sudeikis, Bill Lawrence (TV producer), Bill Lawrence, Brendan Hunt, and Joe Kelly. It is based on a character Sudeikis portrayed in a series ...
''; it appears in the first-season finale, "
The Hope That Kills You" in 2020. Proceeds from the single release were donated to the Grenfell Foundation and
War Child UK.
Michael Ball and Captain Tom Moore
In April 2020, to mark 99-year old
Captain Tom Moore completing the first phase of his fundraising walk during the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, English actor, singer and broadcaster,
Michael Ball sang "You'll Never Walk Alone" for him live on ''
BBC Breakfast''.
Ball said: "It's an extraordinary achievement. I've been trying to think of a song which encapsulates your achievement and what you have done for us." Within 24 hours,
the performance was recorded, and made into a digital single featuring the NHS Voices of Care Choir, and Moore's spoken words.
It was released by
Decca Records
Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...
on April 17, with all proceeds going to
NHS Charities Together. The duo appeared on
Zoe Ball's
Radio 2 show, where they both performed the song.
On April 19, 2020, the song went straight to number one in the United Kingdom's "
The EE Official Big Top 40" chart, selling almost 36,000 copies in its first 48 hours. On April 21, 2020, the song was the "biggest trending song" as measured by the
Official Charts Company
The Official UK Charts Company Limited (formerly Music Industry Chart Services Limited), trading as the Official Charts Company (OCC) or the Official Charts (formerly the Chart Information Network), is a British inter-professional organisation ...
. On April 24, 2020, the song entered the UK Singles Chart at number one, with combined chart sales of 82,000 making it the fastest-selling single of 2020 so far and making Moore – six days short of his one hundredth birthday – the oldest person to achieve that position and meaning that he was at number one on his 100th birthday, beating the previous record-holder
Tom Jones, who was 68 years old when a
Comic Relief
Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1986 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make t ...
rendition of "
Islands in the Stream" reached number one in 2009.
Josh Groban
American singer
Josh Groban covered the song off of his 2015 seventh studio album ''
Stages''. He also performed the song at the
69th Tony Awards on June 7, 2015 during the In Memoriam segment.
Charts
Weekly charts
Gerry & the Pacemakers
Marcus Mumford
Michael Ball and Captain Tom Moore
Patti LaBelle
Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American Rhythm and blues, R&B singer and actress. She has been referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godmother of Soul". LaBelle began ...
&
the Bluebells
The Lettermen
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...
The Brooklyn Bridge
Blue Haze
The Crowd
Year-end charts
Certifications
Gerry & The Pacemakers
The Crowd
References
External links
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Feyenoord songs
Association football songs and chants
Glassnote Records singles
Gerry and the Pacemakers songs
Glen Campbell songs
Irish Singles Chart number-one singles
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Johnny Preston songs
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Liverpool F.C. songs
Laurie Records singles
Mahalia Jackson songs
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Michael Ball songs
Number-one singles in Australia
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UK Independent Singles Chart number-one singles
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