"Separate Lives" is a 1985 song recorded by Phil Collins and

Marilyn Martin Marilyn Martin (born May 4, 1954) is an American singer and songwriter. She is best known for her 1985 hit duet with Phil Collins, "Separate Lives", her only number one. Early life Marilyn Martin was born on May 4, 1954, in Tennessee but raise ...

and featured on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...

to the motion picture ''

White Nights White night, White Night, or White Nights may refer to: * White night (astronomy), a night in which it never gets completely dark, at high latitudes outside the Arctic and Antarctic Circles * White Night festivals, all-night arts festivals held ...

''. It reached No. 1 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and

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 ...

charts as well as in Canada and Ireland. It reached No. 4 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 ...

, and was certified silver by 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 ...

. Songwriter Stephen Bishop recorded his own version for his album ''Sleeping with Girls'' for Polydor Records, released in 1985. Bishop received an

Oscar nomination The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for

Best Original Song This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

. It lost to Lionel Richie's song "

Say You, Say Me "Say You, Say Me" is a song written and recorded by American singer and songwriter Lionel Richie for the film ''White Nights (1985 film), White Nights''. The single hit number one in the US and on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, R&B singles chart in D ...

" from the same film. Collins recorded other versions of "Separate Lives" while on tour. He sang with touring singer

Amy Keys Amy Keys (born September 15, 1967) is an American singer and vocal artist. She was signed to the Epic Records label and a solo album and several singles were released in 1989. She worked on Walt Disney movie soundtracks and as backing vocalist on ...

in 1994, the song appearing on the album ''Live from the Board''. Beginning in 1997 he has performed the song many times with Italian singer Laura Pausini. In 2004, Collins recorded a version with Bridgette Bryant who had toured with him in 1990 in support of '' ...But Seriously''.

Music video

The music video features Martin and Collins singing and playing the piano, intercut with scenes from the movie. It was edited to make it appear that Phil and Marilyn were in the same building as the movie's stars, Mikhail Baryshnikov and

Gregory Hines Gregory Oliver Hines (February 14, 1946 – August 9, 2003) was an American dancer, actor, choreographer, and singer. He is one of the most celebrated tap dancers of all time. As an actor, he is best known for '' Wolfen'' (1981), '' The Cotton C ...

, but in a separate studio. It was directed by Jim Yukich and produced by Paul Flattery of FYI. The film's director,

Taylor Hackford Taylor Edwin Hackford (born December 31, 1944) is an American film director and former president of the Directors Guild of America. He won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film for '' Teenage Father'' (1979). Hackford went on to direct ...

, was also at the shoot.

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Personnel

* Phil Collins – vocals, drums *

– vocals *

Nick Glennie-Smith Nickolas Glennie-Smith is an English film score composer, conductor, and musician who is a frequent collaborator with Hans Zimmer, contributing to scores including '' The Rock'' (nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound), the 2006 histori ...

– keyboards *

Daryl Stuermer Daryl Mark Stuermer (born November 27, 1952) is an American musician, songwriter, and producer best known for playing the guitar and bass for Genesis during live shows, and lead guitar for Phil Collins during most solo tours and albums. He has ...

– guitar

References

* ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits'', 6th Edition, 1996 1985 singles 1985 songs Phil Collins songs Stephen Bishop (singer) songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles Male–female vocal duets Pop ballads Rock ballads Songs written for films Song recordings produced by Arif Mardin Song recordings produced by Phil Collins Atlantic Records singles Virgin Records singles Warner Music Group singles {{1980s-pop-song-stub