"The Last to Know" is a song recorded by

Sheena Easton Sheena Shirley Easton (; born 27 April 1959) is a Scottish singer and actress. Easton came into the public eye in an episode of the first British musical reality television programme '' The Big Time: Pop Singer'', which recorded her attempts to ...

for her 1987 album, '' No Sound But a Heart''. It was written by Brock Walsh and Phil Galdston and produced by Nick Martinelli. In 1990, it was covered by

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

Celine Dion version

Canadian singer

covered "The Last to Know" for her first English-language album,

Unison In music, unison is two or more musical parts that sound either the same pitch or pitches separated by intervals of one or more octaves, usually at the same time. ''Rhythmic unison'' is another term for homorhythm. Definition Unison or per ...

(1990). The song was released by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the A ...

as the album's fourth single in Canada on 11 March 1991. Later, it was issued as a single in the rest of the world. The song was written by Brock Walsh and Phil Galdston, and originally recorded by

in 1987. Dion's version was produced by

Christopher Neil Christopher Neil (born 1948) is an Irish-born British record producer, songwriter, singer, and actor. He has produced records for A-ha, Amazulu, Bonnie Tyler, Celine Dion, Cher, Dollar, Edyta Górniak, Gerry Rafferty, Jennifer Rush, José C ...

. After its release, "The Last to Know" received positive reviews from music critics. The song peaked at number sixteen in Canada and number seven on the Canadian Adult Contemporary chart. It also reached number twenty-two on the US

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 ...

. The accompanying music video for the song was directed by Dominic Orlando. Dion performed "The Last to Know" during her Unison Tour.

Background and release

"The Last to Know" was one of three covers recorded by Dion for her English-language album, ''

''. Dion's version was produced by British record producer,

. It was released as the fourth single in Canada on 11 March 1991 and third single in the United States (June 1991) and the rest of the world (September 1991). In the United Kingdom, it was the second single, after " Where Does My Heart Beat Now". "The Last to Know"'s

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

included "

" (Remix) in the United States and the album version of "Unison" in the rest of the world.

Critical reception

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the music ...

from ''

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'' noted that Dion "returns to familiar ballad territory" and described it as a "lovely tune". ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular ...

'' editor Jim Farber wrote, "Tracks like "If Love Is Out the Question" and "The Last to Know" are lush vehicles, filled with routine hooks that Dion's distinctive voice raises to a higher level". Christopher Smith from TalkAboutPopMusic described it as a "slow and sensual ballad full of atmosphere and synth-based backing tracks."

Commercial performance

In Canada, "The Last to Know" entered the '' RPM'' Top Singles chart on 16 March 1991 and peaked at number 16 on 25 May 1991. The song also entered ''RPM'' Adult Contemporary chart on 23 March 1991 and reached number seven there. In the United States, "The Last to Know" debuted on ''

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 ...

chart dated 13 July 1991 and peaked at number 22 on 31 August 1991.

Live performances

Dion performed "The Last to Know" on ''

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'' in March 1991, and also during her 1990–91 Unison Tour.

Track listings and formats

*Australian cassette, CD / Japanese 3" single #"The Last to Know" – 4:34 #"

" – 4:12 *Canadian cassette / European 7", cassette single #"The Last to Know" (Edit) – 4:18 #"Unison" – 4:12 *European CD single #"The Last to Know" (Edit) – 4:18 #"Unison" – 4:12 #"If We Could Start Over" – 4:23 *US 7", cassette single #"The Last to Know" (Edit) – 4:18 #"Unison" (Remix) – 4:04

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Credits and personnel

;Recording *Recorded at West Side Studios,

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;Personnel *

– lead vocals *

– producer, backing vocals *Brock Walsh – songwriter *Phil Galdston – songwriter *Steve Pigott – keyboards, bass, drums, percussion *Alan Carvell – backing vocals *Linda Taylor – backing vocals *Simon Hurrell – engineer

Release history

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Last to Know, The 1987 songs 1990 songs 1991 singles Celine Dion songs Pop ballads Song recordings produced by Christopher Neil Songs written by Phil Galdston