"The Prayer" is a song performed by Canadian singer

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 ...

and Italian tenor

Andrea Bocelli Andrea Bocelli (; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor and multi-instrumentalist. He was born visually impaired, with congenital glaucoma, and at the age of 12, Bocelli became completely blind, following a brain hemorrhage resulting fro ...

. It was written by

David Foster David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian musician, composer, arranger, record producer and music executive who chaired Verve Records from 2012 to 2016. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His music career spans mor ...

Carole Bayer Sager Carole Bayer Sager (born Carol Bayer on March 8, 1947) is an American lyricist, singer, and songwriter. Early life and career Bayer Sager was born in Manhattan, New York City, to Anita Nathan Bayer and Eli Bayer. Her family was Jewish. She grad ...

Alberto Testa Alberto Testa may refer to: * Alberto Testa (dancer) (1922–2019), Italian dancer *Alberto Testa (lyricist) Alberto Testa (11 April 1927 – 19 October 2009) was an Italian composer, lyricist, singer, and writer for television. Born at Santos ...

and

Tony Renis Tony Renis (born 13 May 1938), stage name of Elio Cesari, is an Italian singer, composer, music producer and film actor. Life and career Renis was born in Milan. In the mid-1950s he met with Adriano Celentano, and the two started performing an i ...

. "The Prayer" was originally recorded in two solo versions for the 1998 film ''

Quest for Camelot ''Quest for Camelot'' (released internationally as ''The Magic Sword: Quest for Camelot'') is a 1998 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Warner Bros. Feature Animation and directed by Frederik Du Chau and very loosely based on t ...

'', in English by Dion and in Italian by Bocelli. A duet between Dion and Bocelli later appeared on their respective studio albums, ''

These Are Special Times ''These Are Special Times'' is the seventeenth studio album by Canadian singer Celine Dion, and her first English-language Christmas album. It was first released in Europe on 30 October 1998, by Columbia Records. In the United States, i ...

'' (1998) and '' Sogno'' (1999), and was released as a promotional single on 1 March 1999. "The Prayer" won a

Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song The Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song is a Golden Globe Award that was awarded for the first time in 1962 and has been awarded annually since 1965 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The award is presented to the songwriters of a ...

and was nominated for an

Academy Award for Best Original Song The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who have composed ...

in 1999 and a

Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals The Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality pop songs on which singers co ...

in 2000. It received highly positive reviews from music critics and entered

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 in Canada and the United States in 1999. In 2008, Dion released a live version of "The Prayer" as a duet with

Josh Groban Joshua Winslow Groban (born February 27, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. His first four solo albums have been certified multi-platinum, and he was charted in 2007 as the number-one best selling artist in the United States, wi ...

. This

music download A music download (commonly referred to as a digital download) is the digital transfer of music via the Internet into a device capable of decoding and playing it, such as a personal computer, portable media player, MP3 player or smartphone. Th ...

entered the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record ...

at number 37 and the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at number 70.

History

Originally "The Prayer" was recorded as two separate solo versions, Dion's in English and Bocelli's in Italian. They appeared on the ''

'' soundtrack in May 1998. The duet was included on albums by both artists, released a few months later on ''Sogno'' and ''These Are Special Times''. Bocelli sang original Italian while Dion translated into English. The song won the

from the 1998 film ''Quest for Camelot'', the second win in a row for a

song. In that film, Dion sang it as a solo with slightly different lyrics. It was also nominated for an

in 1999 and a

in 2000. Dion performed it with Bocelli at both ceremonies. It was also featured on Dion's compilation ''

The Collector's Series, Volume One ''The Collector's Series, Volume One'' is a primarily English-language compilation album by Canadian singer Celine Dion, released by Columbia Records on 20 October 2000. The album was renamed ''Tout en amour'' (meaning ''All in Love'') in France ...

'' (2000) and greatest hits '' My Love: Ultimate Essential Collection'' (2008). A re-recorded solo version by Celine Dion (renamed "A Mother's Prayer") appeared on her 2004 album ''

Miracle A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divi ...

''. Dion performed "The Prayer" live during her

Taking Chances Tour The Taking Chances World Tour is the ninth concert tour by Canadian singer Celine Dion, in support of her thirteenth French-language and twenty-second studio album ''D'elles'' (2007). tenth English-language and twenty-third studio album '' Takin ...

as a virtual duet with Bocelli on the screen; the performance was released in the '' Taking Chances World Tour: The Concert'' CD/DVD. The song appeared also on Bocelli's 2007 compilation '' The Best of Andrea Bocelli: Vivere''. Dion joined Bocelli to perform the song in his '' Concerto: One Night in Central Park'' concert in 2011; the performance was subsequently released on CD and DVD. Both Dion and Bocelli have sung the song with other duet partners, and various other artists have recorded the song, either as a duet or a solo. The original version of "The Prayer" failed to chart on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, but reached number 6 and number 22 on the adult contemporary charts in Canada and the United States, respectively. It has also become popular during

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

, weddings and, in some cases, funerals and religious services.

Critical reception

Paul Verna from ''Billboard'' called this song a "gorgeous duet". Chuck Taylor from ''Billboard'' reviewed "The Prayer", calling it "a breathtaking, ultra-lush song, and the tour de force combination of Dion and Bocelli

hich Ij ( fa, ايج, also Romanized as Īj; also known as Hich and Īch) is a village in Golabar Rural District, in the Central District of Ijrud County, Zanjan Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also ...

will send a half-dozen chills up your spine". Although he felt that the song is "an unorthodox track for the radio," Taylor called it "affecting," "heartwarming," "absolutely exquisite" and "one of Dion's most radiant performances ever."

Track listing

US promotional CD single #"The Prayer" (

and

) – 4:29 #"The Prayer" (Celine Dion) – 2:48 #"The Prayer" (Andrea Bocelli) – 4:10

Personnel

and

– vocals *

– arranger, composer, keyboards, piano, producer * William Ross – arranger, orchestral arrangements *

Humberto Gatica Humberto Gatica is a Chilean-born American recording engineer, mixing engineer and record producer, best known for his work with Celine Dion, Chicago, Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand, Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban and Michael Bublé. Gatica's ...

– engineer, mixing *Felipe Elgueta – engineer, programming

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Celine Dion and Josh Groban version

first performed "The Prayer" live with

in 1999, when then 17-year old Groban filled in for

at rehearsal for the

41st Annual Grammy Awards The 41st Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 24, 1999, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1998. Lauryn Hill received the most nominations with 10, setting a record for the most no ...

. Nine years later, the two performed the song during her CBS TV special '' That's Just the Woman in Me'', aired on 15 February 2008. This version was released as a

in the United States and Canada two days earlier. It proved to be much more successful than the original, entering the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at number 70, becoming Groban's highest-charting song to date as an individual act (he and Dion would both go on to reach number two as members of Artists for Haiti with the song " We Are the World 25 for Haiti" in 2010). It also appeared on a few other ''Billboard'' charts:

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 sa ...

at number 50,

Hot Digital Songs The Digital Songs or Digital Song Sales chart (previously named Hot Digital Songs) ranks the best-selling digital songs in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published by ''Billboard'' magazine. Although it originally starte ...

at number 32 and

Hot Digital Tracks The Hot Digital Tracks chart is a song popularity chart that ranks the best selling digital tracks in the United States according to ''Billboard'' magazine. It is not to be confused with the Hot Digital Songs chart, which combines different vers ...

at number 29. The single sold 37,531 copies in its first week in the US. In Canada, the song peaked at number 37 on the

and number 19 on the Canadian Top Digital Downloads.

Charts

Anthony Callea version

Callea first performed this song during

Australian Idol ''Australian Idol'' is an Australian singing competition, which began its first season in July 2003 and ended its initial run in November 2009. As part of the ''Idol'' franchise, Australian Idol originated from the reality program '' Pop Ido ...

2004, in the week of "contestants choice". He received a standing ovation for this performance and the "Grand Royal Touchdown" from judge Mark Holden. He would go on to be runner-up in this series. At the completion of the show, Callea was signed to

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 buyou ...

, and he released "The Prayer" as his debut single. It was released in Australia on 19 December 2004 and debuted at number 1 on the

ARIA Charts 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 ...

. It stayed there for five weeks and was certified 4× platinum by

ARIA In music, an aria ( Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompa ...

. It became the fastest-selling single by any Australian artist, and was the second-highest-selling single in Australia within the 2000s overall, and for an Australian artist.ARIA's End Of Decade Charts*
PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. 7 January 2010. Retrieved 27 May 2012. The song was included on Callea's debut album ''

Anthony Callea Anthony Cosmo Callea (born 13 December 1982) is an Australian singer-songwriter and stage actor who rose to prominence as the runner-up in the 2004 season of ''Australian Idol''. Callea's debut single, a cover of Celine Dion and Andrea Bocell ...

''. The music video includes excerpts of Callea recording the song and was released in 2004. Callea has performed "The Prayer" at numerous concerts as well as the Carols by Candlelight in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

. In 2006, he performed the song in front of

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

at a Commonwealth Day Service. He also performed it as a duet with

Tina Arena Filippina Lydia "Tina" Arena (born 1 November 1967) is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician, musical theatre actress and record producer. She is one of Australia's highest-selling artists and has sold over 10 million records worldwid ...

on her ''Symphony of Life'' CD/DVD, released in 2012.

Track listing

Australian CD single #"The Prayer" – 4:16 #"The Prayer" (Sterling Remix) – 4:03

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Prayer, The 1998 songs 1999 singles 2008 singles 1990s ballads Andrea Bocelli songs ARIA Award-winning songs Best Original Song Golden Globe winning songs Celine Dion songs 2004 debut singles Anthony Callea songs Josh Groban songs Number-one singles in Australia Pop ballads Songs written for animated films Song recordings produced by David Foster Songs with lyrics by Alberto Testa (lyricist) Songs with music by Tony Renis Songs written by Carole Bayer Sager Songs written by David Foster Songs written for films Male–female vocal duets Columbia Records singles Epic Records singles Sony BMG singles