All By Myself
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"All by Myself" is a song by American singer-songwriter
Eric Carmen Eric Howard Carmen (August 11, 1949 – March 2024) was an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He was the lead vocalist of the Raspberries, with whom he recorded the hit " Go All the Way" and four albums. He embarked on a so ...
, released by
Arista Records Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...
in December 1975 as the first single from Carmen's self-titled debut album. The verse is based on the second movement (''Adagio sostenuto'') of Russian composer
Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and Conducting, conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a compos ...
's 1900–01 '' Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor'', Opus 18. The chorus was taken from the song " Let's Pretend", which Carmen had written and recorded with his band the Raspberries in 1972. The
slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos that ...
solo was performed by studio guitarist
Hugh McCracken Hugh Carmine McCracken (March 31, 1942 – March 28, 2013) was an American rock guitarist and session musician based in New York City, primarily known for his performance on guitar and also as a harmonica player. McCracken was additionally ...
.


Background and composition

According to Eric Carmen, he first wrote the solo part of the song, writing four bars at a time, eventually completing the interlude after two months. He needed to put this into a song, and after listening to
Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and Conducting, conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a compos ...
's 2nd piano concerto, a piece famously used to underscore the 1945 British film ''
Brief Encounter ''Brief Encounter'' is a 1945 British Romance film#Romantic drama, romantic drama film directed by David Lean from a screenplay by Noël Coward, based on his 1936 one-act play ''Still Life (play), Still Life''. The film stars Celia Johnson and ...
'', he adapted the melody of its second movement to write the verse. Rachmaninoff's music was in the
public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...
in the United States at that time, so Carmen thought no copyright existed on it, but it was still protected outside the U.S. subsequent to the release of the album. He was later contacted by the Rachmaninoff estate and informed that it was protected. An agreement was reached in which the estate would receive 12 percent of the royalties from "All by Myself" as well as from " Never Gonna Fall in Love Again", which was based on the third movement from Rachmaninoff's '' Symphony No. 2''. Carmen stated that he also incorporated part of another melody into this song. The melody of the chorus was taken from his previous 1973 hit with the Raspberries, " Let's Pretend".


Television performance

Carmen performed "All by Myself" and his follow-up hit, "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again", on '' The Midnight Special'' television program on July 23, 1976 (season 4, episode 37). The show was hosted by The Spinners.


Release

The
power ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner. Balla ...
was the first single from Carmen's first solo LP after leaving the
power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a subgenre of rock music and form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, ...
group the Raspberries and was released in December 1975. ''
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 ...
'' described the song as "a superb
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
ballad...faithfully capturing most of the good time feel in rock." ''
Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...
'' said that Carmen "captures the vocal power of at least two of the three
Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in ...
and seems also to have tapped the lyric capabilities of a
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 ...
." ''
Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...
'' said that Carmen "croons over a backdrop of cascading strings on this self-penned delight from his recent album." It reached number two on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100; both " Love Machine" by
The Miracles The Miracles (later known as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles from 1965 to 1972) were an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1955. They were the first successful recording act for Motown Records and are considered one of the most ...
and " December 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" by The Four Seasons, kept the song from number one. "All by Myself" did reach number one on the ''
Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...
'' Top 100 Singles and number three in Canada. The single sold more than one million copies in the United States and was certified gold by the
RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
in April 1976. "All by Myself" was Carmen's first of eight US Top 40 hits. In the UK, however, this was his only Top 40 success, peaking at number 12 on the UK Singles Chart. The song would be featured in "The One Where Eddie Moves In", a 1996 season 2 episode of the popular television series ''
Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane (producer), David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting List of Friends episodes, ten seasons. With an ensemble cast ...
'' during a scene of
Chandler Bing Chandler Muriel Bing is a fictional character from the NBC sitcom ''Friends'', portrayed by Matthew Perry. Chandler was born to Nora Tyler Bing, an erotic romance novelist, and Charles Bing, a gay female impersonator and star of a Las Vegas drag ...
(
Matthew Perry Matthew Langford Perry (August 19, 1969 – October 28, 2023) was an American and Canadian actor, comedian, director and screenwriter. He gained international fame for starring as Chandler Bing on the NBC television sitcom ''Friends'' (1994– ...
) and
Joey Tribbiani Joseph Francis Tribbiani Jr. (born 1968) is a fictional character, serving as one of the primary characters of the NBC sitcom ''Friends'' and the protagonist of its spin-off ''Joey''. He is portrayed by Matt LeBlanc in both series. Joey is an ...
(
Matt LeBlanc Matthew Steven LeBlanc (; born July 25, 1967) is an American actor. He garnered global recognition with his portrayal of Joey Tribbiani in the NBC sitcom ''Friends'' and in its spin-off series, '' Joey''. For his work on ''Friends'', LeBlanc ...
) being depressed after Joey moves out.


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Celine Dion version

The most notable cover version of "All by Myself" was recorded by Canadian singer
Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Power Ballads", Dion's powerful, technically skilled vocals and commercially successful works have had ...
in 1996. It was the fourth (or third, depending on the country) hit single from her fourth English-language studio album, ''
Falling into You ''Falling into You'' is the fourteenth studio album and fourth English-language album by Canadian singer Celine Dion, released on 11 March 1996 by Sony Music. The follow-up to her blockbuster album '' The Colour of My Love'' (1993) and French-l ...
'' (1996). Produced by
David Foster David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian record producer, composer, arranger, and musician. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His career began as a keyboardist for the pop group Skylark in the early 1970s befor ...
at
Compass Point Studios Compass Point Studios was a music recording studio in the Bahamas, founded in 1977 by Chris Blackwell, the owner of Island Records. The concept of the studio was of a recording facility supported by in-house sets of artists, musicians, producers ...
in the
Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...
, it was released on December 9, 1996, in the United Kingdom and on March 11, 1997, in the United States. Selected editions of the album and the single include a Spanish version of the song titled "Sola Otra Vez". The single became one of Dion's biggest hits in the United States, reaching number one on the
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 ...
(for three weeks) and the
Latin Pop Airplay Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area around Rome, Italy. Through the expansion of ...
(two weeks). It peaked at number four on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 (number seven on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 Airplay and number five on the Hot 100 Singles Sales). It was also a top 10 hit in France, United Kingdom, Wallonia in Belgium 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 ...
. In Canada, "All by Myself" was released as a promotional single only, hitting number one on the
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 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...
Chart. "All by Myself" was certified gold in the US (500,000) and in the UK (400,000) and silver in France (125,000). During an interview on '' Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen'', Dion revealed that the famous high note (F5) leading into the key change had not been planned but David Foster surprised her with it when she appeared for recording. When Dion asked why the surprise, Foster told her that if she couldn't sing it, other singers would, which prompted Dion to prove to Foster that she could sing it.


Critical reception

Dion's cover received positive reviews from most music critics. Bill Lamb from
About.com Dotdash Meredith (formerly The Mining Company, About.com and Dotdash) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, hom ...
placed it at number nine in their ranking of "Top 10 Celine Dion Songs". ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' editor Chuck Eddy said, "But only in her desolate cover of Eric Carmen's 'All by Myself' does she truly crash through the glass ceiling of passion". Pip Ellwood-Hughes from Entertainment Focus called it "incredible" and "one of the best recorded vocals ever captured." He added that "listening to Dion reach the highs she does on that song is magical and it sends goosebumps down your spine look (sic) nothing else can." Dave Sholin from the ''
Gavin Report The ''Gavin Report'' was a San Francisco-based radio industry trade publication. The publication was founded by radio performer Bill Gavin in 1958. Its Top 40 listings were used for many years by programmers to decide content of programs. The ...
'' commented, "Demand by both programmers and the public for this rendition of Eric Carmen's 1976 smash made it the obvious choice to be the third single lifted off Celine's multi-platinum and
Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...
-nominated album, ''Falling into You''". Kevin Courtney from ''
Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...
'' said, "It's probably a good thing that Celine is all by herself people in the room with her might have their eardrums shattered by her climactic, over the top delivery." A reviewer from ''
Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...
'' gave it top score with five out of five, stating that "Dion does a great job with the Eric Carmen power ballad and this one could be in for a long run given its guaranteed appeal to once-a-year record buyers. A contender for the top spot." The magazine's Alan Jones noted that "it's handled with consummate ease by Dion".
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editor Dan Leroy wrote, "Trying to out-emote Eric Carmen was almost crazy enough to work". ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' editor
Stephen Holden Stephen Holden (born July 18, 1941) is an American writer, poet, and music and film critic. Biography Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963. He worked as a photo editor, staff writer, and eventually be ...
stated that the cover, along with "
Because You Loved Me "Because You Loved Me" is a song performed by Canadian singer Celine Dion on her fourth English-language studio album, '' Falling into You'' (1996). It was released on 19 February 1996 as the first single in North America, and as the second sin ...
", "are the strongest cuts on an album crammed with formulaic romantic bombast". A reviewer from ''
People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...
'' said Dion "knocks herself out trying to match the classic bombast that Eric Carmen dished out on 'All By Myself'." Geoff Edgers from ''
Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...
'' described it as a "dog-ear-shattering remake". Christopher Smith from TalkAboutPopMusic wrote,


Music video

A music video was produced to promote the single, directed by British director
Nigel Dick Nigel Dick (born 21 March 1953) is an English music video director and filmmaker. Originally from Catterick, North Yorkshire, he is based in Los Angeles, California. He has directed music videos for artists such as Britney Spears, Toto, Ba ...
. It contains fragments from Dion's photo session for the ''Falling into You'' album cover and some scenes from her ''
Live à Paris ''Live à Paris'' (English: "live in Paris") is the third live album by Canadian singer Celine Dion, released on 21 October 1996 by Sony Music. It features primarily French-language songs, mainly from '' D'eux'' (1995), but also includes " The P ...
'' concert. In between, there are also sepia toned footage showing an apparently lonely and sad Dion. The video was later made available on Dion's official
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 ...
channel in 2012 and had generated more than 63 million views as of October 2023. A video of the Spanish version was added to the channel in 2021.


Track listings and formats

* Australian CD and cassette single #"All by Myself" (Edited Single Version) – 3:58 #"
Because You Loved Me "Because You Loved Me" is a song performed by Canadian singer Celine Dion on her fourth English-language studio album, '' Falling into You'' (1996). It was released on 19 February 1996 as the first single in North America, and as the second sin ...
" (Live) – 4:52 #" Next Plane Out" (Radio Edit) – 4:37 #"Vole" (Live) – 4:03 #"All by Myself" (Album Version) – 5:12 * European CD and 7-inch single #"All by Myself" – 5:12 #" The Power of the Dream" – 4:31 * European CD maxi-single #"All by Myself" (Single Version) – 4:26 #"All by Myself" – 5:12 #"
Je sais pas "Je sais pas" (meaning "I don't know" in French) is a song by Canadian singer Celine Dion from her thirteenth studio album, '' D'eux'' (1995). It was written by Jean-Jacques Goldman and J. Kapler, and produced by Goldman and Erick Benzi. The so ...
" (Live) – 4:26 #"
Pour que tu m'aimes encore "Pour que tu m'aimes encore" (meaning "so that you'll love me again") is a song by Canadian singer Celine Dion, from her thirteenth studio album, '' D'eux'' (1995). It was written by Jean-Jacques Goldman, and produced by Goldman and Erick Benzi. ...
" (Live) – 4:52 * European 12-inch single #"All By Myself" – 5:12 #"The Power of the Dream" – 4:31 #" It's All Coming Back to Me Now" (Classic Paradise Radio Mix #1) – 4:22 * Japanese CD single #"All by Myself" (Single Version) – 4:24 #"Pour que tu m'aimes encore" (Live) – 4:51 * Mexican promo CD single #"All by Myself" – 5:12 #"Sola Otra Vez" – 5:12 #"Sola Otra Vez" (Radio Edit) – 4:41 * UK cassette single #"All by Myself" (Edited Single Version) – 3:58 #"All by Myself" (Spanish Version) – 5:12 #"
When I Fall in Love "When I Fall in Love" is a popular song, written by Victor Young (music) and Edward Heyman (lyrics). It was introduced in Howard Hughes' last film '' One Minute to Zero'' as the instrumental titled "Theme from One Minute to Zero". Jeri Southe ...
" (Duet with Clive Griffin) – 4:20 * UK CD single #"All by Myself" (Album Version) – 5:12 #"Pour que tu m'aimes encore" (Live) – 4:38 #"Je sais pas" (Live) – 4:26 #" River Deep, Mountain High" (Live) – 3:28 * UK CD single (Limited) #"All by Myself" (Edited Single Version) – 3:58 #"When I Fall in Love" – 4:20 #"Declaration of Love" – 4:20 #"A Message from Celine" – 0:34 * US CD and cassette single #"All by Myself" (Edited Single Version) – 3:57 #"Because You Loved Me" (Live) – 4:50 * US promo CD single #"All by Myself" (Radio Edit #1) – 3:57 #"All by Myself" (Album Version) – 5:12 #"All by Myself" (Radio Edit #2) – 3:52


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


Release history


Other covers

In 1982, "All by Myself" was covered by
Shirley Bassey Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey (; born 8 January 1937) is a Welsh singer. Known for her career longevity, powerful voice and recording the James Bond music, theme songs to three James Bond films - the only artist to officially perform more than o ...
, as part of her album by the same name. She also released it as a single. In 1994, "All by Myself" was covered by New Zealand singer Margaret Urlich. Her version reached number 100 in Australia in November 1994, and number 26 in New Zealand in March 1995. In 2018, a cover by Ghian Wright, renamed to "I'm All Alone (Belter Version)", was used in the science fiction television series '' The Expanse'', in the episode of season 3 "Delta-V". The lyrics of the song were rewritten in the mix of English and Belter Creole, a
constructed language A constructed language (shortened to conlang) is a language whose phonology, grammar, orthography, and vocabulary, instead of having developed natural language, naturally, are consciously devised for some purpose, which may include being devise ...
made for the TV series by Nick Farmer, that was used in the show by Belters, the inhabitants of the
asteroid belt The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, centered on the Sun and roughly spanning the space between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids ...
and
outer planets The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Sol ...
. The lyrics were additionally adjusted to fit the in-universe setting The full version of the song was later placed on ''The Collector's Edition'' version of the TV series soundtrack, that was released on December 13, 2019.


Usage in media

The first
Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...
original movie '' Under Wraps'' (1997) featured the original Eric Carmen song as a major plot point. The character of Harold the Mummy ( Bill Fagerbakke) becomes entranced with the song as it reminds him of his lover (Cristina Patterson). The 1999 Australian-French film ''Me Myself I'' directed by Pip Karmel, contains cover of this song, performed by Maggie McKinney. The film contains this song in its opening scenes, with the protagonist Pamela Drury (
Rachel Griffiths Rachel Anne Griffiths (born 1968) is an Australian actress. List of awards and nominations received by Rachel Griffiths, Her accolades include a Golden Globe Award, three AACTA Awards, and nominations for an Academy Award and four Primetime Em ...
) taking a bubble bath and dissatisfied with her lonely life unknowingly or unintentionally wants to shoot herself in the head with a hair dryer. In the pilot episode of the 2020 television series '' Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist'', "Zoey's Extraordinary Power", "All by Myself" is performed on a street by strangers and in fact this is the first song of the series' titular "Playlist".


See also

* Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1976 *
Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1997 This is a list of ''Billboard''s Top Hot 100 songs of 1997. The list is also notable for featuring 14 songs that appeared in 1996's list, repeat onto to this list. With the highest being Toni Braxton's " Un-Break My Heart", which barely made ...
* List of Billboard Hot 100 top 10 singles in 1997 * List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1997 (U.S.) * List of number-one Billboard Hot Latin Pop Airplay of 1997 * List of UK top 10 singles in 1996 * List of ''Cash Box'' Top 100 number-one singles of 1976


References


External links

* * {{Authority control 1975 songs 1975 debut singles 1976 singles 1996 singles 1970s ballads 550 Music singles Arista Records singles Cashbox number-one singles Celine Dion songs Columbia Records singles Epic Records singles Eric Carmen songs Il Divo songs Music videos directed by Nigel Dick Rock ballads Song recordings produced by David Foster Song recordings produced by Jimmy Ienner Songs about loneliness Songs written by Eric Carmen Popular songs based on classical music