"Alone" is a song by musical group the

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 ...

. The

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

, written by

Barry Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 195 ...

Robin Robin most commonly refers to several species of passerine birds. Robin may also refer to: Animals * Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae * Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), inclu ...

, and

Maurice Maurice may refer to: *Maurice (name), a given name and surname, including a list of people with the name Places * or Mauritius, an island country in the Indian Ocean *Maurice, Iowa, a city *Maurice, Louisiana, a village *Maurice River, a trib ...

Gibb, is the opening track on their 21st studio album, '' Still Waters'' (1997), and was the first single released from the album on 17 February 1997. In the United Kingdom, the song was backed with two

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

: "Closer Than Close" and "Rings Around the Moon", while in the United States, a live version of "

Stayin' Alive "Stayin' Alive" is a song written and performed by the Bee Gees from the ''Saturday Night Fever'' motion picture soundtrack. The song was released in December 1977 by RSO Records as the second single from the ''Saturday Night Fever'' soundtr ...

" was included on the single releases. The track was a worldwide hit, peaking at number five in the United Kingdom and number two in New Zealand, where it was the 10th-highest-selling single of 1997. In Canada, it reached number 20 and was the most successful

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 ...

song of 1997 according to ''RPM'' magazine. On the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, the single peaked at number 28, making it the Bee Gees' 30th and final top-40 hit in the US, after being a ''Billboard'' "Hot Shot" debut at number 34.

Song information

Maurice Gibb explained about the track: Barry and Robin Gibb alternate on lead vocals on the track, with both mostly using the group's trademark

falsetto Falsetto ( , ; Italian language, Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ...

Critical reception

British magazine ''

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 ...

'' rated the song four out of five, adding, "Brits lifetime award-winners should crashland in the top five with their instantly-familiar harmonies and Barry Gibb's sure pop production (cod bagpipes over an ELO-style arrangement this time)."

Music video

Two promotional videos directed by

Nick Egan Nick Egan (born 4 July 1957 in London, England) is a British visual design artist and director of music videos, commercials and film. He graduated from the Watford College of Art and Design with a DGA in 1976.

were made for the song. The first one, not shown in the United States, featured the brothers singing in a spinning room intercut with a female

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

slowly removing her space suit in zero gravity, a homage to the opening of the 1968

sci-fi Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

cult film A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase, which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage in repeated ...

'' Barbarella''. The promo for the US featured the brothers recording the song in a studio, intercut with various clips of the brothers throughout the years, as well as segments of the original video.

Track listings

* UK CD1; Australian CD single; Japanese mini-CD single # "Alone" – 4:49 # "Closer Than Close" – 4:34 # "Rings Around the Moon" – 4:29 * UK CD2 # "Alone" – 4:49 # " How Deep Is Your Love" – 4:02 # "

Words A word is a basic element of language that carries meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no consensus among linguists on its ...

" – 3:13 # "

I've Gotta Get a Message to You "I've Gotta Get a Message to You" is a song by the Bee Gees. Released as a single in 1968, it was their second number-one hit in the UK Singles Chart, and their first US Top 10 hit. Barry Gibb re-recorded the song with Keith Urban for his 2021 ...

" – 3:06 * UK cassette single and European CD single # "Alone" – 4:49 # "Closer Than Close" – 4:34 * US CD single # "Alone" (single mix) – 4:02 # "

" (live) – 4:06 # "

You Should Be Dancing "You Should Be Dancing" is a song by the Bee Gees, from the album '' Children of the World'', released in 1976. It hit No. 1 for one week on the American ''Billboard'' Hot 100, No. 1 for seven weeks on the US Hot Dance Club Play chart, and in ...

" (Decadance) – 8:42 # "Rings Around the Moon" – 4:29 * US cassette single :A. "Alone" (single mix) – 4:20 :B. "Stayin' Alive" (live) – 4:06

Personnel

Personnel are sourced from Joseph Brennan. *

Barry Gibb Sir Barry Alan Crompton Gibb (born 1 September 1946) is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Along with his younger fraternal twin brothers, Robin Gibb, Robin and Maurice Gibb, Maurice, he rose to global fame as a member ...

– vocals, guitar, programming, producer *

Robin Gibb Robin Hugh Gibb (22 December 1949 – 20 May 2012) was a British singer and songwriter. He gained global fame as a member of the Bee Gees with elder brother Barry and fraternal twin brother Maurice. Robin Gibb also had his own successfu ...

– vocals, producer *

Maurice Gibb Maurice Ernest Gibb (; 22 December 1949 – 12 January 2003) was a British musician and songwriter. He achieved global fame as a member of the Bee Gees pop group. Although his elder brother Barry Gibb and fraternal twin brother Robin Gibb wer ...

– vocals, guitar, keyboard, producer * Marc Schumann – guitar * Robbie Kondor – keyboard * Alan Clark – keyboard * Jeff Bova – synthesizer bass * David Elliott – drums * Dave Halpern – percussion * Ralph McDonald – percussion *

Russ Titelman Russ Titelman (born August 16, 1944, Los Angeles, California, United States) is an American record producer and songwriter. He has to date won three Grammy Awards. He earned his first producing the Steve Winwood song " Higher Love", and his se ...

– producer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Cover versions

"Alone" was covered by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artist

Monty Holmes Monty Holmes (born in Lubbock, Texas) is an American country music singer-songwriter. Holmes signed to Bang II Records and released his debut album, ''All I Ever Wanted'', in 1998. Monty Holmesat Allmusic His highest charting single, "Why'd You ...

on his 1998 debut album, ''All I Ever Wanted''. It was released as the album's second single and peaked at number 53 on the ''

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 ...

Hot Country Singles & Tracks Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alone (Bee Gees Song) 1990s ballads 1996 songs 1997 singles 1998 singles Bee Gees songs Monty Holmes songs Music videos directed by Nick Egan Polydor Records singles Song recordings produced by Russ Titelman Songs written by Barry Gibb Songs written by Maurice Gibb Songs written by Robin Gibb