"Amazed" is a song by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, o ...

group

Lonestar Lonestar (formerly known as Texassee) is an American country music group from Nashville, Tennessee. The group consists of Drew Womack (lead vocals, acoustic guitar), Michael Britt (lead guitar, background vocals), Dean Sams (keyboards, acousti ...

, released on March 22, 1999, for country radio as the second single from their third studio album '' Lonely Grill'' (1999). 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.J. M. C ...

is the band's longest-lasting number one single and biggest hit, spending eight weeks at the top of 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 ...

'' country chart. The song was written by

Marv Green Marv Green (born in California) is an American country music songwriter. He is known for co-writing Lonestar's 1999 single " Amazed", which reached number 1 on both the Hot Country Songs and ''Billboard'' Hot 100 charts. This song won him a Son ...

, Aimee Mayo, and

Chris Lindsey Christopher Marsh Lindsey is a Grammy nominated American country music songwriter and record producer. He has created major hits for Taylor Swift, The Civil Wars, Adam Lambert, Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney, Kellie Pickler, Keith Urban, Tim Mc ...

. A pop remix of the song reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number two 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 st ...

charts in 2000. The song has sold over 1,650,000 digital copies in the US as of February 2016. Only five years after Lonestar's "Amazed" topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 did another country song top the chart, as

Carrie Underwood Carrie Marie Underwood (born March 10, 1983) is an American singer. She rose to prominence after winning the fourth season of ''American Idol'' in 2005. Her single " Inside Your Heaven" made her the only country artist to debut atop the ''Bil ...

's " Inside Your Heaven" debuted at number one on the Hot 100 in 2005, making it one of just two songs to top the Hot 100 since 2000. Since the release of the original, the song has been covered by

Bonnie Tyler Gaynor Sullivan (née Hopkins; born 8 June 1951), known professionally as Bonnie Tyler, is a Welsh people, Welsh singer who is known for her distinctive husky voice. Tyler came to prominence with the release of her 1977 album ''The World Start ...

, Duncan James, and Fady Maalouf, all of whom have released their respective versions as singles.

Ben Mills Benjamin Collett Mills is a British singer who finished in third place on the third series of ''The X Factor'' in 2006. After the show, Mills signed a five-album record deal with SonyBMG. His debut album, '' Picture of You'', was released on 1 ...

Boyz II Men Boyz II Men (pronounced ''boys to men''), also known as B2M, is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are currently a trio composed of baritone Natha ...

and Shane Filan of

Westlife Westlife is an Irish pop vocal group formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1998. The group currently consists of members Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan, and Nicky Byrne. Brian McFadden was a member, until he left in 2004. The group temporari ...

have included covers in their respective albums. On ''

The Sing-Off ''The Sing-Off'' was an American television singing competition featuring a cappella groups. It debuted on NBC on December 14, 2009, and was produced by Sony Pictures Television and Outlaw Productions, with Mark Burnett's One Three Media (for ...

'' (season 4, episode 3), judge Shawn Stockman, of

fame, mentioned that the song had been offered to them first, and they decided to turn it down.

Content

The song was written by songwriters

, Aimee Mayo, and

. At the time of the songwriting, Mayo and Lindsey had begun dating and drew inspiration from their romance for the song. Mayo said "Our feelings for each other just started coming out as we were writing." "Amazed" was then given to Lonestar for their 1999 album '' Lonely Grill'' and released as the album's lead single. The song is in the key of A♭ major with a vocal range from F3 to A♭4. The intro, verses, solo and outro are in A♭ major, the pre-choruses are in

B major B major (or the key of B) is a major scale based on B. The pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A are all part of the B major scale. Its key signature has five sharps. Its relative minor is G-sharp minor, its parallel minor is B minor, and ...

, and the main choruses are in D♭ major. The song reached number one on the ''

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 from Nielsen BDS along with digital sa ...

and remained there for eight consecutive weeks until it was knocked off by " Single White Female" by Chely Wright. With this accomplishment, it set a record for the longest run at number one on the country chart since

Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems Broadcast Data Systems (also known as BDS or Luminate BDS), is a service that tracks radio, television and internet airplay of songs. The service, which is a unit of MRC Data, is a contributing factor to North American charts published by co-owne ...

was initiated in 1990. This run was later tied by

Alan Jackson Alan Eugene Jackson (born October 17, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for blending traditional honky-tonk and mainstream country pop sounds (for a style widely regarded as " neotraditional country"), as well as penning man ...

and

Jimmy Buffett James William Buffett (born December 25, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and businessman. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffe ...

's 2003 single " It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" and Morgan Wallen's 2022 single " You Proof", which each spent eight non-consecutive weeks at number one. "Amazed" spent 41 weeks on the country singles chart, giving it the second-longest chart run of any country single in the 1990s. In addition, the single crossed over into the pop airwaves entering the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at number 81. It peaked at number 24 before falling off the Hot 100. The song was then

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

ed for pop radio (a tactic commonly used to present country-leaning songs to mainstream audiences) by Brian Tankersley, who redid the entire backing track with session musicians and added a new key change to

D major D major (or the key of D) is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative minor is B minor and its parallel minor is D minor. The D major scale is: : ...

for the final chorus and A minor for the outro; also having lead singer

Richie McDonald Richard Vance McDonald (born February 6, 1962) is an American country music singer and songwriter. From 1998 until his departure in 2007, he was the lead singer of the group Lonestar, which recorded seven studio albums on BNA Records during his ...

re-record his vocals for the final portion of the remix in the new key. The new mix's popularity prompted the single to re-enter the Hot 100 at number 45. On this second chart run, it hit number one on March 4, 2000. In doing so, it became the first power ballad to top the chart since Aerosmith's "

I Don't Want to Miss a Thing "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" is a song performed by American hard rock band Aerosmith as the official theme song for the 1998 sci-fi disaster film '' Armageddon'', in which lead singer Steven Tyler's daughter Liv starred. It is one of four so ...

" in 1998, as well as the first new country song to top the pop charts since

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particularly popular with country audiences but also charted m ...

and

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...

's 1983 duet " Islands in the Stream". It also made Lonestar the first country band to place a song in the top ten of the Hot 100 year-end countdown. All remixes of the song made the single spend a combined total of 55 weeks in the Hot 100, and 41 weeks on Hot Country Singles & Tracks. It had sold 1,628,000 digital copies in the US as of December 2015. Only five years after "Amazed" topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 did another country song top the chart, as

's " Inside Your Heaven" debuted at number one on the Hot 100, in June 2005. "Amazed" and "Inside Your Heaven" are the only country songs in the 2000s decade to hit number one on the Hot 100. In the United Kingdom, "Amazed" reached a peak of number 21 and spent 22 weeks in the charts. It spent 17 weeks in the top 40 without ever breaking into the top 20.

Critical reception

A review in ''

'' was mostly favorable, praising

's lead vocals for "perfectly convey ngthe tenderness and wonder felt in a loving relationship" but saying that some of the lyrics were "a little too clichéd".

Music video

Trey Fanjoy Trey Fanjoy is an American music video director. Fanjoy has directed over 150 major label music videos. Her videos have appeared on CMT, VH1, GAC, The Nashville Network, CMT Canada, and MTV. She is the first woman to win the Country Music ...

directed the

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devi ...

for Lonestar's rendition. It premiered on CMT on July 20, 1999. It features the band performing the song in a dark room, and a model making seductive poses. The model is portrayed by Sunny Mabrey. This was the first video that Lonestar members do not wear cowboy hats, and Keech Rainwater no longer has long hair. The original music video uses the album version for country channels; a second video was created from the footage for the song's pop remix and served to international and pop stations.

Track listings

US CD and cassette single # "Amazed" (Captain mix) # "Amazed" (AC mix) US 7-inch single 1 :A. "Amazed" – 4:00 :B. " Tell Her" – 3:26 US 7-inch single 2 :A. "

Smile A smile is a facial expression formed primarily by flexing the muscles at the sides of the mouth. Some smiles include a contraction of the muscles at the corner of the eyes, an action known as a Duchenne smile. Among humans, a smile expresses d ...

" – 3:30 :B. "Amazed" – 4:00 Australian CD single # "Amazed" # "Amazed" (AC mix) UK CD1 and cassette single # "Amazed" (Captain mix) – 4:29 # "Amazed" (Huff mix) – 4:02 # "Amazed" (acoustic mix) – 3:58 UK CD2 # "Amazed" (mainstream mix) # "Amazed" (Huff mix) # "Amazed" (mainstream mix acoustic version) European CD single # "Amazed" (Captain mix) – 4:29 # "Amazed" (Huff mix) – 4:02

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

Certifications

Duncan James version

"Amazed" was the third and final single released from '' Future Past'', the debut album of Duncan James, member of the English boy band

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...

. It was released in the UK on March 12, 2007, but was withdrawn just days later, following James' being dropped from his record label due to poor sales of his previous singles and album. The single was also released in some European countries, such as

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

, where it peaked at number 181 on the German Singles Chart.

Track listings

UK CD single # "Amazed" (radio edit) – 3:57 # "Save This Moment for Me" – 4:42 Germany CD1 # "Amazed" (radio edit) – 3:57 # "Part Time Love" – 4:01 Germany CD2 # "Amazed" (radio edit) – 3:57 # "You Can" – 3:55 # "Part Time Love" – 4:01 # "Amazed" (video clip) – 3:57

Charts

Fady Maalouf version

In 2008, the runner up of the fifth season of ''

Deutschland sucht den Superstar ''Deutschland sucht den Superstar'' (''DSDS''; "Germany is looking for the Superstar") is a German reality talent show. Part of the ''Idol'' franchise, it was created by British media mogul Simon Fuller as a spin-off from the British show '' ...

'', the German version of ''Pop Idol'', the

Lebanese Lebanese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Lebanese Republic * Lebanese people The Lebanese people ( ar, الشعب اللبناني / ALA-LC: ', ) are the people inhabiting or originating from Lebanon. The term may al ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

singer Fady Maalouf released a cover version of the song as his second single release immediately after the big success of his debut single "

Blessed Blessed may refer to: * The state of having received a blessing * Blessed, a title assigned by the Roman Catholic Church to someone who has been beatified Film and television * ''Blessed'' (2004 film), a 2004 motion picture about a supernatura ...

". The song also appears in his debut ''

'' album's double CD rerelease, titled ''Blessed: New Edition''. Maalouf's version was a hit in Germany where it reached number 26 in the German Singles Chart. It was also released in Austria, reaching number 52 in the Austrian Singles Chart.

Track listings

CD single # "Amazed" – (3:58) # "Vole mon ame" – (3:42) CD maxi # "Amazed" – (3:58) # "Vole mon ame" – (3:42) # "Show Me Your Love" (Dance version) – (4:31) # "Amazed" (Instrumental) – (3:58) # "Amazed" (Video)

Charts

References in other media

In 2014, country music duo Haley & Michaels co-wrote their debut single "Just Another Love Song" with Lonestar lead vocalist

. The song makes lyrical reference to "Amazed", and features McDonald singing its chorus.

References

{{Authority control 1999 songs 1999 singles Bertelsmann Music Group singles Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Billboard Hot Country Songs number-one singles of the year BNA Records singles Bonnie Tyler songs Columbia Records singles Country ballads Duncan James songs Fady Maalouf songs Innocent Records singles Lonestar songs Music videos directed by Trey Fanjoy RPM Country Tracks number-one singles of the year Song recordings produced by Dann Huff Songs written by Aimee Mayo Songs written by Chris Lindsey Songs written by Marv Green 1990s ballads