"At This Moment" is a song written by

Billy Vera Billy Vera (born William Patrick McCord; May 28, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, author, and music historian. He has been a singer and songwriter since the 1960s, his most successful record being " At This Moment", a US number 1 ...

and recorded live by Vera and his band under the name Billy Vera & the Beaters in 1981, during a string of performances at the Roxy in

West Hollywood West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. History Most historical writings about West Hollywood be ...

(January 15–17) and featured on their self-titled live album ''Billy and the Beaters'', released that year as the album's second single, on the American subsidiary of Japan's

Alfa Records , originally a publisher known as Alfa Music Ltd. and later succeeded by record company Alfa Music Inc., was established in 1969 by composer and record producer Kunihiko Murai. It was formed into an independent record label known as Alfa Recor ...

. The song is more notable for its second run on the charts years after its initial release, following its being featured on television's ''

Family Ties ''Family Ties'' is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC for seven seasons, premiering on September 22, 1982, and concluding on May 14, 1989. The series, created by Gary David Goldberg, reflected the social shift in the United Stat ...

'' series, after which the song became a number 1 hit in early 1987.

Original release

When it was originally released as a single (Alfa 7005), as the follow-up to the album's first single, "I Can Take Care of Myself" (which had become the band's first

Billboard Top 40 The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

hit), "At this Moment" stalled on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart at number 79 at the end of 1981.

Re-release

Five years after the original release, the studio version of "At This Moment" was included on several episodes of the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

sitcom ''

'' during the 1985–86 season as the love song associated with Alex P. Keaton (played by

Michael J. Fox Michael Andrew Fox (born June 9, 1961), known professionally as Michael J. Fox, is a Canadian and American actor and activist. Beginning his career as a child actor in the 1970s, he rose to prominence portraying Alex P. Keaton on the NBC sitcom ...

) and his girlfriend Ellen Reed (played by

Tracy Pollan Tracy Jo Pollan Fox (born June 22, 1960) is an American actress and author. She is known for playing Ellen Reed on the NBC sitcom ''Family Ties'' (1985–1987) and Harper Anderson on the crime drama series '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' ...

, whom Fox eventually married in real life). Its exposure on ''Family Ties'' renewed interest in the song. Reissue label

Rhino Records A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...

purchased the track from the band's original record label,

Alfa Alfa may refer to: Businesses and organisations Broadcasting * Alfa Radio, a Macedonian radio station * XHFAJ-FM, a Mexico City radio station better known as Alfa 91.3 * Alfa TV (Cypriot TV channel), a premium television service available in ...

(the American subsidiary of which was by then inactive), and re-released it in its original version as Rhino 74403. The tune then began a revived chart run, eventually hitting number 1 on both the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and

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 ...

charts in January 1987. The song also hit the

Billboard R&B Chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 po ...

and the Billboard Hot Country Chart. As the song was starting to take off, it came to the attention of Ron Carpentier President of RCI Music Promotion who was hired on the promotion of the song to radio and soon after the song hit the Billboard Hot Country Chart. It quickly sold over a million copies in the United States, becoming one of the last Gold-certified singles in the 45 rpm format. The song crossed over to the R&B and country formats, reaching number 42. "At This Moment" would be the last song for 13 years to appear on the country charts ''and'' reach number one on the pop charts. In an interview with

Rachael Ray Rachael Domenica Ray (born August 25, 1968) is an American cook, television personality, businesswoman, and author. She hosted the syndicated daily talk and lifestyle program '' Rachael Ray''. Other programs to her credit include ''30 Minut ...

in 2007, Michael J. Fox good-naturedly stated, "Tracy and I couldn't get on the dance floor anywhere in the world in the first ten years of our marriage without them playing 'What did you think...' " At the 2011

TV Land Awards The TV Land Awards was an American television awards ceremony that generally commemorated shows now off the air, rather than in current production as with the Emmys. Created by Executive Producer Michael Levitt, the awards were hosted and broadca ...

held in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, Billy Vera performed "At This Moment" with the ''Family Ties'' cast in attendance, including Fox and Pollan.

Notable cover versions

The song has been covered by many artists. Among the most prominent versions are ones by

Tom Jones Tom Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer *Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist *''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in 1 ...

Wayne Newton Carson Wayne Newton (born April 3, 1942), also known as Mr. Las Vegas, is an American singer and actor. One of the most popular singers in the United States from the mid-to-late 20th century, Newton remains one of the best-known entertainers in ...

and

Michael Bublé Michael Steven Bublé ( ; born September 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Regarded as a pop icon, he is often credited for helping to renew public interest and appreciation for traditional pop standards and the Great American ...

, the latter releasing the song in 2009 on his multi-Platinum album, '' Crazy Love''.

Seth MacFarlane Seth Woodbury MacFarlane (; born October 26, 1973) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director, comedian, and singer. He is best known as the creator and star of the television series ''Family Guy'' (since 1999) and ''The Orvill ...

has performed the song twice on screen: he sang the song's opening lines in the character of

Brian Griffin Brian Griffin is a fictional character from the American animated sitcom ''Family Guy''. He is one of the main characters of the series and a member of the Griffin family. Created, designed, and voiced by Seth MacFarlane, he is an anthrop ...

in the ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. Th ...

'' episode "

Brian the Bachelor "Brian the Bachelor" is the seventh episode from the fourth season of ''Family Guy''. It originally broadcast on Fox on June 26, 2005, and was written by Mark Hentemann and directed by Dan Povenmire. The episode sees Brian becoming a contestant ...

", and as the title character in the 2015 film ''

Ted 2 ''Ted 2'' (stylized as ''ted2'') is a 2015 American fantasy comedy film. The sequel to ''Ted (film), Ted'' (2012), the film was co-produced and directed again by Seth MacFarlane, who co-wrote the script with returning writers Alec Sulkin and Wel ...

''.

Jimmy Fallon James Thomas Fallon (born September 19, 1974) is an Americans, American comedian, television host, actor, singer, writer, and producer. Best known for his work in television, Fallon's breakthrough came during his tenure as a cast member on the ...

and

the Roots The Roots are an American Hip-hop, hip hop band formed in 1987 by singer Black Thought, Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and drummer Questlove, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''T ...

performed the song in 2018 on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by actor and comedian Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It i ...

'', as part of the show's Cover Room series.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Family Ties 1981 singles 1987 singles Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Live singles Billy Vera songs Songs written by Billy Vera RPM Top Singles number-one singles 1981 songs Rhino Entertainment singles Tom Jones (singer) songs