"Cry" is a song 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 ...

singer

Faith Hill Audrey Faith McGraw (; born September 21, 1967), known professionally as Faith Hill, is an American Country music, country singer. She is one of the most successful country music artists of all time, having sold almost 50 million albums worldwide ...

. It was released as the first single from her fifth studio album of the same name (2002). The song was originally written and recorded by singer-songwriter Angie Aparo for his 1999 album, ''The American''. In 2003, at the

45th Annual Grammy Awards The 45th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 23, 2003, at Madison Square Garden in New York City honoring the best in music for the recording of the year beginning from October 1, 2001, through September 30, 2002. Musicians' accomplishment ...

, Hill won the

Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance The Grammy Award 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 ...

for "Cry", marking her second win in the category. Originally released to

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

radio on August 19, 2002, "Cry" crossed over to pop 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 ...

radio in September 2002. It spent 11 weeks at number one on the US ''

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 ...

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 and eventually peaked at number 33 on the ''Billboard''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

chart. "Cry" also reached number three on the

Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian music charts are a collection of record charts reflecting the music consumption of people in Canada. '' RPM'' and '' Billboard'' are the biggest publications to have published Canada's official charts for decades. However, the first ...

and was a top-20 hit in Hungary, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, and Spain.

Chart performance

Released on August 19, 2002, "Cry" peaked at number 12 on the US ''

'' Country Songs chart and number 33 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song achieved its highest peak on the ''Billboard''

chart, where it spent 11 weeks at number one.

Music video

The music video for "Cry", directed by Mike Lipscombe and produced by Michael Pierce, features extensive use of CGI. It was added to CMT's playlists on the week ending September 29, 2002.

Awards and accolades

, - ,

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

Grammy Award 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 ...

Best Female Country Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance was first awarded in 1965, to Dottie West Dottie West (born Dorothy Marie Marsh; October 11, 1932 – September 4, 1991) was an American country singer and songwriter. She also had s ...

Track listings

US 7-inch single and UK cassette single # "Cry" – 3:46 # "Wicked" – 4:02 UK, Australian, and Japanese CD single # "Cry" – 3:46 # "Wicked" – 4:02 # "Shadows" – 4:29

Credits and personnel

Credits are lifted from the '' Cry'' album booklet. Studios * Recorded at Rumbo Recorders ( Canoga Park, California),

The Hit Factory The Hit Factory is a recording studio in New York City owned and operated by Troy Germano. History In 1969, songwriter Jerry Ragavoy opened a recording studio in New York City and named it ''The Hit Factory.'' On March 6, 1975, Edward Germano, ...

(New York City), Oceanway (Nashville, Tennessee), and The Attic (

Monrovia Monrovia () is the administrative capital city, capital and largest city of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast and as of the 2022 census had 1,761,032 residents, home to 33.5% of Liber ...

, California) * Mixed at South Beach Studios (Miami, Florida) * Mastered at The Mastering Lab (Hollywood, California) Personnel * Angie Aparo – writing *

– vocals, production *

Marti Frederiksen Martin Harold "Marti" Frederiksen (born July 1, 1962) is an American songwriter, record producer, and musician. He writes and produces music primarily in rock, country, and pop. He is best known for his work with many artists and bands incl ...

– background vocals, acoustic and electric guitar, percussion,

Pro Tools Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-productio ...

editing * Lisa Cochran – background vocals * Damon Johnson – acoustic, electric, and

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 ...

Leland Sklar Leland Bruce Sklar (born May 28, 1947) is an American bassist and session musician. He rose to prominence as a member of James Taylor's backing band, which coalesced into a group in its own right, The Section, which supported so many of Asylu ...

– bass * Jim Cox – piano, B3, string arrangement * Eric Carter – keyboard programming *

Vinnie Colaiuta Vincent Peter Colaiuta (born February 5, 1956) is an American drummer known for his technical mastery who has worked as a session musician in many genres. He was inducted into the ''Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 1996 and the ''Classic Drumme ...

– drums * Brian Paturalski – recording, Pro Tools editing * Michael McCoy – additional vocal engineering *

Tom Lord-Alge Tom Lord-Alge (born January 17, 1962) is an American music engineer and mixer. He began his career at Unique Recording in New York. Subsequently, he was the resident mixer at what used to be known as "South Beach Studios", located on the ground ...

– mixing *

Doug Sax Doug Sax (April 26, 1936 – April 2, 2015) was an American mastering engineer from Los Angeles, California. He mastered three The Doors' albums, including their 1967 debut; six Pink Floyd's albums, including '' The Wall''; Ray Charles' multiple ...

– mastering * Robert Hadley – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cry (Faith Hill Song) 2002 singles 2002 songs 2000s ballads Country ballads Faith Hill songs Music videos directed by Mike Lipscombe Songs written by Angie Aparo Warner Records Nashville singles