"Forever" is a

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 ...

by the American rock band

Kiss A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...

. It was released as the second single from the 1989 album ''

Hot in the Shade ''Hot in the Shade'' is the fifteenth studio album by American rock band Kiss, released in 1989. It is the first Kiss studio album since 1981's '' Music From "The Elder"'' to feature lead vocals from someone other than Paul Stanley or Gene Simmon ...

''.

Background

The song was co-written by

Paul Stanley Paul Stanley (born Stanley Bert Eisen; January 20, 1952) is an American musician who was the co-founder, frontman, rhythm guitarist, and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss from the band's inception in 1973 to their retireme ...

and

Michael Bolton Michael Bolotin (born February 26, 1953), known professionally as Michael Bolton, is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton performed in the hard rock and heavy metal music genres from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, both on his early solo a ...

. "Forever" begins with Stanley singing over an

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

intro, with the rest of the band joining during the first chorus. The song was remixed at Electric Lady Recording Studios in New York, by

Michael Barbiero Michael Francis Barbiero (born June 25, 1949)Infidel Biography
. Infidel Records. Retrie ...

and Steve Thompson for commercial release as a single. A

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

was released to promote the song. It received heavy airplay on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

, attaining the #1 position on the channel's "Most Requested Videos" show several times. The clip is perhaps the most understated video Kiss has released, as it shows the band playing the song in an empty room. "Forever" peaked at number 8 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart on April 21, 1990, making it the group's first US Top 40 single since "

I Was Made for Lovin' You "I Was Made for Lovin' You" is a song by American Rock music, rock band Kiss (band), Kiss, released in 1979 as the lead single off their seventh studio album ''Dynasty (Kiss album), Dynasty''. The song became a smash hit on the pop singles ch ...

" reached number 11 in 1979. It was the band's ninth and, to date, last Top 40 American single. It also reached number 17 on '' Billboard'''s

Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" ...

on March 17, 1990.

Personnel

– lead vocals, acoustic guitar *

Bruce Kulick Bruce Howard Kulick (; born December 12, 1953) is an American guitarist best known as a former guitarist of the band Kiss (band), Kiss (19841996). He was also a member of Union (band), Union with John Corabi from 19972002, Blackjack (American ba ...

– electric guitar, bass, acoustic guitar solo, back up vocals *

Eric Carr Paul Charles Caravello (July 12, 1950 – November 24, 1991), better known as Eric Carr, was an American musician. He was the drummer for the rock band Kiss from 1980 until his death in 1991. Caravello was selected as the new Kiss drummer afte ...

– drums, percussion, back up vocals * Phil Ashley – keyboards

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control 1989 songs 1990 singles 1980s ballads Kiss (band) songs Mercury Records singles Songs written by Michael Bolton Songs written by Paul Stanley Hard rock ballads Synth rock songs