Keep Holding On

"Keep Holding On" is a power ballad by Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne, appearing as the last track on Lavigne's third studio album, ''The Best Damn Thing'' (2007), which was released on April 17, 2007. Lavigne has described the rest of the album as being upbeat and heavy in comparison to "Keep Holding On". Originally, an alternate version was to be included, but the original version made it instead.

Written by Lavigne and Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald and produced by the latter, the song premiered on radio stations across North America in November 2006, receiving positive reviews from critics. It was used as the musical theme for the 2006 film ''Eragon'', also appearing in the film's ending credits, and was the first single released from the film's soundtrack. "Keep Holding On" was one of the songs short-listed for the "Best Original Song" category at the 79th Academy Awards, but it was not among the final nominees. The song was also ranked on the iTunes Australia top 500 at 403.

Background and composition

"Keep Holding On" was written by Lavigne and produced by co-writer Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald. The strings were arranged and conducted by Leon Pendarvis, long time SNL associate with Dr. Luke. The song was recorded at Henson Recording Studios (Los Angeles) in 2006. According to the sheet music published at musicnotes.com by Universal Music Publishing Group, the song is composed in the key of G major and is set in a time signature of 6/8 time with a tempo of 56 beats per minute. Lavigne vocal range spans from F#3 to D5.

Reception

Commercial

"Keep Holding On" reached number two for four weeks on the Canadian BDS Airplay Chart, being kept off the top spot by Nelly Furtado's "Say It Right". It became her highest-peaking airplay single there since " Complicated" which peaked at number one for one week in 2002. It peaked in the top twenty at number fourteen on the Canadian Hot 100, where it spent twenty weeks on the chart. In the United States, "Keep Holding On" peaked within the top twenty on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, peaking at seventeen, charting below Lavigne's "Girlfriend" which was number one on the Hot 100 that week. The song spent 21 weeks on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It peaked in the top ten on the Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks format chart. This feat is particularly impressive, considering no official music video was made to promote it.

It was not released in most of Europe, although it got to 9 in Slovakia, and 27 in the Czech Republic. The single was one of the first to be issued as a digital-only release in Australia, where it charted at number five on the Top 40 Digital Tracks chart. It was also certified Gold by the RIAA on February 22, 2007, and Platinum on January 31, 2008. As of September 2015, "Keep Holding On" had sold 1.6 million digital copies in the USA.

Critical

''Billboard'' described it as a "gorgeous song" in which Lavigne seems to be "set to remain for the long term". Darryl Sterdan of JAM! described the song as "A strummed guitar, lush strings and a soaring vocal about love and loyalty". He went on to compare it to "a sweeping Alanis-like ballad". Despite this, Sterdan advises the reader to skip the track. Sal Cinquemani of ''Slant Magazine'' described the song as "sullen".'' Entertainment Weekly'' was also not impressed: "And: ''I will only have like 3 slow songs on the record. Yay!!'' Yay, indeed, given how little heart she's invested in that trio of limpid ballads, including "Keep Holding On," a.k.a. the love theme from Eragon." Stylus said that the song "ends the album for the same reason graduation ends high school: because after all that, Hallmark means something."

In an AOL Radio listener's poll, "Keep Holding On" was voted Lavigne's fifth best song.

Accolades

Notable cover versions

In April 2015, The Voice Kids Philippines Season 1 runner-up Darren Espanto sung his rendition of the song on ABS-CBN noontime show, It's Showtime.

Track listings and formats

*Digital download
#"Keep Holding On"  – 3:59

Credits and personnel

Credits and personnel are adapted from the "Keep Holding On" CD single liner notes.
* Avril Lavigne – writer, vocals
* Lukasz Gottwald – writer, producer, piano, bass, guitars
* Chris Lord-Alge – mixing
* Stephen Marcussen – mastering
* Seth Waldmann – recording
* Keith Gretlein – recording
* Mike Caffrey – recording
* Tom Syrowski – recording
* Tatiana Gottwald – recording
* Steve Churchyard – recording
* Billy Griggs – recording
* Steven Wolf – drums, percussion
* Leon Pendarvis – strings
* Matt Beckley – additional production

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

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2000s ballads
2006 singles
Avril Lavigne songs
Inheritance Cycle
Pop ballads
RCA Records singles
Song recordings produced by Dr. Luke
Songs written by Avril Lavigne
Songs written by Dr. Luke
Songs written for films
Sony BMG singles

lt:The Best Damn Thing#Keep Holding On