"Please Remember Me" is a song co-written 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 ...

artist

Rodney Crowell Rodney Crowell (born August 7, 1950) is an American musician, known primarily for his work as a singer and songwriter in country music. Crowell has had five number one singles on Hot Country Songs, all from his 1988 album '' Diamonds & Dirt''. ...

with lyricist

Will Jennings Wilbur Herschel Jennings (June 27, 1944 – September 6, 2024) was an American lyricist. He was known for writing the songs " Up Where We Belong", " Higher Love", " Tears in Heaven" and "My Heart Will Go On". He was inducted into the Songwriter ...

. Originally recorded by Crowell for his 1995 album ''

Jewel of the South ''Jewel of the South'' is an album by the American country music artist Rodney Crowell. Released in 1995, it was his second and last album under the MCA Records label. Like its predecessor, it failed to chart on the ''Billboard'' Top Country Album ...

'', his version was released as its lead (and only) single and peaked at number 69 on 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 in early June. A later version was released by

Aaron Neville Aaron Joseph Neville (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer renowned for his distinctively smooth, vibrato-heavy tenor and a genre-crossing career that spans R&B, soul, gospel, jazz, country, and pop. He gained national prominence with hi ...

and

Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is an American singer who has performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin music. Ronstadt has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three A ...

, but was not released as a single.

Chart performance

Tim McGraw version

Four years after the release of Crowell's version,

Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer and actor. He has released 17 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, five for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those albums have reached number one on ...

covered the song for his 1999 album '' A Place in the Sun''. Released that year as the first single from that album, McGraw's cover reached the top of the ''

'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now

Hot Country Songs 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 along with digital sales and streaming. ...

) charts, a position that it held for five weeks. The song was also McGraw's biggest solo hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, where it peaked at number 10. McGraw's rendition features

Patty Loveless Patty Loveless (born Patricia Lee Ramey, January 4, 1957) is an American country music singer. She began performing in her teenaged years before signing her first recording contract with MCA Records' Nashville division in 1985. While her first ...

on harmony vocals.

Music video

The music video for McGraw's cover was directed by Randee St. Nicholas, and premiered on CMT on March 26, 1999, when CMT named it a "Hot Shot". In the video, McGraw sat on a bench in a beach, with the waves crashing, and showing clips from McGraw's previous videos, as well as McGraw singing in a mansion.

Critical reception

Deborah Evans Price, of ''

'' magazine reviewed the song favorably, calling it a "lush and lovely ballad." She goes on to say that he is "surprisingly effective" on this pop-side release as he is usually best with traditional material. She finishes the review by saying that McGraw "seems to a newfound vocal maturity." Kevin John Coyne of Country Universe gave the song an A grade, calling it "a lush and gorgeous ballad that is elevated by a Patty Loveless harmony vocal." He goes on to say that McGraw's "pleading performance gives the song its urgency, and the pop-flavored production, complete with strings, harkens back to the glory days of the Nashville sound." The song ranks 96th on the RIAA 365 songs of the century list

Track listing

UK Promo CD # Please Remember Me 3:39 Cassette Single *A Please Remember Me 4:29 *B For A Little While 3:33 US Single # Please Remember Me 4:29 # For A Little While 3:33

Chart performance

"Please Remember Me" debuted at number 51 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of March 20, 1999. It reached number one and remained there for five consecutive weeks until it was knocked off by " Write This Down" by

George Strait George Harvey Strait Sr. (born May 18, 1952) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and music producer. Strait has sold over 120 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. He holds ...

End of year charts

Certifications

Covers

The Swedish country music-inspired dansband

Lasse Stefanz Lasse Stefanz is a Swedish dansband formed in Kristianstad in 1967. The band was popular during the 1980s. The band was formed by Hans Sigfridsson, Lars Sigfridsson and Olle Jönsson. Later members are Christer Ericsson, Anders Pettersson and ...

recorded a Swedish version called "Tänk På Mig Ibland" on their 1996 album ''Dig Ska Jag Älskar''. It was covered by

John Barrowman John Scot Barrowman MBE (born 11 March 1967) is a Scottish-American actor, author, presenter, singer and comic book writer. He is known for his roles as Captain Jack Harkness in ''Doctor Who'' (2005–2010; 2020–2021) and its spin-off ''Torc ...

on his 2007 album '' Another Side''. ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

season 10 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and polar ...

winner

Scotty McCreery Scott Cooke McCreery (born October 9, 1993) is an American country singer. He rose to fame after winning the tenth season of ''American Idol'' in May 2011. His debut studio album, '' Clear as Day'', was released in October 2011 and was certifi ...

covered this song to be used as the goodbye/exit song on the 11th season of ''American Idol''. It was released on March 8, 2012. Performed by

Danielle Bradbery Danielle Simone Bradbery (born July 23, 1996) is an American country pop singer. She won season 4 of NBC's '' The Voice'' in 2013, becoming the youngest artist to win the competition at age 16.Bradbery's record has since been eclipsed by Sawye ...

on Season 4 of '' The Voice'', Released: Jun 11, 2013.

References

{{Authority control 1995 singles 1999 singles 1995 songs Rodney Crowell songs Tim McGraw songs Linda Ronstadt songs Aaron Neville songs Scotty McCreery songs Danielle Bradbery songs Songs written by Rodney Crowell Songs with lyrics by Will Jennings Song recordings produced by Tony Brown (record producer) Song recordings produced by Rodney Crowell Song recordings produced by Byron Gallimore Song recordings produced by Tim McGraw Song recordings produced by James Stroud Country ballads MCA Nashville Records singles Curb Records singles Music videos directed by Randee St. Nicholas