"Someone You Loved" is a song recorded by Scottish singer-songwriter

Lewis Capaldi Lewis Marc Capaldi (born 7 October 1996) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and musician. In March 2019, his single "Someone You Loved" (2018) topped the UK Singles Chart where it remained for seven weeks, and in November 2019, it reached number ...

. It was released on 8 November 2018 as a download via

Vertigo Records Vertigo Records is a British record company. It was a subsidiary of the Philips/Phonogram record label, launched in 1969 to specialise in progressive rock and other non-mainstream musical styles. Today, it is operated by Universal Music Group#B ...

, the third single from his second extended play, ''Breach'' (2018), and was later included on his debut album, ''

Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent ''Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent'' is the debut studio album by Scottish singer-songwriter Lewis Capaldi. It was released on 17 May 2019 through Vertigo Records in Europe and Capitol Records in the United States, and distributed globally ...

'' (2019). The song was written by Capaldi, Samuel Romans, and its producers Thomas Barnes, Peter Kelleher and Benjamin Kohn. It was sent to radio stations on 16 April 2019 as the first single in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. "Someone You Loved" was a commercial success, peaking at No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart. The song became Capaldi's first No. 1 single, spending seven consecutive weeks atop the chart and was the best selling single of 2019 in the UK. It also peaked at No. 1 on the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are ...

, the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. It was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007 as the standard record chart in Canada; a new chart ...

, and the

Recording Industry Association of Malaysia Recording Industry Association of Malaysia (RIM) (Malay: Persatuan Industri Rakaman Malaysia) is a Malaysian non-profit music organisation, founded on 12 December 1978, as the Malaysian Association of Phonograph Producers (MAPP). In the end of ...

singles chart. In the United States, "Someone You Loved" was a

sleeper hit In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit refers to a film, television series, music release, video game or other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release, but eventually became a surprise success. A sleeper hit may have ...

, topping the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in its 24th week on the chart. The song is certified Diamond or higher in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Poland, and the United States. It was nominated for Song of the Year at the 62nd Grammy Awards. It also received an award for Song of the Year at the 2020 Brit Awards. As of 2025, "Someone You Loved" is the 4th most streamed song on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

, with over 3 billion streams on the platform.

Background and composition

"Someone You Loved" is played in the

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

of 110 BPM and key signature of

D♭ major D-flat major is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B and C. Its key signature has five flats. The D-flat major scale is: Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in w ...

. In an interview with the French magazine ''Brut'', Capaldi revealed he wrote the song about his grandmother who had died. In an interview with the British website ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'', Capaldi said that it took him six months to write the song. He said, "A lot of people say that 'the best songs fall into your lap' and that they're the easiest ones to write and take the shortest amount of time: I wholeheartedly disagree with that. I think my best songs come from me sitting at a

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, bashing my head against a brick wall for hours and hours on end to get one good melody."

Critical reception

Reviewer Dave Simpson of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' gave the song four stars out of a maximum of five, calling it and its heartbreak theme "raw and real."

Music videos

The first music video was published on 28 February 2019 in partnership with an

organ donation Organ donation is the process when a person authorizes an organ (anatomy), organ of their own to be removed and organ transplantation, transplanted to another person, #Legislation and global perspectives, legally, either by consent while the d ...

charity Charity may refer to: Common meanings * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sha ...

, ''Live Life Give Life''. This music video featured Capaldi's distant relative, actor

Peter Capaldi Peter Dougan Capaldi (; born 14 April 1958) is a Scottish actor, director, singer and guitarist. He portrayed the Twelfth Doctor, twelfth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction series ''Doctor Who'' (2013–2017) and Malcolm Tucker i ...

as a bereaved husband who finds some joy when he visits the family of the woman his wife donated her heart to, and is able to listen to her heartbeat one last time. This version received 195 million views as of January 2025. The second music video, featuring the singer himself, was released on 29 August 2019. In the start, Capaldi wanders the streets, following his lost love as his friends and strangers try to stop him from chasing after her. His brother, Aidan, also made an appearance at the beginning of the video where he pulls Lewis from the bench. The director of the music video, Ozzie Pullin, said that "The first person Lewis encounters is his brother, who pulls him up from the bench. This was an almost perfect metaphor because family members are usually the first people to push you forward." Capaldi said: "For me the video is about the people we surround ourselves with that have the strength when we don't and help us continue to make the right decisions in moments of fear or hardship. In the moment we often choose to ignore friends and family, thinking our judgement is better, but of course in hindsight when you're in that headspace it's almost impossible to make the right decisions." This version has received 1 billion views as of March 2025.

Chart performance

"Someone You Loved" reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart and stayed there for seven consecutive weeks. It is also Capaldi's first entry on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, debuting at No. 85 on the issue dated 25 May 2019 and becoming the singer's first number-one single in the country on the issue dated 2 November 2019. It reached No. 1 after 24 weeks on the chart, becoming one of the longest climbs to the top position in ''Billboard'' history. After three non-consecutive weeks on top it was replaced by

Post Malone Austin Richard Post (born July 4, 1995), known professionally as Post Malone, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. His music blends various genres including hip-hop, Pop music, pop, Contemporary R&B, R&B, Tra ...

's "

Circles A circle is a shape consisting of all points in a plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the centre. The distance between any point of the circle and the centre is called the radius. The length of a line segment connecting t ...

". In

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, the single cumulated 26.8 million streams in 2019 and was the biggest-selling song in the country that year.

Track listing

*Digital download #"Someone You Loved" – 3:02 *Digital download #"Someone You Loved" (Future Humans Remix) – 3:09 *Digital download #"Someone You Loved" (Madism Radio Mix)– 2:37 *CD single #"Someone You Loved" – 3:02 #"Someone You Loved" (Madism Radio Mix) – 2:37 #"Someone You Loved" (Instrumental) – 3:02 #"Voice Note From Lewis"

Personnel

* TMS – production, mixing * Phil Cook – strings * Lewis Capaldi – vocals, piano * Robert Voseign – mastering * Ryan Walter – artwork design * Ali Gavillet – photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Cover versions

* The Piano Guys covered the song in a piano and cello composition on their video featuring ''World of Dance'' season 2 contestants Charity Anderson and Andres Penate. *

Nicola Roberts Nicola Maria Roberts (born 5 October 1985) is an English singer and songwriter. In 2002, Roberts was selected as a member of Girls Aloud, a Pop music, pop girl group created through ITV (TV network), ITV's reality competition show ''Popstars: Th ...

performed the song in her Queen Bee disguise on the first series of '' The Masked Singer UK''. *

Camila Cabello Karla Camila Cabello Estrabao (; ; born March 3, 1997) is an American singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence as a member of the Pop music, pop girl group Fifth Harmony, one of the List of best-selling girl groups, best-selling girl gro ...

and the

Jonas Brothers The Jonas Brothers () are an American pop rock band formed in 2005 comprising brothers Kevin Jonas, Joe Jonas, and Nick Jonas. Raised in Wyckoff, New Jersey, the Jonas Brothers moved to Little Falls, New Jersey, in 2005, where they wrote thei ...

covered the song during

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

Live Lounge The Live Lounge is a segment on the British radio stations BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra. It was originally hosted by Simon Mayo, and later by Jo Whiley on her weekday mid-morning, and later weekend lunchtime radio shows, then by Fearne Cott ...

, while

Bastille The Bastille (, ) was a fortress in Paris, known as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. It was stormed by a ...

Charlie Puth Charles Otto Puth Jr. (; born December 2, 1991) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. His initial exposure came through the viral success of his cover (music), song covers uploaded to YouTube. Puth signed with the record labe ...

, and

Alec Benjamin Alec Shane Benjamin (born May 28, 1994) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, his 2018 breakthrough " Let Me Down Slowly" from his album '' Narrated for You'' reached the top 40 in over 25 countries ...

covered the song for

Sirius XM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting corporation headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. The company was formed by the 2008 merge ...

. * Capaldi performed the song as a surprise guest with

Nina Nesbitt Nina Lindberg Nesbitt (born 11 July 1994) is a Scottish singer and songwriter. She is best known for her UK singles chart, UK and Scottish Singles and Albums Charts, Scottish top 40 hit singles "Stay Out" and "Selfies (song), Selfies". She also ...

and

James Bay James Bay (, ; ) is a large body of water located on the southern end of Hudson Bay in Canada. It borders the provinces of Quebec and Ontario, and is politically part of Nunavut. Its largest island is Akimiski Island. Numerous waterways of the ...

at their concerts, and with

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer and songwriter. A classically trained pianist, Keys began composing songs at the age of 12 and was signed by Columbia Records at 15. After d ...

at the 2019

iHeartRadio Music Festival The iHeartRadio Music Festival is a two-day music concert festival held every year on the third or fourth weekend of September since 2011 by iHeartRadio along the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. From 2011 to 2015, the f ...

. *

Conor Maynard Conor Paul Maynard (born 21 November 1992) is an English singer. Born and raised in Brighton, he signed a recording contract with Warner Music Group in 2011. Maynard rose to fame in 2012 when he was nominated for, and subsequently won, MTV's ' ...

covered of the song in September 2019. *

Chris Daughtry Christopher Adam Daughtry (; born December 26, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actor, and comic book artist. He is the lead vocalist and a guitarist for the rock band Daughtry, which he formed after placing fourth on the fi ...

covered the song during the second season of '' The Masked Singer'' and would later perform it during the 2020 pandemic "Live from Home" tour * Australian sibling duo

Angus & Julia Stone Angus & Julia Stone are an Australian Folk music, folk and indie pop group, formed in 2006 by brother and sister Angus Stone, Angus and Julia Stone. Angus & Julia Stone have released five studio albums and a soundtrack album: ''A Book Like Thi ...

released a cover of the song in 2024 for

Triple J Triple J is an Australian government-funded national radio station founded in 1975 as a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It aims to appeal to young listeners of alternative music, and plays far more Australian conten ...

's ''

Like a Version ''Like a Version'' is a long-running weekly segment on Australian youth radio station Triple J. It involves musicians playing two songs live in the Triple J studio, one of their own songs and then a cover version. The series was created by pres ...

''.

References

External links

* * {{Brit British Single 2018 songs 2018 singles 2010s ballads Pop ballads Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Brit Award for British Single Canadian Hot 100 number-one singles Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Number-one singles in Malaysia Lewis Capaldi songs UK singles chart number-one singles Songs written by Romans (musician) Songs written by Peter Kelleher (songwriter) Songs written by Tom Barnes (songwriter) Songs written by Ben Kohn Song recordings produced by TMS (production team) Songs written by Lewis Capaldi Songs about heartache Songs inspired by deaths Universal Music Group singles Vertigo Records singles Virgin Records singles