You Needed Me

"You Needed Me"
Single by Anne Murray
from the album Let's Keep It That Way
B-side	"I Still Wish the Very Best for You"
Released	May 1978
Recorded	January 1978
Genre	Country pop
Length	3:37
Label	Capitol 4574
Writer(s)	Randy Goodrum
Producer(s)	Jim Ed Norman
Certification	Gold (RIAA)
Anne Murray singles chronology
"Walk Right Back" (1978) "You Needed Me" (1978) "Hey, Daddy" (1978)

"You Needed Me" is a song written by Randy Goodrum, who describes it as being about "unconditional undeserved love."^[1] It was a number one single in the United States in 1978 for Canadian singer Anne Murray, and revitalized her career after several years of declining popularity as it became her first Top 40 US single since her 1974 remake of The Beatles' "You Won't See Me". The song, included on her 1978 album Let's Keep It That Way, was also a top-five country single and won Song of the Year at the Academy of Country Music awards, and is her most successful single in the United Kingdom where it made the top 30. Murray is quoted in The Billboard Book of Number One Hits by Fred Bronson as saying she wasn't surprised by the song's success, as she knew from the start the song would be a hit because she broke down in tears the first time she tried to sing it.

Although the song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (and is her only song to top that chart), it never topped the two Billboard charts where Murray has had the most success -- Country and Adult Contemporary. However, it spent a then-record 36 weeks on the Adult Contemporary chart, a record for chart longevity that stood until 1995.

The song earned Murray the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 21st Grammy Awards,^[2] the first to be awarded to a Canadian artist.

Anne Murray re-recorded the song with Shania Twain for Murray's 2007 album Duets: Friends & Legends.

The song was featured in an ongoing storyline on the CBS soap Guiding Light in 1980-81, as a theme song for the characters Kelly Nelson and Morgan Richards. In 2013, the song was performed by Seth MacFarlane in character as Stewie Griffin on the Family Guy episode "Chris Cross", in which Anne Murray herself guest-starred.

Chart performance

Weekly singles charts Chart (1978) Peak position Australia KMR [3] 2 Canadian RPM Country Tracks 1 Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks 1 Canadian RPM Top Singles 1 New Zealand [4] 6 UK 22 U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles 4 U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks 3 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 1

Year-end charts Chart (1978) Rank Australia [5] 87 Canada 3 New Zealand [6] 34 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [7] 63

Boyzone cover version

"You Needed Me"
Single by Boyzone
from the album By Request
B-side	"Words Can't Describe"
Released	May 10, 1999
Format	CD single, Cassette
Recorded	London, England
Genre	Pop
Length	3:27
Label	Polydor
Writer(s)	Randy Goodrum
Producer(s)	Steve Mac
Boyzone singles chronology
"When the Going Gets Tough" (1999) "You Needed Me" (1999) "Every Day I Love You" (1999)

"You Needed Me" is a single by Irish boy band Boyzone, the second from their album By Request. The single reached number 1 on the UK Singles Chart,^[8] beating the debut solo single of Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, outselling her by just 700 copies. The song received a silver disc for shipping 200,000 copies in the UK.^[9]

Track listing

CD1

1. "You Needed Me"
2. "Words Can't Describe"
3. "Megamix: Love to Infinity"

CD2 (In limited edition digipak)

1. "You Needed Me"
2. "You Needed Me" (Jewels & Stone Remix)
3. "Too Late Tonight"
4. "You Needed Me" (video)

Charts

Chart (1999)	Peak position
Austrian Singles Chart[10]	38
Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart[10]	22
Dutch Singles Chart[10]	16
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[11]	6
German Singles Chart[12]	36
Irish Singles Chart[13]	2
Japanese Singles Chart[14]	5
New Zealand Singles Chart[10]	1
Norwegian Singles Chart[10]	15
Scottish Singles Chart[15]	1
Swedish Singles Chart[10]	21
Swiss Singles Chart[10]	29
UK Singles Chart[16]	1

Certifications

Region	Certification	Sales/shipments
United Kingdom (BPI)[17]	Silver	200,000
^^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

1. "You Needed Me by Anne Murray Songfacts". Songfacts.com. Retrieved 2014-04-01.
2. "Past Winners Search | GRAMMY.com". grammy.com. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
3. http://australian-charts.com/forum.asp?todo=viewthread&id=35092
4. http://nztop40.co.nz/chart/singles?chart=2813
5. http://australian-charts.com/forum.asp?todo=viewthread&id=35092
6. http://nztop40.co.nz/chart/?chart=3867
7. http://www.musicoutfitters.com/topsongs/1978.htm
8. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 633. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
9. "British certifications – You Needed Me". British Phonographic Industry. Enter You Needed Me in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Click Search
10. Steffen Hung. "Boyzone - You Needed Me". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2012-01-08.
11. Billboard - Google Books. Books.google.ca. 1999-06-05. Retrieved 2014-04-01.
12. "Die ganze Musik im Internet". musicline.de. Retrieved 2012-01-08.
13. "Irish charts". Retrieved 2012-01-08.
14. Oricon Singles Chart Oricon Singles Chart (Retrieved 2 November 2012)
15. Scottish Singles Chart (Retrieved November 23, 2008)
16. UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved November 23, 2008)
17. "British single certifications – Boyzone – You Needed Me". British Phonographic Industry. Enter You Needed Me in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select single in the field By Format. Select Silver in the field By Award. Click Search

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics