Still Holding On
{{other uses}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Still Holding On
| cover = Martina McBride - Still Holding On.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Clint Black and Martina McBride
| album = Nothin' but the Taillights and Evolution
| B-side = "Still Holding On" (long version)
| released = June 2, 1997
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Country
| length = {{Duration|m=4|s=37}} (album version)
{{Duration|m=4|s=53}} (long version)
{{Duration|m=3|s=57}} (single version)
| label = RCA Nashville #64850
| writer = Clint Black, Matraca Berg, Marty Stuart
| producer = Clint Black, James Stroud
| chronology = Clint Black
| prev_title = Half Way Up
| prev_year = 1996
| next_title = Something That We Do
| next_year = 1997
| misc = {{Extra chronology
| artist = Martina McBride
| type = singles
| prev_title = Cry on the Shoulder of the Road
| prev_year = 1997
| title = Still Holding On
| year = 1997
| next_title = A Broken Wing
| next_year = 1997
}}
}}
"Still Holding On" is a song recorded by American country music artists Clint Black and Martina McBride, written by Black along with Matraca Berg and Marty Stuart. It was released in June 1997 as the first single from Black's album Nothin' but the Taillights and McBride's album Evolution.
History
Black told Billboard that Joe Galante, then the chairman of RCA Records, suggested that he record a duet, because he thought that it would be a good time in Black's career for him to release one.{{cite magazine|last=Price|first=Deborah Evans|date=19 July 1997|title=McBride Puts Time to Good Use|magazine=Billboard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qA4EAAAAMBAJ&q=%22clint+black%22+%22still+holding+on%22&pg=PA32}} Because of her busy schedule, McBride cut the duet vocals with Black in one day.
The song received a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards in 1998.{{cite news|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=AT&p_theme=at&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EADA39788BA1BB3&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|title=At 40, Grammys holding their own|date=22 February 1998|work=Atlanta Journal-Constitution|page=L04|accessdate=24 August 2010}}
Still Holding On is also a television film which aired in 1998 based on the rodeo career of Jack Favor, who served seven years in the Louisiana State Penitentiary on false conviction of two murders based on perjured testimony He was acquitted in a second trial in 1974. Black plays Favor in the film, and Lisa Hartman Black is cast as Ponder Favor, Jack's wife.{{cite web|url=http://www.texnews.com/1998/brazos/bill0427.html|title=Bill Whitaker, "'Big Daddy' Favor a Weighty Character for Clint Black", April 27, 1998|publisher=texnews.com|access-date=February 6, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130206174418/http://www.texnews.com/1998/brazos/bill0427.html|archive-date=February 6, 2013}}
Critical reception
Deborah Evans Price, of Billboard magazine reviewed the song favorably, saying that Black's and McBride's voices "blend beautifully, and when they soar into the chorus, it's goosebumps time." She goes on to call the song "the clearest possible definition of a hit."Billboard, June 14, 1997
Chart performance
On the Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts in the United States, "Still Holding On" debuted on the chart dated for the week ending June 14, 1997. It spent 20 weeks on that chart, peaking at number 11.{{cite book|last=Whitburn|first=Joel|title=Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008|publisher=Record Research, Inc|year=2008|pages=50–51|isbn=978-0-89820-177-2}} With a peak of number 11, it became his first single to miss the Top 10 on the Hot Country Singles & Tracks Chart.
In Canada, the song debuted at number 83 on the RPM Country Tracks charts on the week of June 16{{cite web |url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.3235&type=1&interval=20&PHPSESSID=6rkavjlimg328qejc8k6lgof00 |title=RPM Country chart for June 16, 1997 |work=RPM |accessdate=24 August 2010}} and peaked at number 1 on the week of August 18.{{cite web |url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.3299&type=1&interval=20&PHPSESSID=6rkavjlimg328qejc8k6lgof00 |title=RPM Country chart for August 18, 1997 |work=RPM |accessdate=24 August 2010}} In addition, it peaked at number 50 on the same publication's Adult Contemporary chart.{{cite web |url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.3261&type=1&interval=20&PHPSESSID=6rkavjlimg328qejc8k6lgof00 |title=RPM Adult Contemporary chart for July 14, 1997 |work=RPM |accessdate=24 August 2010}}
| class="wikitable sortable"
!align="left"|Chart (1997) !align="center"|Peak |
| {{single chart|Canadaadultcontemporary|50|chartid=3261|publishdate=July 14, 1997|accessdate=July 17, 2013}} |
| {{single chart|Canadacountry|1|chartid=3299|publishdate=August 18, 1997|accessdate=July 17, 2013}} |
| {{single chart|Billboardcountrysongs|11|artist=Clint Black}} |
=Year-end charts=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| scope="col"|Chart (1997)
!scope="col"|Position |
|---|
| Canada Country Tracks (RPM){{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?brws_s=1&file_num=nlc008388.7902&type=1&interval=24|title=RPM Top 100 Country Tracks of 1997|work=RPM|date=December 15, 1997|accessdate=July 17, 2013}}
| align="center" | 20 |
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Clint Black singles}}
{{Martina McBride singles}}
Category:Martina McBride songs
Category:Male–female vocal duets
Category:Songs written by Clint Black
Category:Songs written by Matraca Berg
Category:Songs written by Marty Stuart
Category:Song recordings produced by Clint Black
Category:Song recordings produced by James Stroud