You Light Up My Life (song)
{{short description|1977 single by Debby Boone}}
{{other uses|You Light Up My Life (disambiguation){{!}}You Light Up My Life}}
{{Infobox song
| name = You Light Up My Life
| image = You Light Up My Life by Original Cast, US vinyl vocal side.png
| alt =
| caption = Vocal side of the US single
| type = single
| artist = Kasey Cisyk (credited to Original Cast)
| album = You Light Up My Life: Original Soundtrack
| A-side = {{ubl|"You Light Up My Life"|(instrumental)}}
| released = August 16, 1977 (Charted the week of September 3)
| recorded = 1977
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Pop
| length = 3:29
| label = Arista
| writer = Joe Brooks
| producer = Joe Brooks
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| next_title =
| next_year =
| misc = {{External music video|header=Music video|type=single|{{YouTube|oJfRc5rzXdo|"Kasey Cisyk and Didi Conn - You Light Up My Life (1977)"}}}}
}}
"You Light Up My Life" is a ballad written by Joseph Brooks, and originally recorded by Kasey Cisyk for the soundtrack album to the 1977 film of the same title.{{cite book| first= David| last= Roberts| year= 2006| title= British Hit Singles & Albums| edition= 19th| publisher= Guinness World Records Limited|location= London| isbn= 1-904994-10-5| page= 136}} The song was lip synced in the film by its lead actress, Didi Conn. The best-known cover version of the song is a cover by Debby Boone, the daughter of singer Pat Boone. It held the No. 1 position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for ten consecutive weeks in 1977 and topped Record World magazine's Top 100 Singles Chart for a record 13 weeks.{{Cite journal|date=January 7, 1978|title=Top 100 Singles Chart for 1/7/1978|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Record-World/70s/78/Record-World-1978-01-07.pdf|journal=Record World|volume=35 #1591|pages=29}}
Original film version
File:Kasey Cisyk 1989 013.jpg, 1989]]
Cisyk's original soundtrack recording was included in the film's soundtrack album. It was then later released as a single to bolster sales of the soundtrack album after Debby Boone included her version on her first solo album (also titled You Light Up My Life). Although the soundtrack album was certified Gold, peaking at No. 17 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, it never included Boone's hit single version of the song.
Cisyk's single was credited to "Original Cast", not to Cisyk herself, and even though Brooks is listed on the A-side of the single, the "Original Cast" B-side charted on the Billboard Hot 100 and only reached No. 80. Brooks also released an instrumental version of the song from the soundtrack as a promotional single, but that version failed to chart.
Following the success of Boone's version, the song earned Brooks a Grammy Award for Song of the Year, an Academy Award for Best Original Song, a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song and an American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) award.
=Track listing=
7" vinyl single
- "You Light Up My Life" (Instrumental) — 3:02
- "You Light Up My Life" (Original Cast) — 3:29
=Chart performance (Original Cast single)=
| class="wikitable" |
| Chart (1977)
!Peak |
|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100
| style="text-align:center;"|80 |
=The Joseph Brooks controversies=
In a 2013 biographical essay about Cisyk,[http://kvitkacisyk.com/about-kvitka/ Kvitka’s Biography by Ed Rakowicz, 2013] Accessed Jan 14, 2014. Cisyk's second husband, Ed Rakowicz (who worked as a sound engineer, but not for this song), wrote that songwriter Brooks was initially pleased with Cisyk's recording of the song with orchestra (and her version appeared in the movie and soundtrack) but "tried to evade payment by false promises and by asking her to be an incidental actor in his film, implying huge rewards yet to come..." Rackowicz claimed that Brooks made improper advances toward Cisyk, that after being rebuffed, he refused to speak directly to her again, and that he continued to evade payments to her while commissioning another recording with Debby Boone.{{Citation needed|date=October 2022}}
According to Rackowicz, "Besides wanting Boone to copy Kacey's [sic]Rakowicz's biography consistently spells the Americanized version of his wife's name as "Kacey" rather than "Kasey." iconic hit reading of his songs, Brooks needed to cover up Kacey's vocal leakage in the microphones in the piano recorded at the original demo session on which was overdubbed the orchestral track used in the film. Brooks didn't want to pay to re-record the piano and orchestra again." In 2003, Boone admitted, "I had no freedom whatsoever. Joe told me exactly how to sing it and imitate every inflection from the original recording." in an interview with Entertainment Weekly Magazine.{{cite magazine|last=Brown |first=Scott |title=The Light Stuff |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date= 21 February 2003 |pages=76–78 }} Cisyk later retained a lawyer and sued Brooks for the fees she had earned for her work on the record and for credit on the soundtrack, which she later received.
Debby Boone version
{{Infobox song
| name = You Light Up My Life
| image = You Light Up My Life by Debby Boone US vinyl side A.png
| alt =
| caption = Side A of the US single
| type = single
| artist = Debby Boone
| album = You Light Up My Life
| B-side = {{ubl|"Hasta Mañana" (US & selected territories)|"He's a Rebel" (performed by the Boones; selected countries)}}
| released = August 16, 1977
| recorded = April 1977
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = {{flatlist|
Soft rock{{cite web|url=http://www.stereogum.com/5507/40_most_softsational_softrock_songs/franchises/list/|title=VH1's 40 Most Softsational Soft-Rock Songs|date=May 31, 2007|website=Stereogum|publisher=SpinMedia|access-date=July 31, 2016}}}}
| length = 3:35
| label = Warner Bros.-Curb
| writer = Joe Brooks
| producer = Joe Brooks
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| next_title = California
| next_year = 1978
| misc =
}}
File:Debby Boone (48591893261).jpg, 1997]]
In 1977, Debby Boone, Pat Boone's daughter, recorded the song under the guidance of Curb Records executive Mike Curb{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/specials/hot100/charts/top100-titles-10.shtml |url-status=dead |title=The Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs (10-01) |magazine=Billboard |date= July 2008 |archive-date=1 October 2008| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081001192901/http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/specials/hot100/charts/top100-titles-10.shtml| access-date= 13 November 2015 }} and songwriter Joseph Brooks. Boone recorded her vocals over a pre-existing instrumental track that Brooks already had developed for the film's soundtrack. The song was released as both a Warner-Curb Records single and as the title track to her first solo album, You Light Up My Life, which she released on Warner Bros. Records, Curb Records' parent label.
Cash Box said that "Ms. Boone builds it to a powerful emotional peak as a massive string section lends support."{{cite news|title=CashBox Singles Reviews|date=August 27, 1977|page=30|newspaper=Cash Box|accessdate=2021-12-26|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1977/CB-1977-08-27.pdf}}
The single became the biggest single of the 1970s in the United States,{{cite magazine |title = Readers' Poll: The 10 Worst Songs of the 1970s: 4 – Debby Boone – 'You Light Up My Life' | magazine=Rolling Stone | location=New York City| date = 2012 | url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/readers-poll-the-10-worst-songs-of-the-1970s-20111019/4-debby-boone-you-light-up-my-life-0781762 | url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120624021354/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/readers-poll-the-10-worst-songs-of-the-1970s-20111019/4-debby-boone-you-light-up-my-life-0781762 | archive-date=2012-06-24 |access-date=2015-11-15}} setting a new Billboard Hot 100 record for most weeks spent at number one. Elvis Presley's double-sided hit "Don't Be Cruel/Hound Dog", then recognized as the longest-running number one song of the rock era, spent eleven weeks atop the Billboard Best Sellers chart in 1956, before the 1958 debut of the Hot 100. The previous Hot 100 record was held by Bobby Darin's "Mack the Knife", Percy Faith's recording of "Theme from A Summer Place" (1960) and the Beatles' "Hey Jude" (1968), all three of which remained at No. 1 for nine weeks.{{cite book |last=Bronson |first=Fred |date=1 October 2003 |title=The Billboard Book of Number One Hits |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PgGqNrqfrsoC&pg=PT948 |location=New York |publisher=Billboard Books |edition=5th |isbn=978-0823076772 |page=939}} The ten-week record was matched in 1982 by Olivia Newton-John's "Physical",Bronson, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=PgGqNrqfrsoC&pg=PT559 550]. but was not surpassed until a 1991 change in chart methodology allowed songs to achieve longer reigns at No. 1. In 1992, "End of the Road" by Boyz II Men would set the new record with 13 weeks.Bronson, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=PgGqNrqfrsoC&pg=PT947 938-939].
Besting her chart performance in Billboard, Boone's "You Light Up My Life" single topped Record World{{'}}s Top 100 Singles Chart for an unbroken record of 13 weeks. On Billboard{{'}}s chart, Boone was unseated from No. 1 by the Bee Gees, with "How Deep Is Your Love", the first of three No. 1 singles from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. On Record World{{'}}s chart, Boone kept the Bee Gees out of the number-one spot. In Cash Box magazine, "You Light Up My Life" managed only an eight-week stay at the top of the chart, before being dethroned by Crystal Gayle's "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue". Its least-lengthy run was on the Radio and Records chart, with six weeks at No. 1 before relinquishing the spot to the Bee Gees;{{cite web|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1970s/1977/RR-1977-11-25.pdf |title=Records & Radio|date=1977-11-25|website=Worldradiohistory.com|access-date=March 15, 2022}} it had knocked Carly Simon's "Nobody Does It Better" out of the top spot after only one week.
The single, which was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), also hit No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart and reached No. 4 on the Country chart. The single peaked at No. 48 on the UK Singles Chart.{{cite book|title=British Hit Singles & Albums|last=Roberts|first=David|publisher=Guinness World Records Limited|year=2006|isbn=1-904994-10-5|edition=19th|location=London|page=136}} Boone's hit single led to her winning the 1978 Grammy Award for Best New Artist, with additional Grammy nominations for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female and Record of the Year. Boone also won the 1977 American Music Award for Favorite Pop Single.
Decades after its release, the Debby Boone version is still considered one of the top ten Billboard Hot 100 songs of all time. In 2008, it was ranked at No. 7 on Billboard{{'}}s "Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs" list (August 1958 - July 2008). An updated version of the all-time list in 2013 ranked the song at No. 9.{{cite magazine |last=Bronson | first=Fred|url= http://www.billboard.com/articles/list/2155531/the-hot-100-all-time-top-songs?list_page=2 |magazine=Billboard |title= Hot 100 55th Anniversary: The All-Time Top 100 Songs |date= 2 August 2013 |access-date= 9 August 2013 }}
Although it was written by Brooks as a love song, the devout Boone interpreted it as inspirational and proclaimed that it was instead God who "lit up her life." This fact was later alluded to when the song appeared in The Simpsons episode "I Married Marge", Season 3, Episode 12.
=Track listing=
- 7" vinyl single
- "You Light Up My Life"
* – 3:35 - "Hasta Mañana"
** – 3:12
=Chart performance (Debby Boone single)=
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
==Weekly charts==
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Chart (1977–1978)
!Peak |
|---|
| align="left"|Australian Kent Music Report
| style="text-align:center;"|7 |
| Canadian RPM Top Singles
| style="text-align:center;"|1 |
| Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks
| style="text-align:center;"|1 |
| Canadian RPM Country Tracks
| style="text-align:center;"|6 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|12 |
| South African Singles Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|3 |
| UK Singles (OCC)
| style="text-align:center;"|48 |
| {{singlechart|Billboardhot100|1|artist=Debby Boone}} |
| US Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
| style="text-align:center;"|1 |
| US Billboard Hot Country Singles
| style="text-align:center;"|4 |
| US Record World Singles Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|1 |
| US Cashbox Top 100 Singles
| style="text-align:center;"|1 |
{{col-2}}
==Year-end charts==
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| scope="col"|Chart (1977 and 1978)
!scope="col"|Rank |
|---|
| South Africa{{cite web|title=Top 20 Hit Singles of 1978|url=http://www.rock.co.za/files/sahits_1978.html|access-date=2 September 2018}}
|align="center"|10 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 (1978)
|style="text-align:center;"|3 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 (1977)
|style="text-align:center;"|51 |
| US Cashbox Magazine (1977)
|style="text-align:center;"|1 |
| US Record World (1977)
|style="text-align:center;"|1 |
| US Billboard Easy Listening (1978){{Cite web|url=http://www.45cat.com/45_list_view_record.php?li=2173|title=Top 50 Adult Contemporary Hits of 1978 - 45cat|website=45cat.com|access-date=24 April 2021}}
|style="text-align:center;"|46 |
==All-time charts==
| class="wikitable"
!Chart (1958–2018) !Position |
| US Billboard Hot 100{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100-60th-anniversary|title=Hot 100 turns 60|magazine=Billboard|access-date=August 6, 2018}}
| style="text-align:center;"|11 |
{{col-end}}
LeAnn Rimes version
{{Infobox song
| name = You Light Up My Life
| cover = LeAnn Rimes You Light Up My Life Single.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = LeAnn Rimes
| album = You Light Up My Life: Inspirational Songs
| B-side = I Believe
| released = August 26, 1997
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Country
| length = 3:37
| label = Curb
| writer = Joe Brooks
| producer = Mike Curb
Chuck Howard
Wilbur C. Rimes
| prev_title = How Do I Live
| prev_year = 1997
| next_title = On the Side of Angels
| next_year = 1998
| misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|BsBY722rb2M|"You Light Up My Life" by LeAnn Rimes}}}}
}}
LeAnn Rimes released her own version of "You Light Up My Life" as a single in 1997, 20 years after Boone's version was released, and on the same record label, the Warner Bros. Records label's Curb Records label. Her version fared modestly by comparison to the original at radio (No. 48 Country). However, her single was certified gold and was the title track to her No. 1 pop and country album, You Light Up My Life: Inspirational Songs.
=Track listing=
- "You Light Up My Life"
* – 3:37 - "I Believe"
** – 2:22
=Chart performance (LeAnn Rimes single)=
Other versions
Many artists have covered "You Light Up My Life" since 1977.
- Perry Como performed it on Bob Hope's TV special in 1977 (then recorded for CD in 2000).
- Johnny Mathis recorded the song and named his 1978 album after the song.
- Engelbert Humperdinck also recorded "You Light Up My Life" in 1978, including it on his album "Last of the Romantics". The song has also been recorded by Aretha Franklin, Loleatta Holloway, Jean Carn, Kenny Rogers, Angeline Quinto, José Carreras, Robert Goulet, Carole King, and Samantha Cole.{{cite web|url=https://secondhandsongs.com/performance/131846 |title=Cover versions of You Light Up My Life by Debby Boone |website=SecondHandSongs.com |access-date=2016-10-13}}
- Valeria Lynch recorded the song covered "Tú me haces feliz" for her 1979 album Yo soy tu canción....
- Japanese singer Yuki Saito recorded it (in English) for her 1994 album Moi.
- Whitney Houston recorded the song for her 2002 album Just Whitney....
- The Irish pop band Westlife recorded a cover of the song and made it to their The Love Album album in 2006 which went straight to No. 1 in UK Albums Chart and performed it live subsequently.
- A French rendering entitled "Tu remplis ma vie" was recorded by Anne Renée in 1977.
- America's Got Talent season 1 winner Bianca Ryan covered the song for her 2006 debut album.
- Patti Smith performed the song on the ABC television program Kids Are People Too, accompanied by Brooks on piano.{{cite web|title=Video of the Day: Patti Smith Sings "You Light Up My Life" to Kids|url=http://flavorwire.com/97262/video-of-the-day-patti-smith-sings-you-light-up-my-life-to-kids/|access-date=24 February 2014}}
- Mexican pop singer, Yuri recorded the song cover “Tú iluminas mi vida” for her first album released in 1978.
- Filipina singer, Angeline Quinto recorded the song for her second album Fall in Love Again released in 2012.
In other media
The song features as a running joke in an episode of Girlfriends, titled "Can't Stan Ya!"
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{YouTube|u1BhCGtNy08|"You Light Up My Life" by Whitney Houston}}
- {{YouTube|Ot-q4Y6Vabw|"You Light Up My Life" (1978, previously unreleased) by Aretha Franklin}}
{{Debby Boone}}
{{LeAnn Rimes singles}}
{{Westlife songs}}
{{Navboxes
| title = Awards for "You Light Up My Life"
| titlestyle = background: lightblue
| list1 =
{{AcademyAwardBestOriginalSong 1971–1980}}
{{American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Song}}
{{Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song}}
{{Grammy Award for Song of the Year}}
}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Arista Records singles
Category:Warner Records singles
Category:Best Original Song Academy Award–winning songs
Category:Best Original Song Golden Globe–winning songs
Category:Grammy Award for Song of the Year
Category:Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
Category:Cashbox number-one singles
Category:RPM Top Singles number-one singles