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Because of You (Kelly Clarkson song)

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"Because of You"
Single by Kelly Clarkson
from the album Breakaway
Released	November 29, 2005[1]
Format	Digital download, CD single, 7" vinyl single
Genre	Adult contemporary, pop, soft rock
Length	3:40
Label	RCA
Writer(s)	Kelly Clarkson, David Hodges, Ben Moody
Producer	David Hodges, Ben Moody
Certification	Platinum (RIAA) Platinum (ABPD) Gold (RIAA CD singles) Gold (ARIA)
Kelly Clarkson singles chronology
"Behind These Hazel Eyes" (2005) "Because of You" (2005) "Walk Away" (2006)
Audio sample   file info · help

"Because of You" is a ballad written by pop rock singer Kelly Clarkson with David Hodges and Ben Moody, and produced by Hodges and Moody, both formerly of Evanescence. It is the fourth single (third in Europe) from Clarkson's second album, Breakaway (2004). With this single, Clarkson made ??the only winner in the history of American Idol to have a fourth single from the same album in the Top 10 on Hot 100, totaling eight Top 10 singles on chart.

In 2007, Clarkson reprised the song in a duet with country music artist Reba McEntire for her album Reba: Duets. When MCA Nashville released the duet in the summer of 2007, its popularity produced Clarkson's very first appearance on the Billboard Hot Country charts, where it reached a peak of #2.

On January 31, 2008, the RIAA certified the single platinum, with over 1,500,000 singles in all formats sold in the US.

By the summer of 2008, "Because of You" had become the song second most played over all of the last five years on television, radio, the internet, and live venues combined, in the UK.^[2]

As of 2009, it is the biggest single from an American Idol album, with sales of seven million singles worldwide. In December 2009, Billboard ranked it as the 7th most successful pop song of the decade.^[3]

[edit] Content

[edit] Writing inspiration

Clarkson originally wrote the lyrics and melody for "Because of You" when she was sixteen years old to cope with the emotional distress she was experiencing as a result of her parents' divorce. Clarkson has stated that although she has grown to overcome her pain, she can still relate to the pain of "Because of You".^{[citation needed]}

Years later, when she met Moody and Hodges, Clarkson asked if they could write songs with her. She asked them to help her polish "Because of You" for the album Breakaway, but said that she would understand if they disliked the song and wanted to write a new song with her. Instead, both Moody and Hodges were impressed with the song, and along with Clarkson, Ben Moody wrote music, after he met with Clarkson at a hotel room where she recorded the lyrics and melody on a cassette tape. Clarkson said that she had offered "Because of You" for her first album, Thankful, and that the label did not like it. She said when she requested that it appear on her second album, her label still did not want to release the song.^[5] "Because of You" won Clarkson an ASCAP songwriters award for "Song of the Year".^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Music video

Clarkson and younger Clarkson (played by Kennedy Noel) in the music video of "Because of You".

As she had with "Behind These Hazel Eyes", Clarkson wrote the treatment for the video herself; it was directed by Vadim Perelman. The video is based on a true story of Clarkson's troubled childhood (because of the nature of the video, she asked her parents for permission before it was filmed). The young girl in the video (playing the younger Clarkson) is Kennedy Noel, the daughter of Clarkson's musical director and keyboardist, Jason Halbert. Noel appeared at the 2006 Grammy Awards with Clarkson and accompanied Clarkson's performance of "Because of You" on the piano with no formal piano training, learning the song in under two weeks.^[6] Noel also appeared in a concert use video during Clarkson's Hazel Eyes Tour. She is an actress who has appeared in several television shows and print ads. The father is played by Marc Raducci, and the mother is played by Kimberly Patterson. Both Patterson and Raducci are LA based actors.

The video starts at the Clarkson household. There, she and her partner are engaged in a heated argument, and at one point he threatens to smash a picture of the family. Time freezes still and her husband becomes immobile; Clarkson, however, is immune to this. Looking around her house, she sees her younger self. Hand in hand, the younger and older versions of Clarkson relive her troubled childhood as various painful memories are seen, such as the younger Clarkson making a picture for her father, who tosses it into the sink, and Clarkson's mother making an unappreciated dinner for her father. These events drive her mother to the point of taking pills and crying in front of the younger Clarkson.

The breaking point is finally seen when Clarkson's parents have a physical fight and throw objects at each other. Soon after, Clarkson's father packs his bags and leaves; although the younger Clarkson tries to get him to stay, he pulls away. The older Clarkson runs back in time to the present. There, time unfreezes and instead of fighting with her husband, they make up. They then see that their daughter in the video had seen them fight, and they embrace her and each other. Meanwhile, Clarkson is shown singing on the front porch, her mother's bed and a room full of mirrors.

The "Because of You" music video was officially released on Total Request Live on October 3, 2005. It debuted at the top of the countdown on October 4, eventually became Clarkson's third retired video, and spent twenty-seven out of fifty days at number one. After debuting on MuchMusic's Countdown at number twenty-nine, it ascended to number one. On June 18, 2006, the video garnered Clarkson a MuchMusic Video Award for "People's Choice Favorite International Artist". The video also won the MTV Video Music Award for "Best Female Video", and was nominated for the "Viewer's Choice Award", which it lost to Fall Out Boy's "Dance, Dance". This marked the second time any female artist won two consecutive awards for "Best Female Video" (Beyoncé won in 2003 and 2004); it made Clarkson the fourth person to win two years in a row for a gender category (Beck was the first, Beyoncé was second, Alicia Keys was third).^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Release history

[edit] Charts

Like the three previous singles from Breakaway, "Because of You" became a top ten U.S. Billboard Hot 100 hit, peaking at number seven in week November 19, 2005.^[7] It was another number-one single for Clarkson on the Top 40 Mainstream chart, spending six weeks at the top.

"Because of You" reached number four in Australia, where it was number fifty-eight on the ARIA end of 2006 singles chart. The single reached number seven in the United Kingdom and number two on the Nielsen BDS Airplay Hits Chart in Canada. It hit the top five in Germany and received a gold certification.

"Because of You" became Kelly Clarkson's most successful single outside the United States.^{[citation needed]}

In January 2006, "Because of You" entered the Dutch Top 40 at number 28. In its fifth week it hit 1st place, making this single her first number-one hit in the Netherlands. It stayed on the number-one spot for one more week. The single stayed in the Top 40 for a total of 16 weeks.

[edit] Year-end

[edit] Sales

[edit] Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single-releases of "Because of You".

Unofficial Remixes

1. "Ander Standing Club Mix"

US Promo CD

1. "Because of You" - 3:41
2. "Because of You" (Video) - 3:40

[edit] Reba McEntire & Kelly Clarkson version

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"Because of You"
Single by Reba McEntire and Kelly Clarkson
from the album Reba: Duets
Released	June 26, 2007
Format	CD single, digital download
Recorded	2007
Genre	Country pop
Length	3:45
Label	MCA Nashville
Reba McEntire chronology
"Love Needs a Holiday" (2006) "Because of You" (2007) "The Only Promise That Remains" (2007)
Kelly Clarkson chronology "Never Again" (2007) "Because of You" (2007) "Sober" (2007)

In early 2007, Clarkson re-recorded the song with country singer Reba McEntire as the lead-off single to McEntire's album Duets, which was released in September 2007. Clarkson and McEntire performed the song at the 2007 Academy of Country Music Awards on May 15, 2007, the same day the song was to be released to U.S. radio. On the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart dated for the week of June 2, 2007, the duet version debuted at #42. The single peaked at #2, becoming her first single, since 2004's "He Gets That From Me", to reach the Top Ten. Their duet snagged a nomination for Musical Event of The Year at the 2007 CMA Awards. This song has been nominated for Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals at the 50th annual Grammy Awards. This song has been nominated for 3 CMT Music Awards including "Video of The Year" and "Tearjerker video of the Year". It has also been nominated for an ACM Award for "Vocal Event of The Year".

This version is included on the tracklist to Now That's What I Call Country.

[edit] Official versions

• "Because Of You" (Album Version) - 3:45

[edit] Music video

The music video, directed by Roman White, debuted on June 20, 2007. It depicts McEntire and Clarkson as 1930s Hollywood lounge singers. McEntire's character encounters Clarkson's character attempting to conceal a bruise inflicted by her abusive partner. McEntire leaves the dressing room when Clarkson's boyfriend is fighting with her. When the two singers are singing, Clarkson's character witnesses her boyfriend flirting with another woman, which prompts her to smash a vase in the dressing room out of anger. In their dressing room after the performance, Clarkson's character's boyfriend enters to take her out for the rest of the evening. Though apprehensive, Clarkson's character leaves on his arm before looking back uncertainly at McEntire's character. McEntire's character uncomfortably fiddles with a hairbrush as she watches them leave.

[edit] Charts

[edit] References

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