| "What Hurts the Most" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song by Mark Wills from the album And the Crowd Goes Wild | ||||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 3:47 | |||
| Label | Mercury Nashville | |||
| Writer | Jeffrey Steele, Steve Robson | |||
| Producer | Chris Lindsey, Mark Wills | |||
| And the Crowd Goes Wild track listing | ||||
|
||||
| "What Hurts the Most" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Jo O'Meara | |
| from the album Relentless | |
| Released | September 26, 2005 |
| Format | CD single |
| Recorded | 2005 |
| Genre | Pop |
| Length | 3:29 |
| Label | Sanctuary |
| Writer(s) | Jeffrey Steele, Steve Robson |
"What Hurts the Most" is the title of a song written by American songwriter Jeffrey Steele and English songwriter Steve Robson. Initially recorded by country music artist Mark Wills in 2003 on his album And the Crowd Goes Wild, it was covered by Bellefire a year later. However, the first version to be released as a single was by pop singer Jo O'Meara in 2005, from the album Relentless. Later that year, country band Rascal Flatts covered the song as well, releasing it as the first single from the 2006 album Me and My Gang, topping the U.S country and adult contemporary charts with it. German band Cascada later had international chart success with the song in 2007.
Contents |
Jeffrey Steele co-wrote the song with Steve Robson, with whom he also co-wrote Rascal Flatts' 2002 single "These Days". Robson presented Steele with an unfinished track, and Steele decided to come up with lyrics to finish the track. Originally, he had wanted to write a song about the loss of his father, but instead went with a more universal theme of lost love.[1] After singing the lyrics, he decided that he liked how sad the song sounded, when Robson suggested that it be recorded in a higher key to sound more emotional.[1]
Mark Wills was the first artist to record the song,[1] doing so on his 2003 album And the Crowd Goes Wild. Jo O'Meara, a pop singer, released the song in 2005 and had chart success with it in the United Kingdom. Faith Hill had also intended to include the song on her 2005 album Fireflies, and although she had recorded the song, her version did not make the final cut.[1] Rascal Flatts then recorded the song as well, and per producer Dann Huff's suggestion, it made their album Me and My Gang.[1] Wills' rendition of the song, though never a single, peaked at number 51 on the U.S. Hot Digital Songs charts in 2006 in the wake of Rascal Flatts' success with it.
Jo O'Meara released the song in 2005 as her first solo single, becoming the first artist to release it as a single. It was the lead single from her debut album Relentless. O'Meara's version peaked at number thirteen in the UK singles chart.
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart | 13 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 26 |
| "What Hurts the Most" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Rascal Flatts | ||||
| from the album Me and My Gang | ||||
| Released | January 9, 2006 | |||
| Format | CD single | |||
| Recorded | 2005 | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 3:33 | |||
| Label | Lyric Street | |||
| Producer | Dann Huff | |||
| Certification | Platinum (RIAA) | |||
| Rascal Flatts singles chronology | ||||
|
||||
In 2006, country music trio Rascal Flatts released the song as a single from its album Me and My Gang, and it became their fifth number-one single on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart. It also peaked at No. 6 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100, becoming the band's first Top 10 pop hit. In addition, the song reached number 1 on the Adult Contemporary charts. Rascal Flatts also performed the song live with Kelly Clarkson at the Academy of Country Music Awards in 2006.
Rascal Flatts' recording earned two nominations for the 49th Annual Grammy Awards, in the categories of Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, and Best Country Song.
The music video shown an emotional child crying over the loss of her boyfriend. She throws a huge temper tantrum about the loss of her boyfriend. It also shows the band members performing the song and it shows clips of her crying. The music video was directed by Trey Fanjoy in early 2006 who also directed the music video of This Everyday Love and Prayin' for Daylight.
Rascal Flatts' version of the song is in the key of F minor, with a vocal range of E♭4-A♭5. The main chord pattern is Fm-D♭-E♭-D♭.[2]
| Chart (2006–2007) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian Singles Chart | 45 |
| US Country Songs (Billboard)[3] | 1 |
| US Billboard Hot 100[4] | 6 |
| US Billboard Pop 100 | 11 |
| US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[5] | 1 |
| US Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks | 9 |
| US Billboard Mainstream Top 40 | 22 |
| UK Singles Chart | 103 |
| Preceded by "Living in Fast Forward" by Kenny Chesney |
Billboard Hot Country Songs number-one single April 8–29, 2006 |
Succeeded by "Who Says You Can't Go Home" by Bon Jovi and Jennifer Nettles |
| Preceded by "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" by Hall & Oates |
Billboard Adult Contemporary number-one single by November 18, 2006 (first run) December 2–16, 2006 (second run) January 13 - February 10, 2007 (third run) |
Succeeded by "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield "Jingle Bells" by Kimberly Locke "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield |
| "What Hurts the Most" | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Cascada | ||||||||||
| from the album Perfect Day | ||||||||||
| Released | November 21, 2007 (see release history) |
|||||||||
| Format | CD single, digital download | |||||||||
| Recorded | 2007 | |||||||||
| Genre | Eurodance, progressive trance[6] | |||||||||
| Length | 3:39 | |||||||||
| Label | Zooland | |||||||||
| Writer(s) | Jeffrey Steele, Steve Robson | |||||||||
| Producer | Manuel Reuter, Yann Peifer | |||||||||
| Cascada singles chronology | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
In 2007, the song was covered by the German dance group Cascada. It was released as the first single of their second album Perfect Day. The single was first released in Sweden and then released on December 4 in the United States, December 10 in the United Kingdom, and finally released January 4, 2008 in Germany.
The song peaked at number five on the Swedish singles chart and entered the United Kingdom's singles chart at number 16 before peaking at number ten. In the United States, the song peaked at number 52 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and was certified gold for sales of 500,000 almost 23 months after its release on October 28, 2009.[7] At the end of 2008, Billboard ranked the song at number 69 for its year-end Hot Singles Sales chart.[8]
Billboard's Chuck Taylor wrote a positive review of the song saying "wouldn't it be wondrous if American programmers renewed their vow in 2008 to put variety on the airwaves—or do we really need a fifth entry in the top 10 from T-Pain[?]".[9]
"What Hurts the Most", covered by Cascada, is an uptempo eurodance song that starts off with guitar plucking and Horler's electropop vocals,[10] then transitions into trance music. It has a moderate trance tempo groove and it is arranged in the key of F-sharp minor with a tempo of 142 beats per minute.[11]
| Country | Date | Format | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sweden | November 21, 2007 | CD single, digital download | Bonnier |
| United Kingdom | December 4, 2007 | Digital download | All Around the World |
| December 10, 2007 | CD single | ||
| United States | November 27, 2007 | Digital download | Robbins |
| December 4, 2007 | CD single | ||
| Germany | January 3, 2008 | CD single, digital download | Zooland |
Charts
|
Year-end charts
Sales and certifications
|
| Preceded by "Calabria 2007" by Enur featuring Natasja |
Billboard Hot Dance Airplay number-one single February 2, 2008 |
Succeeded by "Let Me Think About It" by Ida Corr vs Fedde le Grand |
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||