Anything Is Possible (Will Young song)

"Anything Is Possible" is a song co-written by Chris Braide and Cathy Dennis, and produced by Cathy Dennis and Oskar Paul, for the winner of the first series of Pop Idol in the UK. Will Young won the show and therefore released the song as his debut single. It debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart, and has been certified 3x Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry. It has since become the 14th best-selling single of all time in the UK,^[1] as well as the second best-selling UK single of the 21st century.^[2]

Background and writing

Pop Idol creator Simon Fuller asked Chris Braide and Cathy Dennis to write a song for the show, having been impressed by "Have You Ever" and "Say Goodbye", two songs the pair had written for S Club 7.^[3] The song was recorded by the final three acts in the show, Will Young, Gareth Gates and Darius Danesh. After winning the show, Young released the song as his debut single and it was later included on his debut studio album, From Now On.

In an interview with HitQuarters, Braide said the song was written in Dennis' front room at her baby grand piano and recorded on a small Dictaphone.^[3] When the song, as recorded by Young, proved an immediate smash hit, Dennis supposedly phoned Braide and said: "You won't believe this, but that little song that we wrote in three hours is selling 100,000 copies a day."^[3]

The song was performed on the Pop Idol live final by both Young and Gates. Young went on to win the show, and released "Anything Is Possible" as a double A-side single, along with "Evergreen", which was also recorded by the final three and performed by the final two. The single went straight to the number one spot in the UK Singles Chart and stayed there for three consecutive weeks, only to be knocked off the top spot by Gates' debut single, "Unchained Melody". It became the fastest-selling debut in UK chart history, selling 403,027 copies on its day of release. It went on to sell over 1,790,000 copies, and in the official list of the all-time best-selling singles in the UK in November 2012, it appeared 14th.^[4] It was the biggest selling single of the 2000s, and was also the biggest selling single of the 21st century^[5] until June 2015, when it was overtaken by "Happy" by Pharrell Williams.^[2]

Gates' version of the song was also released as a B-side to his single "Unchained Melody".

Track listing

"Anything Is Possible"
"Evergreen"

Charts

Chart (2002)	Peak position
Ireland (IRMA)	2
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)^[6]	1

Personnel

Written by Chris Braide and Cathy Dennis
Published by Warner-Chappell Music / EMI Music Publishing
Produced by Cathy Dennis for 19 Productions and Oskar Paul for Stephen Budd Management
Mixed by Adrian Bushby
Programming by Oskar Paul and Cathy Dennis
Guitar by Fridrik 'Frizzy' Karlson
Keyboards by Pete Murray
Backing vocals by Lance Ellington, Silvia Mason James and Cathy Dennis
Mastered by Richard Dowling at Transfermation

References

↑ Lane, Daniel (27 June 2013). "Daft Punk's Get Lucky becomes one of the UK's biggest selling singles of all-time!". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
1 2 Copsey, Rob (11 June 2015). "The Official Top 40 Biggest Selling Singles of the Millennium so far revealed". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
1 2 3 "Interview with Chris Braide". HitQuarters. 30 August 2010. Retrieved Sep 1, 2010.
↑ Ami Sedghi (4 November 2012). "UK's million-selling singles: the full list". Guardian. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
↑ "The Official Top 150 Biggest Selling Singles Of the 21st Century revealed!". Official Charts Company. 7 May 2012.
↑ "Will Young: Artist Chart History" Official Charts Company.

External links

"Anything Is Possible" lyrics

Preceded by "It Wasn't Me" by Shaggy	Top selling single of the year (UK) 2002	Succeeded by "Where Is the Love?" by The Black Eyed Peas
Preceded by "World of Our Own" by Westlife	UK number-one single March 3, 2002 - March 23, 2002	Succeeded by "Unchained Melody" by Gareth Gates

Will Young
Discography
Studio albums	From Now On Friday's Child Keep On Let It Go Echoes 85% Proof
Compilation albums	The Hits The Essential
Extended plays	Leave Right Now
Singles	"Anything Is Possible" / "Evergreen" "Light My Fire" "The Long and Winding Road" "Don't Let Me Down" / "You and I" "Leave Right Now" "Your Game" "Friday's Child" "Switch It On" "All Time Love" "Who Am I" "Changes" "Grace" "Let It Go" "Tell Me the Worst" "Hopes & Fears" "Jealousy" "Come On" "Losing Myself" "I Just Want a Lover" "Love Revolution" "Like a River" "Thank You" "Joy"
Live releases	Will Young Live Live in London
Concert tours	Echoes Tour Love Revolution Tour
Related articles	Pop Idol series 1 series 1 finalists World Idol Mrs Henderson Presents Bedlam

Best-selling singles by year in the United Kingdom
1952–1969	1952: "Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart" – Vera Lynn (UK) 1953: "I Believe" – Frankie Laine 1954: "Secret Love" – Doris Day 1955: "Rose Marie" – Slim Whitman 1956: "I'll Be Home" – Pat Boone 1957: "Diana" – Paul Anka 1958: "Jailhouse Rock" – Elvis Presley 1959: "Living Doll" – Cliff Richard (UK) 1960: "It's Now or Never" – Elvis Presley 1961: "Wooden Heart" – Elvis Presley 1962: "I Remember You" – Frank Ifield (UK) 1963: "She Loves You" – The Beatles (UK) 1964: "Can't Buy Me Love" – The Beatles (UK) 1965: "Tears" – Ken Dodd (UK) 1966: "Green, Green Grass of Home" – Tom Jones (UK) 1967: "Release Me" – Engelbert Humperdinck (UK) 1968: "Hey Jude" – The Beatles (UK) 1969: "Sugar, Sugar" – The Archies
1970–1989	1970: "The Wonder of You" – Elvis Presley 1971: "My Sweet Lord" – George Harrison (UK) 1972: "Amazing Grace" – The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Band (UK) 1973: "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" – Tony Orlando and Dawn 1974: "Tiger Feet" – Mud (UK) 1975: "Bye Bye Baby" – Bay City Rollers (UK) 1976: "Save Your Kisses for Me" – Brotherhood of Man (UK) 1977: "Mull of Kintyre" / "Girls' School" – Wings (UK) 1978: "Rivers of Babylon" / "Brown Girl in the Ring" – Boney M. 1979: "Bright Eyes" – Art Garfunkel 1980: "Don't Stand So Close to Me" – The Police (UK) 1981: "Don't You Want Me" – The Human League (UK) 1982: "Come On Eileen" – Dexys Midnight Runners (UK) 1983: "Karma Chameleon" – Culture Club (UK) 1984: "Do They Know It's Christmas?" – Band Aid (UK) 1985: "The Power of Love" – Jennifer Rush 1986: "Don't Leave Me This Way" – The Communards (UK) 1987: "Never Gonna Give You Up" – Rick Astley (UK) 1988: "Mistletoe and Wine" – Cliff Richard (UK) 1989: "Ride on Time" – Black Box
1990–2009	1990: "Unchained Melody" – The Righteous Brothers 1991: "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" – Bryan Adams 1992: "I Will Always Love You" – Whitney Houston 1993: "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" – Meat Loaf 1994: "Love Is All Around" – Wet Wet Wet (UK) 1995: "Unchained Melody" – Robson & Jerome (UK) 1996: "Killing Me Softly" – Fugees 1997: "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" / "Candle in the Wind 1997" – Elton John (UK) 1998: "Believe" – Cher 1999: "...Baby One More Time" – Britney Spears 2000: "Can We Fix It?" – Bob the Builder (UK) 2001: "It Wasn't Me" – Shaggy featuring Rikrok (UK) 2002: "Anything Is Possible" / "Evergreen" – Will Young (UK) 2003: "Where Is the Love?" – The Black Eyed Peas 2004: "Do They Know It's Christmas?" – Band Aid 20 (UK) 2005: "Is This the Way to Amarillo" – Tony Christie featuring Peter Kay (UK) 2006: "Crazy" – Gnarls Barkley 2007: "Bleeding Love" – Leona Lewis (UK) 2008: "Hallelujah" – Alexandra Burke (UK) 2009: "Poker Face" – Lady Gaga
2010–present	2010: "Love the Way You Lie" – Eminem featuring Rihanna 2011: "Someone Like You" – Adele (UK) 2012: "Somebody That I Used to Know" – Gotye featuring Kimbra 2013: "Blurred Lines" – Robin Thicke featuring T.I. & Pharrell Williams 2014: "Happy" – Pharrell Williams 2015: "Uptown Funk" – Mark Ronson (UK) featuring Bruno Mars 2016: "One Dance" – Drake featuring Wizkid and Kyla (UK)

UK best-selling singles (by decade)
1950s: "Rock Around the Clock" - Bill Haley & His Comets 1960s: "She Loves You" - The Beatles 1970s: "Mull of Kintyre" - Wings 1980s: "Do They Know It's Christmas?" - Band Aid 1990s: "Candle in the Wind 1997" - Elton John 2000s: "Anything Is Possible"/"Evergreen" - Will Young

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