Need You Now (Lady Antebellum song)

Content

The lyrics describe placing a call to someone in the middle of the night due to being lonely and longing for companionship. Hillary Scott commented on the song, saying that "All three of us know what it's like to get to that point where you feel lonely enough that you make a late-night phone call that you very well could regret the next day." Charles Kelley told The Boot that the band's record executives initially had concerns regarding using the lyrics "I'm a little drunk", but he convinced the executives to leave the content in the song.

Music video

David McClister directed the "Need You Now" music video, using a treatment he wrote in 10 minutes.

The video features all three members of Lady Antebellum acting out scenes pertaining to the storyline. It begins in a hallway of a hotel where Charles Kelley is sitting against a wall and Hillary Scott is in her room, with Dave Haywood playing the piano. Kelley goes to a cafe and has a coffee, where Haywood arrives with his love interest. Scott then leaves her room and hails a taxi. Kelley leaves the cafe and goes outside to walk to a costume ball, to which Scott is also traveling. When they arrive at the ball, they both see their love interests wearing masks and embrace them. Haywood soon arrives at the ball with his love interest. The video ends with all three members embracing their love interests.

Of the changes between the song and its music video, one of the most noted is Kelley drinking coffee instead of whiskey, since the song states the character is intoxicated. In response, McClister admitted he simply did not want the video to be a literal adaptation of the song, as he felt sitting in a diner in the middle of the night was lonelier.

Chart performance

The song became the trio's second number one hit on the Hot Country Songs chart dated November 28, 2009, No other song would spend more than four weeks at number one until January 2016, when Thomas Rhett's "Die a Happy Man" spent six weeks at the top.

In the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the song peaked at number two and stayed there for two weeks, making it their highest-charting single on that chart and their first Top 5. The song also peaked at No. 2 on the Canadian Hot 100, making it their highest-charting and first Top 5 single there as well. "Need You Now" is only the second country song to reach number one on the Billboard Adult Top 40 chart, the first being Faith Hill's "Breathe", which reached that same position in 2000. For the Billboard tracking period of March 29 – April 4, 2010, "Need You Now" broke the record held by Hoobastank's hit "The Reason" for most spins in one week on the Adult Top 40 chart. The song debuted at No. 28 on the UK Singles Chart in its first week of release. It was covered in a live performance for Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee Concert in June 2012 by English singers Gary Barlow and Cheryl Cole which saw the song re-enter the UK Charts. Over a month later, it climbed to No. 15, its highest UK chart position and after 53 weeks in the chart.

On December 9, 2010, the song was named the No. 2 Hot 100 song of the year by Billboard, behind "Tik Tok" by Kesha, marking the highest position a country song has ever reached since Faith Hill's "Breathe" was ranked No. 1 in the year-end chart of the year 2000.

In April 2011, "Need You Now" replaced Taylor Swift's "Love Story" as the best-selling country song of all time in the U.S. It is also the second country song to sell over 5 million digital copies (after Swift's "Love Story"). It has sold over 6 million copies by January 2013, the first country song to do so. As of June 2016, it had sold 6.7 million units in the U.S.

Due to the band winning four Grammys, "Need You Now" debuted at No. 32 on the German Singles Chart in February 2011, 10 months after the digital release of the single. Before that, the song did not sell enough to enter the chart.

Critical reception

"Need You Now" has received critical acclaim from music critics and is considered one of the best country songs of the 2000s. It won the 2011 Grammy Award for Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

The song received a "thumbs up" review from Jim Malec of the 9513. He said that although Charles Kelley's voice had a "surprisingly stuffy tone," lead singer Hillary Scott's voice fit perfectly for "dark" songs like "Need You Now." He said that both singers had a rawness in their voices that made the song feel "real".

The track received a positive review from Ken Tucker of Billboard, who said, "the song finds alto Scott trading lead vocals with a soulful Kelley, and it will connect with anyone who's ever dumped a significant other and regretted it in the early morning hours."

Bobby Peacock of Roughstock gave a positive review as well, comparing its sound favorably to that of "I Run to You." He also thought the traded-off lead vocals gave the song "more depth," and that Kelley and Scott sang more strongly than on the debut album.

Critics in Europe and North America have pointed to similarities between "Need You Now" and "Eye in the Sky" by the Alan Parsons Project.

Cover versions and live performances

In December 2010, Adele and Darius Rucker performed the song at the CMT Artists of the Year.

Gary Barlow and Cheryl performed the song at the Diamond Jubilee Concert at Buckingham Palace on June 4, 2012.

Mia Silva performed a Portuguese-language cover version entitled "Preciso de Voce" on her 2011 album Saudade Magoa.

In 2017, Shane Filan of Westlife included a version of the song on his album Love Always. This was released as a promotional single in East Asia (with a new arrangement and a duet with Filipino bossa nova artist Sitti), and it charted on iTunes Top Songs in Laos, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Malaysia.

Track listing

• Digital download

1. "Need You Now" – 3:57

• Other versions
• "Need You Now" (Jason Nevins Elektrotek radio edit) – 3:31
• "Need You Now" (Jason Nevins Hands Up radio edit) – 3:33
• "Need You Now" (Jason Nevins Rhythmic radio edit) – 3:29
• "Need You Now" (DJ Dark Intensity remix) – 4:22
• 52nd Annual Grammy Awards
• "Need You Now"
• 53rd Annual Grammy Awards
• "If You Don't Know Me by Now/American Honey/Need You Now"

Credits and personnel

Adapted from the album liner notes.

• Chad Cromwell – drums
• Jason "Slim" Gambill – electric guitar
• Dave Haywood – background vocals, acoustic guitar
• Charles Kelley – lead vocals
• Rob McNelley – electric guitar (solo)
• Michael Rojas – piano, synthesizer
• Hillary Scott – lead vocals
• Paul Worley – acoustic guitar, electric guitar
• Craig Young – bass guitar

Awards and nominations

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

Release history

References

References

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