If You Leave Me Now

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Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox song "If You Leave Me Now" is a song by the American rock group Chicago, from their album Chicago X. It was written and sung by bass player Peter Cetera and released as a single on July 30, 1976. It is also the title of a Chicago compilation album released by Columbia Records (Columbia 38590) in 1983.

The single topped the Billboard Hot 100 on October 23, 1976, and stayed there for two weeks, making it the first number one hit for the group. It hit the number one on the Easy Listening charts<ref name="whitburn">Template:Cite book</ref> and was also Chicago's biggest hit internationally, topping the charts in other countries such as the UK, Australia, Ireland, Canada, and Netherlands. In the UK, it maintained the number one position for three weeks.<ref name="UK">Template:Cite web</ref> It was one of five "non-disco" songs to make it to number one in the US in a nine-month period of 1976.<ref name="Discomania">Template:Cite magazine</ref> According to writer Zachary Houle of PopMatters, "The song was so pervasive on radio upon its release that, reportedly, those tuning in in New York could hear the song playing on four different stations, each with varying formats, simultaneously."<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref>

The song won Grammy Awards for Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) (strings) for arranger Jimmie Haskell<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and producer James William Guercio<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the first Grammy Award won by the group.<ref name="BBMar5_77">Template:Cite magazine</ref> It also received a Grammy nomination for Record of the Year.<ref name="BBJan19_85">Template:Cite magazine</ref> In addition, by August 1978 it had sold 1.4 million copies in the United States alone.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It has been certified gold and platinum by the RIAA.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2010, Chicago teamed with the American Cancer Society and offered the opportunity to bid on the chance to sing their hit, "If You Leave Me Now" with them on stage live at their concerts, with proceeds going to the American Cancer Society to fight breast cancer.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> The fundraising effort has continued in succeeding years.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Composition and recording

Peter Cetera originally wrote "If You Leave Me Now" at the same time as Chicago VII's "Wishing You Were Here", and composed it on a guitar.<ref>Template:Cite interview</ref> According to information on the sheet music for the song at MusicNotes, "If You Leave Me Now" is written in the key of B major, and Cetera's vocal range varies between F sharp 3 (F♯3) and D sharp 5 (D♯5).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Band manager James William Guercio initially played acoustic guitar on the demo version of the track, figuring that regular guitarist Terry Kath would record the proper part when he was in the studio next. However, the band decided that Guercio's part sounded satisfactory and consequently left that effort on the record.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Walter Parazaider recalled that he heard the song on the radio while cleaning his pool and initially thought "it sounded like McCartney," not realizing it was his own band's work.<ref name="Ruhlmannp7">Template:Cite AV media notes</ref>

Promotion and marketing

The Chicago X album art depicted a partially unwrapped chocolate bar bearing the Chicago logo.<ref name=":0" /> In the same vein, the single, "If You Leave Me Now", was depicted as a chocolate "kiss" from the album in a full-page advertisement in Cash Box magazine.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Reception

Cash Box said that it's "an excellent ballad," with "lushly colored" instrumentation and "carefully constructed" vocals.<ref name=cb>Template:Cite news</ref> Record World called it "a good single choice" with a "strong vocal line."<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In an article from June 2020, The Guardian listed "If You Leave Me Now" as number 73 on its list of "The Greatest UK No 1s: 100–1", noting, "It’s impossibly lush and beautifully written, but its sadness is pervasive and affecting."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Upon the group's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016, entertainment and pop culture writer Troy L. Smith included "If You Leave Me Now" in his list of seven Chicago songs that "kill any doubt about their candidacy", and said, "...Template:Nbspit's a key contributor to the band's fame and, thus, its Rock Hall induction. And while we're being honest, Peter Cetera delivers, hands down, the best vocal performance of any Chicago song."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Charts

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Weekly charts

Template:Singlechart
Chart (1976–1977) Peak
position
Australian Singles Chart<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 1
Austrian Singles Chart<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 3
Belgian Singles Chart (Flanders)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 2
Canada RPM Adult Contemporary<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 4
Dutch Singles Chart<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 1
French Singles Chart<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 5
German Singles Chart<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 3
scope="row"Template:Single chart
Italy (Musica e Dischi)<ref>Template:Cite web Set "Tipo" on "Singoli". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Chicago".</ref> 3
Norwegian Singles Chart<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 4
New Zealand Singles Chart<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 2
South Africa (Springbok)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 1
Swedish Singles Chart<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 2
Swiss Singles Chart<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 3
UK Singles Chart<ref name="UK" /> 1
US Billboard Hot 100<ref name="whitburn" /> 1
US Billboard Easy Listening<ref name="whitburn" /> 1
US Cash Box Top 100<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 1

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Year-end charts

Template:Singlechart
Chart (1976) Rank
Australia (Kent Music Report)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="aus76">Template:Cite web</ref> 21
New Zealand<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 24
UK<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 6
US Billboard Hot 100<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 48
US Billboard Easy Listening <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 15
US Cash Box <ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref> 14
Chart (1977) Rank
Australia (Kent Music Report)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 10
South Africa <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 11
Switzerland<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 12

All-time charts

Chart (1958-2018) Position
US Billboard Hot 100<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> 273

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Certifications

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Chess version

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In 1992, German music group Chess covered the song which achieved modest success. While the original is a ballad, Chess's version is uptempo and danceable, adapted to the state of dance music of the 1990s. Their version is also on the compilations Larry präsentiert: Neue Smash-Hits 93 (English: Larry presents: New Smash-Hits 93) and Maxi Dance Sensation 9.

Track listing

CD maxi-single

  1. If You Leave Me Now (Airplay Mix) - 3:53
  2. If You Leave Me Now (12" After Dark mix) - 5:13
  3. Please, Don't Leave Me (Instrumental Mystery Mix) - 5:16

Charts

Chart (1993) Peak
position
German Singles Chart<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 67

Other cover versions

Peter Cetera re-recorded "If You Leave Me Now" as a solo artist for his 1997 album You're the Inspiration: A Collection,<ref name="CTaylor">Template:Cite news</ref> and most recently recorded a duet version of the song with Italian vocalist, Filippa Giordano, for her 2018 album, Friends and Legends Duets.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The website SecondHandSongs lists over 130 covers of "If You Leave Me Now" by recording artists from around the world between 1976 and 2020, among them:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

British DJ, producer, songwriter and former member of the Outlaw Posse, K-Gee, together with Michelle Escoffery performed a hip hop version of "If You Leave Me Now" for K-Gee's 2002 album, Bounce to This. In 2000, K-Gee told Billboard writer Kwaku that he thought the chorus of "If You Leave Me Now" "sounds phat".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Live cover performances

In other media

"If You Leave Me Now" is featured on the soundtrack of the video game Grand Theft Auto V, appearing on the in-game radio station Los Santos Rock Radio, and is also played when Trevor Philips returns the kidnapped wife of a drug kingpin.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The song is also featured in the episodes, "Casa Bonita" and "Awesom-O", of South Park,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> as well as "Egg Drop", the 12th episode of the third season of the American sitcom Modern Family.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The song was also featured in a scene of the British comedy horror film Shaun of the Dead where Shaun is still reeling from his breakup and Ed is trying to cheer him up.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In the early 2000s, the song was performed by the mascot "Sockpuppet" in a commercial for the now-defunct website Pets.com.<ref name="MoazedJohnson2016">Template:Cite book</ref> "If You Leave Me Now" was part of the soundtrack for the 1999 film Three Kings, which is set in Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War. Desson Howe, reviewing the film for the Washington Post, notes how film director David O. Russell cuts from the "frenzied din of confusion" outside a moving car in the scene to the interior of the car, where the "easy sounds" of the song are playing.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The song was also featured in the 2023 film The Flash, which is an installment in the DC Extended Universe. The song is featured in the season 6 episode "Boy, Interrupted" of the HBO show Sex and the City. It plays at the end of the episode when Carrie attends the Gay and Lesbian Prom.

In the HBO miniseries, The Regime, the dictator portrayed by Kate Winslet sings a "cringy" rendition of "If You Leave Me Now" in the initial episode which first aired on March 3, 2024.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In an interview with Patrick Ryan of USA Today, Winslet discussed the song selection: "It's such a great metaphorTemplate:Nbsp... I thought that song choice was very much to do with her trying to express her gratitude for her loyal followers. It's a fantastic play on the world of 'likes,' and how she's a leader by social media more than anything." In the same article, series creator Will Tracey said the song was written into the very first draft, "I was trying to think of an American song that might've hit the airwaves in Europe when she was a kid: something seemingly innocuous and maudlin and soft rock. But I always felt there's something in that rising hook in the melody; there's a sadness contained in a lot of those seemingly vacuous radio ballads. So it seemed like the right song to mine for a ridiculous moment at the top of the show."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In the fall of 2024, the song was used in TV commercials for Canadian Tire in Canada.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

References

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Template:Chicago (band)

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