If You Leave Me Now

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For the compilation album by Chicago, see If You Leave Me Now (album). For the song by Charlie Puth, see If You Leave Me Now (Charlie Puth song).

"If You Leave Me Now"
Chicago-if you leave me now.jpg
Single by Chicago
from the album Chicago X
B-side"Together Again"
ReleasedJuly 31, 1976 (1976-07-31)[1]
RecordedMarch – April 1976[1]
GenreSoft rock[2][3]
Length3:59
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Peter Cetera
Producer(s)James William Guercio
Chicago singles chronology
"Another Rainy Day in New York City"
(1976) 		"If You Leave Me Now"
(1976) 		"You Are on My Mind"
(1977)

"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 31, 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 as well as hitting number one on the Easy Listening charts.[4] "If You Leave Me Now" 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.[5] It was one of five "non-disco" songs to make it to number one in the US in a nine-month period of 1976.[6] 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."[7]

The song won Grammy Awards for Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) (strings) for arranger Jimmie Haskell[8] and producer James William Guercio[9] and Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus,[10] the first Grammy Award won by the group.[11] It also received a Grammy nomination for Record of the Year.[12] In addition, by August 1978 it had sold 1.4 million copies in the United States alone.[13] It has been certified gold and platinum by the RIAA.[14] 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."[15]

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.[16] The fund raising effort has continued in succeeding years.[17][18][19]

Composition[]

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.[20] 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 4 (F♯4) and D sharp 6 (D♯6).[21]

Personnel[]

According to Mike Stahl, Chicago's live audio engineer during the 1970s, Terry Kath would always "quietly" walk off stage when the band was about to perform "If You Leave Me Now" because he was not present in the studio when the band recorded the song, and since he wasn't on the recording "he would never, ever play it live."[22] However, recordings exist of Kath playing bass on the song during the band's 1977 tour.[23][24]

Chart performance[]

Certifications[]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[52] Gold 75,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[53] Gold 500,000^
United States (RIAA)[54] Platinum 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Chess versions[]

"If You Leave Me Now"
Single by Chess
ReleasedFebruary 1, 1993
Recorded1992
GenreDance
Length3:53
LabelBMG
Songwriter(s)Peter Cetera
Producer(s)Boogie Park, Brothers United

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

Track listings[]

CD-Maxi

  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 67[55]

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,[56] and most recently recorded a duet version of the song with Italian vocalist, Filippa Giordano, for her 2018 album, Friends and Legends Duets.[57][58]

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:[59]

  • The Brotherhood of Man included it on their 1980 album Sing 20 Number One Hits. The album peaked at No. 14 on the UK charts in 1980.[60]
  • Elkie Brooks released a version of the song on her album Pearls in 1981.[61] The album reached No. 2 in the UK.[62]
  • The single of it by Upside Down, a British boy band, charted at number 27 in the UK in 1996.[63]
  • The Isley Brothers recorded it for their 2001 album Eternal.[64]
  • 3T recorded a duet of the song with Brazilian singers, T-Rio in 2004.[65][66] It was released it as a non-album single.
  • Suzy Bogguss recorded it for her 2007 album Sweet Danger. The Billboard review labeled her version "familiar and fresh".[67]
  • John Barrowman has it on his 2007 album Another Side.[68]
  • Boyz II Men have sung two different songs titled "If You Leave Me Now" - the Chicago song on their 2009 album Love, and they sang with Charlie Puth on his 2018 song having the same title.[69]
  • Viola Wills released a disco version of "If You Leave Me Now" as a single, with "I Can't Stay Away from You" on the "B" side, in 1981.[70] Her version was sampled by French electronic music duo Daft Punk for the songs "Teachers" and "Fresh", which appeared in their 1997 album Homework.[71][72]

British DJ, producer, songwriter and former member of the Outlaw Posse, K-Gee, and Michelle Escoffery performed a hip hop remix 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.'"[73]

Live cover performances[]

In other media[]

"If You Leave Me Now" is featured in the soundtrack of the video game Grand Theft Auto V, and is also played when Trevor Philips returns the kidnapped wife of a drug kingpin.[76][77] The song is also featured in an episode, "Casa Bonita", of South Park.

See also[]

References[]

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