"I'll Be There for You" is a song by Americanpop rock duothe Rembrandts. The song was written byDavid Crane,Marta Kauffman andAllee Willis as the maintheme song to theNBC sitcomFriends,[4] which was broadcast from 1994 to 2004.[5] Americanrock bandR.E.M. was originally asked to allow their song "Shiny Happy People" to be used for theFriends theme, but they turned the opportunity down. "I'll Be There for You" was subsequently written andWarner Bros. Television selected the only available band onWarner Bros. Records to record it: the Rembrandts. In 1995, after aNashville radio station brought the song to mainstream popularity, Rembrandts membersDanny Wilde and Phil Sōlem expanded the theme song with two new verses and included this version on their third studio album,L.P. (1995).
The extended version of the song was serviced to US radio on May 23, 1995, and was issued in the United Kingdom on August 7, 1995, as the first single fromL.P. Following the song's release, it reached the top 10 in Australia, New Zealand and Norway, as well as on theIrish Singles Chart and theUK Singles Chart in both 1995 and 1997. In Canada, the song reached number one for five weeks and was the most successful single of 1995, while in the United States, the song reached number 17 on theBillboardHot 100 and topped theBillboardHot 100 Airplay chart for eight weeks.
The title theme used inthe pilot forFriends was "Shiny Happy People" by Americanrock bandR.E.M..Warner Bros. Television wanted either that song, or a song by R.E.M. frontmanMichael Stipe as the theme for the show. When Stipe rejected the offer, the producers of the show instead wrote their own theme song and enlistedthe Rembrandts, consisting of members Phil Sōlem andDanny Wilde, to record it. The music was composed byMarta Kauffman's husband, Michael Skloff.[6][7] The Rembrandts did not want to record the song, but since they were the only available band onWarner Bros. Records, they relented to the company's demands.[8] The original lyrics of "I'll Be There for You", a single verse as needed for the length of the series' opening credits, were co-written byFriends producersDavid Crane, and Kauffman along with songwriterAllee Willis. Skloff became inspired by hearingthe Beatles song "Paperback Writer" on the radio while reading a show script and sought to capture a mid-1960spop sound for the theme;[9] though Michael Stipe speculates that the theme may have been written to emulate the sound of his band R.E.M. who were initially asked to supply the theme song.[10] Thehandclaps at the end of the first line of the song were a last-minute addition, with Sōlem admitting that it was a wise decision and naming it the best part of the track.[8]
The original theme, which is under one minute long, was later re-recorded as a three-minute pop song.[11] After a radio announcer inNashville, Tennessee,looped the original short version into a full-length track and broadcast it, the song became so popular that the Rembrandts had to re-record it, as well as helping to write the second verse andbridge.[8] Sōlem said, "Our record label said we had to finish the song and record it. There was no way to get out of it."[12] The three-minute version of "I'll Be There for You" was serviced to Americancontemporary hit radio on May 23, 1995.[13] In the United Kingdom, aCD single andcassette single were issued on August 7, 1995.[14] On May 12, 1997, the CD and cassette were re-issued in the UK to commemorate the video release of thefirst season ofFriends.[15][16]
Mark Sutherland fromNME wrote, "Another record that makes you want to be American. This time it's one of the boho twentysomethings who populate US sitcomFriends, to which this is the theme. And, as such, it's the aural equivalent of the programme: all snazzy handclaps, ever-so-slightly alternative guitars, 'kooky' harmonies and lyrics that hint atexistential angst but, fortunately, only the kind that can be sorted out in half an hour in front of a live studio audience.I'll be there for you, they swoon,When the rain starts to fall. What, in October?"[18] Leesa Daniels fromSmash Hits gave "I'll Be There for You" four out of five, saying, "It's quirky in aBeatles/Monkees way and it demands to be danced to in a ridiculous fashion that could possibly involve exposing your underwear. Ace!"[19] In 2009, the song was listed byBlender as one of the "50 Worst Songs Ever".[17] Conversely, several magazines have listed the song as one of the best TV theme songs, includingPaste,[20]Complex,[21] andObserver.[22]
"I'll Be There for You" topped the USBillboardHot 100 Airplay chart for eight weeks and also peaked atop theBillboardAdult Contemporary andTop 40/Mainstream charts.[23][24][25] At the peak of its popularity, the song was not available as a commercial single, therefore becoming the first song to top the Hot 100 Airplay chart without appearing on theBillboard Hot 100.[26] On theBillboard Hot 100, when it was later released commercially as adouble A-side with "This House Is Not a Home", it reached number 17.[27] In Canada, the song peaked at number one for five consecutive weeks and was the most successful single of 1995.[28][29] In the United Kingdom, it reached number three on theUK Singles Chart, and it peaked at the same position on theIrish Singles Chart the same year.[30][31] In Scotland, it topped thecountry's singles chart.[32] The song sold 322,000 copies in the UK during 1995.[8]
While the song did not immediately make a significant commercial impact in Australia, reaching number 86 in October 1995,[33] it re-entered theARIA Singles Chart in August 1996 and peaked at number three on the week of October 13, spending a total of 20 weeks in the top 50.[34] In 1997, when re-released in Europe, the song reached the top 10 in Ireland and the United Kingdom once more, placing two positions shy of its number-three peak in both countries.[31][35] This re-release also saw the song reach the top 40 inFlanders, France, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden.[36] As of May 2021, "I'll Be There for You" has sold 925,000 copies and has been streamed 20.7 million times in the UK since streaming figures were introduced in 2014. According to theOfficial Charts Company, the song is streamed an average of 96,000 times a week.[8]
The music video for "I'll Be There for You" features the band performing in a studio while the cast ofFriends join in. Some scenes are shot in black-and-white. The Rembrandts members Phil Sōlem and Danny Wilde disclosed during a live interview onThe Today Show on September 20, 2019, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the song that the video was shot on the set ofSNL (Studio 8H).[37][38]
Several formats of the single feature snippets of six tracks fromL.P. These tracks are "Don't Hide Your Love", "End of the Beginning", "Lovin' Me Insane", "Drowning in Your Tears", "This House Is Not a Home", and "What Will It Take".
Americanpop rock bandThe Goo Goo Dolls recorded their own version of this song which contained slightly altered lyrics, and a more upbeat tempo,rockier sound, as well as aglockenspiel in the rhythm track.
Americanpunk rock bandPink Lincolns covered this song under the title "Friends" for a 1997 compilation album titledShow & Tell.
^"1995 The Year in Music"(PDF).Billboard. Vol. 107, no. 51. December 23, 1995. p. YE-80.Archived(PDF) from the original on June 28, 2021. RetrievedSeptember 7, 2021.
