| "If You Ever Leave Me" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byBarbra Streisand (duet withVince Gill) | ||||
| from the albumA Love Like Ours | ||||
| Released | October 18, 1999 (UK) | |||
| Recorded | 1998 | |||
| Genre | Easy listening | |||
| Length | 4:38 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Songwriter | Richard Marx | |||
| Producers | ||||
| Barbra Streisand singles chronology | ||||
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| Vince Gill singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "If You Ever Leave Me" onYouTube | ||||
"If You Ever Leave Me" is a vocal duet between American singersBarbra Streisand andVince Gill. The song was written byRichard Marx, and produced by Marx andDavid Foster. It first appeared as a song on Streisand's twenty-eighth studio album,A Love Like Ours (1999), and was released as an internationalCD single that included three additional tracks, two of which were recorded during theA Love Like Ours sessions but were not included on the album.[1] The song later was included on Streisand'sDuets album, released in 2002.[2]
The song was well received among music critics.J.D. Considine fromThe Baltimore Sun described it as "pop-oriented fare", that "offers an impressive emotional depth."[3]Chuck Taylor fromBillboard declared it as a "lusciouspower ballad", noting that "it's hard to imagine a better combination of mature voices than that on this tantalizing song about needing to spend every minute with the one you love". He also felt that "thanks to silken production fromMarx andDavid Foster, this one ranks up there with classics like 'Comin' In And Out Of Your Life' and 'Woman In Love'".[4] An editor fromDrogheda Independent commented, "The it Vince Gill meets the technical precision of Barbra Streisand. Magic. Two singers from very different genres come together for the duet of the year." The editor concluded, that "this is a beautiful love song that gets better the more you play it."[5]People Magazine stated in their review ofA Love Like Ours, that songs like "If You Ever Leave Me" "stand out simply because they don't drip with sentimentality and because Streisand allows a bit ofblues to creep into her vocals."[6]
"If You Ever Leave Me" was released to country radio and peaked at number 62 on the USBillboardHot Country Singles & Tracks chart.[7] On December 5, 1999, its accompanyingmusic video became the third most played video onCMT.[8] It also peaked at number 26 in the UK[9] and number 92 in Australia.
Source:[1]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "If You Ever Leave Me" | Richard Marx | 4:36 |
| 2. | "Just Because" | Jeremy Lubbock,Mervyn Warren | 3:25 |
| 3. | "Let's Start Right Now" | Abel Silva,Cristóvão Bastos,Roxanne Seeman | 4:59 |
| 4. | "At The Same Time" | Ann Hampton Callaway | 4:16 |
| Chart (1999) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[11] | 92 |
| Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM) | 29 |
| Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[12] | 90 |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100)[13] | 82 |
| Scotland (Official Charts Company)[14] | 26 |
| UK Singles (OCC)[15] | 26 |
| USHot Country Songs (Billboard)[16] | 62 |
