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Leave Right Now

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Leave Right Now"
Single by Will Young
from the album Friday's Child
Released24 November 2003 (2003-11-24)
Length3:31
Label
Songwriter(s)Eg White
Producer(s)Stephen Lipson
Will Young singles chronology
"Don't Let Me Down" / "You and I"
(2002)
"Leave Right Now"
(2003)
"Your Game"
(2004)
Alternative covers
Australian artwork

"Leave Right Now" is a song by British singer Will Young. It was written by Eg White and produced by Stephen Lipson for Young's second studio album, Friday's Child (2003). A song about unrequited love, it was released as the album's first single, becoming another number-one hit on the Irish and the UK Singles Chart.

White was awarded the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically for "Leave Right Now" in 2004. The song was later also included on the international version of Young's third album, Keep On (2005). It also served as the exit song for the ninth season of American Idol.[1] Young performed it on the penultimate episode to accompany a video montage recapping the season on 25 May 2010.

Critical reception

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Stylus Magazine, who were mostly mixed to negative for Young's previous number ones, rated "Leave Right Now" with 9/10, saying "Better. Much, much better. By this time Will was comfortable as a popstar, prepared to add a little WTF to his videos (here he has a fight with the viewer in an art gallery), and had his style down pat: jacket and jeans rocked to a level not seen since Lovejoy and Tinker were bossing things in the late 80s. He had songs to match as well: 'Leave Right Now' is just one of the most English songs ever, which is understandable: what could be more English than a privately educated homosexual? The guy's a moderate genius—Dido with testicles and a heart."[2] In 2007, Freaky Trigger ranked the song at number 54 in their list of the "Top 100 Songs of All Time," with critic Pete Baran calling it "one of the ballsiest songs of the noughties."[3] In 2020, The Guardian ranked "Leave Right Now" at number 74 in its list of "The 100 greatest UK No 1 singles".[4]

Commercial performance

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The single went to number one in the UK Singles Chart and stayed there for two weeks,[5] selling 117,702 copies in its first week.[6] As of December 2018, the single had sold 638,000 copies, (728,000 including streaming equivalent sales).[5] The song has sold 50,000 copies in the United States according to Billboard, with 32,000 of those occurring the week he performed on American Idol.[7]

Music video

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A music video for "Leave Right Now" was directed by Kevin Godley. The clip, which has no transitions and features actress Kelly Wenham as one of the party guests, features Young at a party where a fight starts and he gets caught up in it.

Track listings

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UK CD single[8]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Leave Right Now"Eg WhiteStephen Lipson3:33
2."Cry"
  • Gallagher
  • Stannard
4:20
3."Leave Right Now" (acoustic)WhiteLipson4:12
4."Leave Right Now" (video)  3:36
European CD single[9]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Leave Right Now"WhiteLipson3:33
2."Ticket to Love" (live at Exeter Festival 2003) 5:23
Australian CD single[10]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Leave Right Now"WhiteLipson3:33
2."Ticket to Love" (live at Exeter Festival 2003)
  • Dennis
  • Young
 5:23
3."Cry"
  • Gallagher
  • Stannard
4:20
4."Leave Right Now" (acoustic)WhiteLipson4:12
5."Leave Right Now" (video)  3:36

Credits and personnel

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  • Tracey Ackerman – backing vocals
  • Steve Barney – drums
  • Anne Dudley – orchestra arranger
  • Stephen Lipson – producer, programming
  • Heff Moraes – mixing engineer
  • John Themis – guitar
  • Greg Wells – keyboards
  • Eg White – protools
  • Will Young – guitar, vocals

Charts

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Certifications

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Certifications for "Leave Right Now"
Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[32] Platinum 622,000[31]

Release history

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Release history for "Leave Right Now"
Region Date Label Format Ref(s)
United Kingdom 24 November 2003 CD [33]
Australia 8 March 2004 [34]

Cover versions

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References

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  1. ^ Byrne, Katie (25 February 2010). "'American Idol' Reveals New Exit Song: 'Leave Right Now'". MTV.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2010. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  2. ^ ""Gotta Get Thru This": Dom Passantino's Survey of the New Millenium's UK #1 Singles - Article - Stylus Magazine". stylusmagazine.com.
  3. ^ top 100 songs of all time | FreakyTrigger
  4. ^ Beaumont-Thomas, Ben; Petridis, Alexis; Snapes, Laura (5 June 2020). "The 100 greatest UK No 1s: 100-1". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  5. ^ a b Copsey, Rob (6 December 2018). "Official Charts Flashback 2003: Will Young – Leave Right Now". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  6. ^ Jones, Alan (17 January 2004). "Reality TV gives boost as singles slide goes on". Music Week. p. 12.
  7. ^ "Lee DeWyze lands six tracks on SoundScan Top 200". Content.usatoday.com. 2 June 2010. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  8. ^ Leave Right Now (UK CD single liner notes). Will Young. RCA Records, BMG, 19 Recordings, S Records. 2003. 82876576582.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  9. ^ Leave Right Now (European CD single liner notes). Will Young. RCA Records, BMG, 19 Recordings, S Records. 2003. 82876 593212.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  10. ^ Leave Right Now (Australian CD single liner notes). Will Young. RCA Records, BMG, 19 Recordings, S Records. 2004. 82876 59322 2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  11. ^ "Issue 733" ARIA Top 100 Singles. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  12. ^ "Will Young – Leave Right Now" (in Dutch). Ultratip.
  13. ^ "Will Young Chart History (Canadian Digital Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  14. ^ "Hits of the World – Eurocharts" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 115, no. 51. 20 December 2003. p. 73. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  15. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Leave Right Now". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  16. ^ "Will Young – Leave Right Now". Top Digital Download.
  17. ^ "Will Young – Leave Right Now" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  18. ^ "Will Young – Leave Right Now". Top 40 Singles.
  19. ^ "Will Young – Leave Right Now". VG-lista.
  20. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  21. ^ "Will Young – Leave Right Now". Singles Top 100.
  22. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  23. ^ "Will Young Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  24. ^ "Will Young Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  25. ^ "Will Young - Chart history". Billboard. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  26. ^ "Best of Singles 2003". IRMA. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  27. ^ "The Official UK Singles Chart 2003" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  28. ^ "Årslista Singlar, 2004" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  29. ^ "The Official UK Singles Chart 2004" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  30. ^ Radio 1 Chart of the Decade, as presented by DJ Nihal on 29 December 2009
  31. ^ Copsey, Rob (26 May 2015). "Will Young's Official biggest selling singles revealed: "I'm shocked by that!"". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  32. ^ "British single certifications – Will Young – Leave Right Now". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  33. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 22 November 2003. p. 33.
  34. ^ "The ARIA Report: New Releases Singles – Week Commencing 8th March 2004" (PDF). ARIA. 8 March 2004. p. 26. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 April 2004. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  35. ^ "Dermot Kennedy claims Ireland's Christmas Number 1 single and album with Giants and Without Fear". officialcharts.com. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  36. ^ "Pierrick Lilliu – La même erreur". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  37. ^ a b c "Leave Right Now". secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
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