"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[7] 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.[8] It was one of five "non-disco" songs to make it to number one in the US in a nine-month period of 1976.[9] 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."[10]

The song won Grammy Awards for Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) (strings) for arranger Jimmie Haskell[11] and producer James William Guercio[12] and Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus,[13] the first Grammy Award won by the group.[14] It also received a Grammy nomination for Record of the Year.[15] In addition, by August 1978 it had sold 1.4 million copies in the United States alone.[16] It has been certified gold and platinum by the RIAA.[17]

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.[18] The fund raising effort has continued in succeeding years.[19][20][21]

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.[22] 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).[23]

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.[24] 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.[25]

Promotion and marketing

The Chicago X album art depicted a partially unwrapped chocolate bar bearing the Chicago logo.[10] 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.[26]

Reception

Cash Box said that it`s "an excellent ballad," with "lushly colored" instrumentation and "carefully constructed" vocals.[27] Record World called it "a good single choice" with a "strong vocal line."[28] 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."[29]

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, "... it`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."[30]

Charts

Certifications

Personnel

Chicago

• Terry Kath – guitar, vocals
• Peter Cetera – bass, vocals
• Robert Lamm – keyboards, vocals
• Lee Loughnane – trumpet, vocals
• James Pankow – trombone, vocals
• Walter Parazaider – woodwinds, vocals
• Danny Seraphine – drums, vocals
• Laudir de Oliveira – percussion, vocals

Additional personnel

• James William Guercio – bass and acoustic guitars
• Jimmie Haskell – string section and French horn orchestration

Chess version

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

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,[67] and most recently recorded a duet version of the song with Italian vocalist, Filippa Giordano, for her 2018 album, Friends and Legends Duets.[68][69]

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:[70]

• 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.[71]
• Elkie Brooks released a version of the song on her album Pearls in 1981.[72] The album reached No. 2 in the UK.[73]
• The single of it by Upside Down, a British boy band, charted at number 27 in the UK in 1996.[74]
• The Isley Brothers recorded it for their 2001 album Eternal.[75]
• 3T recorded a duet of the song with Brazilian girl group T-Rio in 2004.[76][77] It was released as a non-album single.
• Suzy Bogguss recorded it for her 2007 album Sweet Danger. The Billboard review labeled her version "familiar and fresh."[78]
• John Barrowman recorded a version for his 2007 album Another Side.[79]
• Boyz II Men recorded their version of "If You Leave Me Now" for their 2009 album Love. They also sang on a 2018 non-related Charlie Puth song with the same title.[80]
• Viola Wills released a disco version of "If You Leave Me Now" which was released as a single in 1981, with "I Can`t Stay Away from You" on the B-side.[81] Her version was sampled by French electronic music duo Daft Punk for the songs "Teachers" and "Fresh", which appear on their 1997 album Homework.[82][83]
• Leonid and Friends on Chicagovich.[84]
• Elastic Band released a version of the song on their album Get It Out! in 1992.[1]
• Shunza sang her version of the song on her 2001 album "昨日 . 唯一 . 更多 = Yesterday. One. More."[2]

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.`"[85]

Live cover performances

• Philip Bailey of Earth, Wind & Fire sang the song during their joint concerts with Chicago in 2004-2006. This version was included in the Love Songs album by Chicago.[86] Philip Bailey also performed the song during the "Grammy Salute to Music Legends 2020" to honor Chicago who received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award that year. The program premiered on PBS on October 16, 2020.[87]

In other media

"If You Leave Me Now" is featured in 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.[88][89]

The song is also featured in the episodes, "Casa Bonita" and "Awesom-O", of South Park,[90] as well as "Egg Drop", the 12th episode of the third season of the American sitcom Modern Family.[91] The song was also featured in a scene on 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.[92] In the early 2000`s, the song was performed by the mascot "Sockpuppet" in a commercial for the now-defunct website Pets.com.[93] "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.[94] The song was also featured in the 2023 film The Flash, which is an installment in the DC Extended Universe.The song is also 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.[95][96] In an interview with Patrick Ryan of USA Today, Winslet discussed the song selection: "It’s such a great metaphor ... 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,” but one that also becomes “strangely poignant” by the series’ end.`[97]

In the fall of 2024, the song was used in tv commercials for Canadian Tire in Canada.

See also

• List of number-one singles in Australia during the 1970s
• List of Dutch Top 40 number-one singles of 1976
• List of number-one singles from the 1970s (UK)
• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1976 (U.S.)
• List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1976 (U.S.)
• List of European number-one hits of 1977