What Hurts the Most

Last updated

"What Hurts the Most"
Song by Mark Wills
from the album And the Crowd Goes Wild
ReleasedOctober 21, 2003
Genre Country pop
Length3:47
Label Mercury Nashville
Songwriter(s) Jeffrey Steele, Steve Robson
Producer(s) Chris Lindsey, Mark Wills
Audio
"What Hurts the Most" by Mark Willis on YouTube

"What Hurts the Most" is a song written by American songwriter Jeffrey Steele and English songwriter Steve Robson. Originally recorded by country music artist Mark Wills in 2003 on his album And the Crowd Goes Wild , it was covered by Bellefire a year later. The first version to be released as a single was by pop singer Jo O'Meara in 2005, from the album Relentless . Later that year, country band Rascal Flatts covered the song as well, releasing it as the first single from the 2006 album Me and My Gang , topping the U.S. country and adult contemporary charts with it. German band Cascada later had international chart success with the song in 2007. It was also covered by Eden in 2008.

Contents

Content

Jeffrey Steele co-wrote the song with Steve Robson, with whom he also co-wrote Rascal Flatts' 2002 single "These Days". Robson presented Steele with an unfinished track, and Steele decided to come up with lyrics to finish the track. Originally, he had wanted to write a song about the loss of his father, but instead went with a more universal theme of lost love. [1] After singing the lyrics, he decided that he liked how sad the song sounded, when Robson suggested that it be recorded in a higher key to sound more emotional. [1]

Mark Wills was the first artist to record the song, [1] doing so on his 2003 album And the Crowd Goes Wild . Jo O'Meara, a pop singer, released the song in 2005 and had chart success with it in the United Kingdom. Faith Hill had also intended to include the song on her 2005 album Fireflies , and although she had recorded the song, her version did not make the final cut. [1] Rascal Flatts then recorded the song as well, and per producer Dann Huff's suggestion, it made their album Me and My Gang . [1] Wills' rendition of the song, though never a single, peaked at number 51 on the U.S. Hot Digital Songs charts in 2006 in the wake of Rascal Flatts' success with it.

Jo O'Meara version

"What Hurts the Most"
What Hurts the Most.jpg
Single by Jo O'Meara
from the album Relentless
B-side
  • "The First Time"
  • "Never Meant to Break Your Heart"
  • "Let's Love"
ReleasedSeptember 26, 2005
Recorded2005
Genre Pop
Length3:29
Label Sanctuary
Songwriter(s) Jeffrey Steele, Steve Robson
Producer(s) Brian Rawling
Jo O'Meara singles chronology
"What Hurts the Most"
(2005)
"On The Surface"
(2021)
Audio
"What Hurts The Most" by Jo O'Meara on YouTube

British singer Jo O'Meara, who was originally the leader of the pop music band S Club 7, released the song in 2005 as her first solo single, becoming the first artist to release it as a single. It was the lead single from her debut album Relentless. O'Meara's version peaked at number 13 in the UK Singles Chart.

Track listings

CD 1

  1. "What Hurts the Most" – 3:21
  2. "The First Time" – 4:11

CD 2

  1. "What Hurts the Most" – 3:21
  2. "Never Meant to Break Your Heart" – 4:28
  3. "Let's Love" (Metro Mix) – 5:40
  4. "What Hurts the Most" (CD-ROM Video)

Charts

Rascal Flatts version

"What Hurts the Most"
What Hurts the Most Rascal.png
Single by Rascal Flatts
from the album Me and My Gang
ReleasedJanuary 9, 2006
Recorded2005
Genre Country, country pop
Length3:34
Label Lyric Street
Songwriter(s) Jeffrey Steele, Steve Robson
Producer(s) Dann Huff, Rascal Flatts
Rascal Flatts singles chronology
"Skin (Sarabeth)"
(2005)
"What Hurts the Most"
(2006)
"Me and My Gang"
(2006)
Music video
"What Hurts The Most" by Rascal Flatts on YouTube

In 2006, country music trio Rascal Flatts released a cover of this song as a single from their album Me and My Gang , and it became their fifth number-one single on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. It also peaked at number six on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100, becoming the band's first top 10 pop hit. In addition, the song reached number one on the Adult Contemporary charts. Rascal Flatts also performed the song live with Kelly Clarkson at the Academy of Country Music Awards in 2006.

Rascal Flatts' recording earned two nominations for the 49th Annual Grammy Awards, in the categories of Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, and Best Country Song.

As of the chart dated January 30, 2010, the song topped the 2 million mark in paid downloads. This makes Rascal Flatts the first country group to top the 2 million mark with two songs. [6] By April 2011, the song sold 2.28 million in the US. [7]

Music video

The music video starts with a young girl crying over the loss of her boyfriend. She expresses anger for her father who she blames for making her boyfriend leave, resulting in his demise in a car accident. The girl's very hurt mother watches her daughter's anger for her father and cries as she feels helpless over this unfortunate situation. Over the course of the video, there are scenes of the band playing, flashbacks of the couple, and the girl trying to go about her life. A scene in which with the girl is vomiting in her bathroom and holding her stomach implies that she became pregnant right before her lover's death. The video ends with the girl running up to the boy's wooden cross memorial on the side of the road, to kneel down and say that she saw him, answering his question asked earlier in the video "What do you see?" when they were talking about the future, while a storm is brewing. The music video was directed by Shaun Silva in early 2006.

Song information

Rascal Flatts' version of the song is set in the key of F minor, with a vocal range of E♭3-C 5. The main chord pattern is Fm-D♭-A♭-E♭. [8]

Personnel

From Me and My Gang liner notes. [9]

Charts and certifications

Certifications

Certifications for What Hurts the Most
RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA) [24] 5× Platinum5,000,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Cascada version

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"What Hurts the Most"
Cascada - What Hurts The Most.JPG
Single by Cascada
from the album Perfect Day
ReleasedNovember 21, 2007 (2007-11-21)
Recorded2007
Genre Eurodance
Length3:39
Label Zooland
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Cascada singles chronology
"Last Christmas"
(2007)
"What Hurts the Most"
(2007)
"What Do You Want from Me?"
(2008)
Music video
"What Hurts the Most" (US video) by Cascada on YouTube