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Without You (Mötley Crüe song)

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"Without You"
Single by Mötley Crüe
from the album Dr. Feelgood
B-side"Slice Of Your Pie"
ReleasedFebruary 1990[1]
Recorded1988–89
Genre
Length4:29
LabelElektra
Songwriter(s)Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars
Producer(s)Bob Rock
Mötley Crüe singles chronology
"Kickstart My Heart"
(1989) 		"Without You"
(1990) 		"Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)"
(1990)

"Without You" is a song by American heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. A power ballad, it was released in February 1990 as the third single from their fifth studio album, Dr. Feelgood (1989).[4][5]

Background

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The song features Mick Mars playing a steel guitar during the intro and the solo, a clean electric guitar arpeggio on the verses and bridge, and various licks on a distorted electric guitar throughout. In the Dr. Feelgood album's liner notes, the composition is said to be about Tommy Lee's relationship with Heather Locklear.

Music video

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The music video was shot at the Grand 1894 Opera House in Galveston, Texas on January 15, 1990, following Mötley Crüe's Houston concert.[6] Produced by Sharon Oreck through O Pictures and photographed by Bill Pope, "Without You" is the first of two Crüe videos to be directed by Mary Lambert under the alias "Blanche White"[7] ("blanche" meaning "white" in French). Lambert's original idea for the video was "to do a motorcycle movie" but Mötley Crüe objected, as they had done that before (in the music video for "Girls, Girls, Girls").[8] The final clip, which was described by Nikki Sixx as having a very "surreal" touch to it, includes various abstract images, a live jaguar (Czar from the Exotic Cat Refuge and Wildlife Orphanage in Kirbyville), a violin ensemble playing during the slide solo, and the band playing in an Ancient Egypt-fashioned scenario. Traces of Persian cultural tradition are present in the last few seconds of the studio release.

Personnel

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Mötley Crüe

Additional musicians

  • Mark LaFrance – backing vocals

Chart positions

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Released as the album's third single in 1990, "Without You" reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in the United States, #11 on the Mainstream Rock Chart,[9] and #39 on the UK Singles Chart.

References

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  1. ^ "Motley Crue singles".
  2. ^ Bowar, Chad. "Best 20 Hair Metal Ballads of the '80s and '90s". LiveAbout. Retrieved 2021-02-24.
  3. ^ Reyes, Dowell De Los (April 2, 2025). "10 Soft Rock Ballad Songs That Will Never Get Old". I Love Classic Rock. Retrieved August 8, 2025.
  4. ^ "The 10 worst power ballads ever written". Louder. 19 November 2016.
  5. ^ Masley, Ed. "Best Motley Crue songs of all time". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2021-05-31.
  6. ^ "Chronological Crue - 1990". Members.ozemail.com.au. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  7. ^ Greatest Video Hits, DVD, 2003
  8. ^ Headbangers Ball, MTV, early 1990
  9. ^ a b "Mötley Crüe - Mainstream rock". Billboard. Retrieved 2021-08-22.
  10. ^ "Motley Crue: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
  11. ^ "Billboard Top 100 - 1990". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2009-09-15.
  12. ^ "Motley Crue – Without You". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  13. ^ Nielsen Business Media, Inc (December 22, 1990). "1990 The Year in Music & Video: Top Pop Singles". Billboard. Vol. 102, no. 51. p. YE-14. {{cite magazine}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
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