You're the First, the Last, My Everything


"You're the First, the Last, My Everything" is a song recorded by Barry White from his third studio album Can't Get Enough. The song was written by White, Tony Sepe and Peter Radcliffe and produced by White.
The song reached number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the UK Singles Chart. It was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in 1974, and certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry, also in 1974.

Background

Peter Radcliffe originally wrote the track as a country song with the title "You're My First, You're My Last, My In-Between", which went unrecorded for 21 years. White recorded it as a disco song, retaining most of the musical structure while rewriting the lyrics.

Chart performance

"You're the First, the Last, My Everything" was White's fourth top ten hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, reaching number two. It was kept out of the number one spot by "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" by Elton John. It spent a week at number one on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart. The track made it to number two on the disco/dance charts. On the UK Singles Chart it fared even better, spending two weeks at the top in December 1974.

Certifications

"You're the First, the Last, My Everything" was certified Gold by the RIAA on December 18, 1974.
It was certified silver for 200,000 sold copies in United Kingdom in 1974.

Chart history

Weekly charts

Chart Peak
position
Australia KMR60
Canada RPM Top Singles7

Year-end charts

Chart Rank
US Billboard Hot 10048
US Cash Box31

Other notable recordings

A cover version of the song performed by Howard Brown was released in 2005 in the UK as a charity single. It peaked at #13 in the UK singles chart. Prior to its release it had been adapted for a popular television commercial for Halifax Bank in which Brown could be seen singing and dancing.
Belgian singer and actor Pieter Van Keymeulen released a of the song to commemorate his father's death in 2019.

In popular culture

The song is featured in the films Money Talks, , Zookeeper, and anachronistically in Tim Burton's film Dark Shadows as the film was set in 1972, two years before the song was released.
It was also in many episodes of the Fox series Ally McBeal, accompanying John Cage during his life most of the time. Whenever he gets into a difficult situation, he withdraws and concentrates on the song, hearing it and dancing to it, to regain strength and concentrate on whatever comes along. White himself appeared in a season 2 episode to perform the song while John Cage and other characters performed his signature line dance to the song.
The song is featured in the music video game Just Dance 4 for PlayStation 3, Wii, Wii U, and Xbox 360.
This song was used in a trailer for Universal Pictures' 2003 film American Wedding.