"I'll Stand by You" is a song recorded by English-American rock band the Pretenders from their sixth studio album, Last of the Independents (1994).
The song was written by Chrissie Hynde and the songwriting team of Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg, and produced by Ian Stanley.
The accompanying music video was directed by London-based director Zanna, featuring Hynde taking care of an ill man in a hut.
[2] On the long-running BBC program Songwriters Circle, Hynde mentions her embarrassment at having set out to write a "hit."
Larry Flick from Billboard wrote that Chrissie Hynde "returns with a worn, but warm vocal that evokes a powerful, moving presence.
In addition, Hynde's singing has grown to where she can wail with the best of them, as she does here against a backdrop that increases perfectly with the rising emotion in her voice.
"[6] Ken Tucker from Entertainment Weekly stated that the singer "matches form with content again and again" on the album, noting that she is "pledging solemn faithfulness to a loved one on the somber anthem".
"[8] Linda Ryan from the Gavin Report declared it one of the album's "beautiful, heart-stopping ballads", adding that it "will be a monster hit in a variety of formats.
[14] Pan-European magazine Music & Media named it "this spring's biggest ballad", adding, "Such symmetry between big time sensuality, kitsch, pathos and wall of sound!
"[16] A reviewer from People Magazine felt it's the "weakest track" of the album, describing it as "an anthem of blind support.
[18] Paul Evans from Rolling Stone stated that Hynde "nails devotion" on the song, "and like any master, makes it all seem easy.
[21][22] It takes place in an old wooden hut, featuring Hynde singing the song towards a man who is in a worried state.
An editor, Jonathan Riggs, said, "Regardless of how representative of Hynde's oeuvre with the Pretenders it really was, "I'll Stand By You" continues to resonate decades later.
In 2004, British-Irish all-female pop group Girls Aloud recorded a cover of "I'll Stand by You" as the official charity single for the 2004 Children in Need fundraising campaign.
It became Girls Aloud's second number one on the UK Singles Chart, spending two weeks at the top position and receiving a silver certification from the British Phonographic Industry.
Despite its success, Girls Aloud's cover of the song was largely panned by contemporary music critics.
The first disc includes "Real Life", a song taken from Girls Aloud's second album What Will the Neighbours Say?.
The second CD format featured a medley of songs taken from the album, as well as the Tony Lamezma's Club Romp remix of the track.
[58] Alexis Petridis of The Guardian, who praised Girls Aloud's album, said that "I'll Stand by You" was "a thing of death-dealing tedium.
"[60] Sam Shepherd of musicOMH bluntly stated "perhaps the children most in need, are those that part with their pocket money for this drivel [...] This is a sub-karaoke version, limp, tired, and uninspired.
They also performed the song on television programmes such as Blue Peter, CD:UK, Countdown, Diggin' It, GMTV, Ministry of Mayhem, Popbusters, Top of the Pops, and Xchange.
In 2005, Girls Aloud performed "I'll Stand by You" at Dublin's ChildLine Concert and on the TV show All Time Greatest Love Songs.
"I'll Stand by You" was included on a ballad section on 2008's Tangled Up Tour, in which Girls Aloud walk along a catwalk which reaches the middle of the crowd.
Ryan Seacrest announced that all money made on digital downloads would be donated to charity to help millions of poor children at the time.
Recorded live on the charity telethon Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief on January 22, 2010, in New York City.
She performed the song during the program, exactly before Wyclef Jean's speech and after Reese Witherspoon's call on the phone bank.
The choirs sang from: Elstree at Elstree Studios the studio just outside London where the main telethon was held, Bradford at Bradford College,[101] Norwich at The Millennium Library in The Forum,[102] Newport at The Newport Centre,[103] Birmingham at Think Tank, Belfast at BBC Blackstaff House,[104] Plymouth at Plymouth Life Centre, Blackpool at The Blackpool Tower Circus, Chatham at Chatham Historic Dockyard and Glasgow at BBC Pacific Quay[105]