Rich Torres

“Careless Whisper” was originally released as George Michael’s debut solo single in 1984, although in the US it was credited to Wham! featuring George Michael and included on the album Make It Big. Co-written by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley while they were still teenagers, the smooth, saxophone-driven ballad became a global phenomenon, spending three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching No. 1 in the UK and topping the charts in 25 countries. It was also named Billboard’s No. 1 song of 1985. The legendary saxophone intro was crafted by Michael at age 17 on a school bus and eventually recorded by session musician Steve Gregory, who was the only one able to capture the slightly imperfect and melancholic timing Michael demanded. Despite its massive success, Michael later grew to dislike the song, criticizing his own teenage lyrics as presumptuous.

“Again” was released in 2000 as the only previously unreleased track from Lenny Kravitz’s Greatest Hits album. Written, arranged and produced entirely by Kravitz, the emotional rock ballad became one of his biggest commercial successes, reaching #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 while topping both the Adult Top 40 and Mainstream Top 40 charts. It also became a major international hit, reaching #1 in Italy and the Top 10 in several other countries. The song earned Kravitz a Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance in 2001, marking his third consecutive win in the category. The song's music video was notable for being among the earliest major music videos made available for online download. Kravitz would go on to make Grammy history the following year, when “Dig In” earned him his fourth consecutive Best Male Rock Vocal Performance award in 2002.