Without You (David Guetta song)
"Without You" is a song by the French DJ David Guetta, featuring vocals by the American singer Usher. It was released as the third single from Guetta's fifth studio album, "Nothing but the Beat", on 29 September 2011. The single peaked at number four on the "Billboard" Hot 100 in the US, becoming Guetta's third top ten single, following "Club Can't Handle Me" and "Sexy Bitch", as well as his highest peaking in the US to date. By November 2013, the song had sold 2,684,000 copies in the US. Background. The song  features the vocals of R&B singer Usher, who told "Billboard" magazine that the project was, "maybe the biggest song I've made in my life". Guetta said, "We were in bargaining sessions for a while. Usher was saying, 'I need this record for my album.' I said, 'I'm sorry, I cannot give it to you.' After a while he called me back and gave in." Guetta told "MTV News" why he chose Usher to guest on this song. "It's just totally emotional," he said. "Some of the record is a proper ballad, and then it goes to  that crazy dance beat. It's perfect for him, because he's famous for his ballads. And he's also now famous for those big club records that he comes with. He's an amazing dancer, so I felt like he was the artist that I needed." Usher told "MTV News" that this ode to not giving up on love in the face of adversity resonated with him personally. "I think the world wanted a record like that. That [song] really spoke to the journey that I've actually been on in the last three years... Traveling all around the  world, music sounds different. There's many different genres, and when you see R&B and pop and house, as well as electronic, come together, that's the reality of what music is." Composition. "Without You" was written by Taio Cruz, Usher Raymond, Rico Love, David Guetta, Giorgio Tuinfort and Frédéric Riesterer, and produced by Guetta, Tuinfort and Riesterer. Lyrically, the song laments a heavy subject - life without someone who means the world to you. Amy Sciarretto of Pop Crush wrote that the chorus "invite lots of dancing, but this isn't much of clubby rager. Structurally, the song reminds us  of Madonna's 'Ray of Light'; that's not to suggest that 'Without You' sounds like 'Ray of Light', but it shares the same formula and airy energy. Lyrics also heavily influenced by U2’s With or Without You." "Without You" is set in common time maintaining a tempo of 128 beats per minute. The song is in the key of D-major and has elements of pop, dance and R&B. Usher's vocals range from D to D. Critical reception. In a favorable review, Amy Sciarretto of "Pop Crush" wrote that the song is "a light, hands-in-the -air and somewhat ethereal song" and that "the heft of the words juxtaposed against the feathery music works and allows the song to remain and well, not a downer despite its unhappy musings". Jon Dolan of "Rolling Stone" wrote that on the track "Usher gets lonely over Coldplay-style guitar". "Village Voice"s Carol Cooper gave a negative review, writing, "Usher, while pushing himself vocally, sounds like a "Glee Project"." Music video. The music video was filmed towards the end of July 2011 on a beach in Portugal. The full music video was released on October 14, 2011. The video shows  views of different parties in Thailand, the United States, Brazil and South Africa, among other places. Continental drift starts to take place and all the parties on the different continents amalgamate to form one big party. It also has scenes with Usher in front of a Rio de Janeiro beach background. Use in media and covers. "Without You" was used in promotions in the Chilean TV program "Mañaneros" in 2012–2013 and "Teen Mom" in MTV Latin America in 2012. The song was used in several episodes of the Chilean reality show "Mundos Opuestos". It was also used on Chilean TV  commercials for the mobile phone company Entel called "Nuevos planes Multimedia Full". It was also covered by Lea Michele in the "Glee" episode "Yes/No" and by Olly Murs for BBC Radio 1's "Live Lounge" in November 2011. The Mend covered the song for their performance in the 2012 "Britain's Got Talent" final. In 2013, Sasha Allen covered the song on "The Voice" in the US. In 2015, Jordan Smith performed the song with Usher on "The Voice" season 9. The song is also used in the trailer for the animated film "Sing", as well as the background  music for the 2018 Audi RS 4 Avant advertisement. Angelica Hale performed it during the semifinals of "America's Got Talent" season 12. You can also hear this song in the middle part of the 2nd trailer of "Sing (2016 film)"