Leave Right Now

"Leave Right Now" is a song written by Eg White and performed by Will Young. It appears on Will Young's second album, Friday's Child (2003) and was released as the first single from that album. The song also appears on the international version of Young's third album, Keep On (2005).

This article is about the song by Will Young. For the EP by Will Young, see Leave Right Now (album).

"Leave Right Now"
Single by Will Young
from the album Friday's Child
Released24 November 2003 (UK)
27 May 2010 (United States)
Recorded2003
GenrePop
Length3:31
LabelBMG
Songwriter(s)Eg White
Producer(s)Stephen Lipson
Will Young singles chronology
"Don't Let Me Down" / "You and I"
(2002)		 "Leave Right Now"
(2003)		 "Your Game"
(2004)
Alternative covers
UK CD 2

The song is reportedly about unrequited love. White was awarded the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically for "Leave Right Now" in 2004. "Leave Right Now" was the exit song for the ninth season of American Idol.[1] Young performed it on the penultimate episode (25 May 2010) to accompany a video montage recapping the season.

Music video

The video, which has no transitions, features Young at a party where a fight starts and he gets caught up in it. The video also features actress Kelly Wenham as one of the party guests.

Critical reception

Stylus Magazine, who were mostly mixed to negative for Young's previous number ones, rated "Leave Right Now" with 9/10, saying "Better. Much, much better. By this time Will was comfortable as a popstar, prepared to add a little WTF to his videos (here he has a fight with the viewer in an art gallery), and had his style down pat: jacket and jeans rocked to a level not seen since Lovejoy and Tinker were bossing things in the late 80s. He had songs to match as well: “Leave Right Now” is just one of the most English songs ever, which is understandable: what could be more English than a privately educated homosexual? The guy's a moderate genius—Dido with testicles and a heart."[2]

In 2007, Freaky Trigger ranked the song at number 54 in their list of the "Top 100 Songs of All Time," with critic Pete Baran calling it "one of the ballsiest songs of the noughties."[3]

In 2020, The Guardian ranked "Leave Right Now" at number 74 in its list of "The 100 greatest UK No 1 singles".[4]

Commercial performance

The single went to number one in the UK Singles Chart and stayed there for two weeks,[5] selling 117,702 copies in its first week.[6] As of December 2018, the single had sold 638,000 copies, (728,000 including streaming equivalent sales).[5]

The song has sold 50,000 copies in the US according to Billboard, with 32,000 of those occurring the week he performed on American Idol.[7]

Single track listing
CD1
  1. "Leave Right Now" (Eg White)
  2. "Ticket to Love" (live from Exeter) (Cathy Dennis, Will Young)
CD2
  1. "Leave Right Now"
  2. "Cry" (Young, Richard Stannard, Julian Gallagher)
  3. "Leave Right Now" (Acoustic)
  4. "Leave Right Now" (Video)

Charts and certifications

Cover versions

It was covered in French by Pierrick Lilliu as "La même erreur" (The Same Mistake) on his 2005 debut album, Besoin d'espace. Earlier that year, Lilliu was a runner-up in the French reality show, Nouvelle Star. The show is an analogue to the UK's Pop Idol, which launched Will Young's career. It was parodied in Ireland by Mario Rosenstock for the radio show Gift Grub, whose identically titled version poked fun at Roy Keane's controversial departure from Manchester United and his falling-out with Alex Ferguson. Rosenstock's version also reached number one on the Irish Christmas charts.

In 2005, The O.C. actor Peter Gallagher recorded a version for his album 7 Days in Memphis, released on 8 November 2005.

In 2013, Australian artist Anthony Callea recorded a version for his album, Thirty.

References
  1. Byrne, Katie (25 February 2010). "'American Idol' Reveals New Exit Song: 'Leave Right Now'". MTV.com. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  2. ""Gotta Get Thru This": Dom Passantino's Survey of the New Millenium's UK #1 Singles - Article - Stylus Magazine". stylusmagazine.com.
  3. top 100 songs of all time | FreakyTrigger
  4. Beaumont-Thomas, Ben; Petridis, Alexis; Snapes, Laura (5 June 2020). "The 100 greatest UK No 1s: 100-1". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  5. Copsey, Rob (6 December 2018). "Official Charts Flashback 2003: Will Young – Leave Right Now". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  6. Jones, Alan (17 January 2004). "Reality TV gives boost as singles slide goes on". Music Week. p. 12.
  7. "Lee DeWyze lands six tracks on SoundScan Top 200". Content.usatoday.com. 2 June 2010. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  8. "ARIA Report: Issue 733 (Week Commencing 15 March 2004)" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. p. 4. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  9. "Ultratop.be – Will Young – Leave Right Now" (in Dutch). Ultratip.
  10. "Will Young - Chart history". Billboard. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  11. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Leave Right Now". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  12. "Italiancharts.com – Will Young – Leave Right Now". Top Digital Download.
  13. "Dutchcharts.nl – Will Young – Leave Right Now" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  14. "Charts.nz – Will Young – Leave Right Now". Top 40 Singles.
  15. "Norwegiancharts.com – Will Young – Leave Right Now". VG-lista.
  16. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  17. "Swedishcharts.com – Will Young – Leave Right Now". Singles Top 100.
  18. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  19. "Will Young Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  20. "Will Young Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  21. "Will Young - Chart history". Billboard. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  22. Radio 1 Chart of the Decade, as presented by DJ Nihal on 29 December 2009
  23. "British single certifications – Will Young – Leave Right Now". British Phonographic Industry. Select singles in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Leave Right Now in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  24. Copsey, Rob (26 May 2015). "Will Young's Official biggest selling singles revealed: "I'm shocked by that!"". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
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