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18 and Life
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = 18 and Life
| cover = Skid Row 18 and Life.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Skid Row
| album = Skid Row
| B-side = Midnight/Tornado
| released =
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre =
| length = 3:51
| label = Atlantic
| writer = Rachel Bolan, Dave Sabo
| producer = Michael Wagener
| prev_title = Youth Gone Wild
| prev_year = 1989
| next_title = I Remember You
| next_year = 1989
| misc =
}}
"'18 and Life'" is a song by American heavy metal band Skid Row. It was released in June 1989 as the second single from their self-titled debut album. The power ballad is the band's biggest hit, reaching 4 on the US 'Billboard' Hot 100 and No. 11 on the 'Billboard' Album Rock Tracks chart. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on September 13, 1989, when it sold 500,000 copies. The song also charted at No. 12 on the UK Singles Chart, No. 6 in Canada, and No. 5 in Ireland.
In April 2015, Skid Row released a new version of the song with then-lead vocalist Tony Harnell.
Theme
The title of the song alludes to its subject, 18-year-old Ricky, receiving a sentence of life imprisonment for the murder of another teen.Wilbur R. Miller, 'The Social History of Crime and Punishment in America: An Encyclopedia' (2012), p. 1172. The song paints Ricky's youth as his undoing. It was believed for a long time that guitarist Dave Sabo got the idea from a newspaper article about an 18-year-old named Ricky who was sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering his friend with a gun, that due to alcohol, he most likely guessed was not loaded. However, in an interview with the Professor of Rock,"Haunting 80s Murder Song Was Censored by MTV..Still Scaled the Top of the Charts | Professor of Rock," Sep 6, 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YV616FvWFys Sabo states that the original inspiration was his brother Rick's life after coming home from Vietnam. The writing process eventually led the song to being about an accidental murder. The music video also alludes to this.
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Release history
References
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