Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 2005
Unbreakable (Alicia Keys song)
Buy Unbreakable (Alicia Keys song) now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = Unbreakable
| cover = Unbreakable single cover.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Alicia Keys
| album = Unplugged
| released =
| recorded = July 4, 2005
| studio = Brooklyn Academy of Music (New York, New York)
| venue =
| genre = R&B
| length =
* 4:34 (Album version)
* 4:14 (Radio edit)
| label = J
| writer =
| producer = Alex Coletti
| prev_title = Karma
| prev_year = 2004
| next_title = Don't Give Up (Africa)
| next_year = 2005
| misc =
}}
"'Unbreakable'" is a song by American R&B-soul singer Alicia Keys from her live album, 'Unplugged' (2005). Written by Keys, Kanye West, and Harold Lilly, the track features a Wurlitzer riff, and is built around a sample of Eddie Kendricks' 1977 song "Intimate Friends", written by Garry Glenn. It was released as the album's lead single in 2005 and peaked at number thirty-four on the U.S. 'Billboard' Hot 100, becoming Keys' first single to miss the top twenty since 2002's "How Come You Don't Call Me", and failed to peak inside the top forty on 'Billboard' Pop 100. It was nevertheless a big success on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, where it landed at number four.
The lyrics mention names of notable couples Ike and Tina Turner, Bill and Camille Cosby, Oprah Winfrey and Stedman Graham, Florida and James Evans, Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, Kimora Lee and Russell Simmons, and Joe and Katherine Jackson, as well as The Jackson 5.
The song received nominations for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song at the 2006 Grammy Awards which were awarded to "We Belong Together" by Mariah Carey. It also won two NAACP Image Award, for "Outstanding Song" and "Outstanding Music Video".
This song was written in 2003 to be included on 'The Diary of Alicia Keys', but was omitted in favor of "Diary", and nearly missed the album 'Unplugged'. She said, "The song was always one of my favorites, but I did not think it would fit well into my second album".
Critical reception
Jon Pareles of 'The New York Times' wrote that the song "doesn't aim for timelessness" as "it's as full of topical references as a hip-hop song".
Music video
Two music videos were produced for the song:
* Unplugged Version, directed by Alex Coletti
* BET Version, directed by Justin Francis
Track listings
*'US 12" single'
:A. "Unbreakable" (Radio Mix) 4:14
:B. "Unbreakable" (Radio Mix) 4:14
*'US promotional CD single'
# "Unbreakable" (Radio Edit) 4:14
# "Unbreakable" (Call Out Hook) 0:10
# "Unbreakable" (Radio Edit) (MP3 format) 4:14
*'US promotional DVD single'
#"Unbreakable" (BET Video)
Charts
Weekly charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"|-
! scope="col"| Chart (20052006)
! scope="col"| Peak
position
|-
! scope="row"| US 'Billboard' Hot 100
| align="center"| 34
|-
|-
|-
! scope="row"| US Pop 100 ('Billboard')
| align="center"| 60
|}
Year-end charts
Release history
References
Buy Unbreakable (Alicia Keys song) now from Amazon
<-- Return to songs from 2005