Bette Midler made the song famous when she recorded it for her film The Rose , in which it plays during the closing credits. However, the song was not written for the movie: Amanda McBroom recalls, "I wrote it in [or] , and I sang it occasionally in clubs. Jim Nabors had a local talk show, and I sang ["The Rose"] on his show once. The song is one verse musically repeated three times; McBroom comments: "When I finished it, I realized it doesn't have a bridge or a hook , but I couldn't think of anything to put in there.
McBroom's composition was one of seven songs selected by Midler from thirty song possibilities proffered by Paul A. Rothchild , the producer of The Rose soundtrack album. Reportedly Rothchild had listened to over 3, songs in order to assemble those thirty possibilities. Released as the second single from The Rose soundtrack album , "The Rose" hit number 1 on the Cashbox Top and peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Hot , become her second top Additionally, it was number 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart for five weeks running.
There are two mixes of the song. The single mix features orchestration, while the version in the film and on its soundtrack includes an extended introduction while doing away with the orchestration in favor of piano-and-vocals only. Despite not having been recorded prior to the soundtrack of the film The Rose , the song had not been written for the film.
Country singer Conway Twitty recorded a cover version in His version, from his album Dream Maker , was a number one country hit in US and Canada; it became his 30th number one single on the US country chart. It reached number one on the UK Singles Chart , becoming the group's 14th and most recent number-one single in the United Kingdom. The video for this single was presented in two versions: one in black and white and the other in color.
It shows the emotions and events leading up to a couple's wedding procession. The band members are clad in suits and are shown in a checkered-floor room. During the initial period of the video's release, fans were given the opportunity to customise the music video by digitally adding their names to various elements such as the wedding invitation card.
