"Breathe" is a song written by Stephanie Bentley and Holly Lamar and recorded by American country music artist Faith Hill. Warner Bros. Records released it on September 27, 1999, as the first single from Hill's fourth studio album, Breathe (1999). The song was produced by Byron Gallimore and Hill. "Breathe" became Hill's seventh number one on the Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in the United States, spending six weeks at number one. It also peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in April 2000. Despite not peaking at number one, it was the number-one single of 2000. The song earned a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance in 2001.
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Composition
"Breathe", a power ballad, sees Faith Hill go into a pop style.
Critical reception
In 2005, Blender ranked it at number 167 in their list of "Greatest Songs Since You Were Born". They described it as a "swooning ballad [that] turns country gal into Mississippi queen." The Daily Vault's Alfredo Narvaez said it is a "great song", adding, "if it is not a single already, it must be soon. This song is destined for the prom night halls and the wedding receptions of tomorrow. (Yeah, it's that good and strong.)"
Chart performance
On September 27, 1999, "Breathe" was released US radio, and on February 8, 2000, it was issued as a physical single. The song spent six weeks at number one on the US Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart, 17 weeks at number one on the Adult Contemporary chart, and one week at number one on the Adult Top 40 chart. The song also reached a peak of number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for five non-consecutive weeks starting with the week ending April 22, 2000.
Even though "Breathe" never made it to number one on the weekly Billboard Hot 100 chart, it stayed on the chart for 53 weeks and was ranked the number-one single of 2000 on Billboard's year-end countdown. In 2009, Billboard ranked the single as the 27th-most-successful Hot 100 song of the 2000s. "Breathe" was released in the United Kingdom in May 2000 and reached number 33.
Music video
The music video was directed by Lili Fini Zanuck. It is notably remembered as one of Hill's most memorable videos and was ranked by CMT at number four in their 2008 list of the 100 greatest country music videos.
Awards and accolades
2000 Billboard Music Awards: Hot 100 Single of the Year won
2000 Billboard Music Awards: Hot 100 Airplay Track of the Year won
2000 Grammy Awards: Best Female Country Vocal Performance won
2000 Grammy Awards: Best Country Song nominated
2000 Grammy Awards: Song of the Year nominated
Track listings
Covers and parodies
Brazilian singer Wanessa Camargo made a cover in Portuguese named "Eu Posso Te Sentir (I Can Feel You)".
Smartbomb has covered "Breathe" on their CD Yeah. Well, anyway ...
American singer and voice actress E.G. Daily auditioned with this song for the fifth season of the reality show The Voice.
Country music parodist Cledus T. Judd recorded a parody of the song called "Breath" (about a person with bad breath) on his 2002 album, Cledus Envy.
It was performed by Anna Friel as her character Nicky Roman during the third episode of the 2022 country music drama series Monarch.