Every time two country superstars get together for a duet, the result is nothing short of spectacular. So when Reba McEntire and Vince Gill recorded “The Heart Won’t Lie” in 1993, all eyes were on the duo.
Released as the second single from McEntire’s album It’s Your Call, the song hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. It remained in the top spot for two weeks, spending a total of twenty weeks on that chart.
There’s No Way You Can Deny Love
Written by Donna Terry Weiss and Kim Carnes, “The Heart Won’t Lie” tells the tale of two people who were trying to hide their love for one another, but they find it too hard to do, because “the heart won’t lie.”
“Cause the heart won’t lie. Sometimes life gets in the way, but there’s one thing that won’t change. I know I’ve tried. The heart won’t lie. You can live your alibi. Who can see you’re lost inside a foolish disguise? The heart won’t lie,” the song goes.
No matter how hard they try, they can’t deny their love for one another, each one singing “seeing you across the room tonight just gives me away.”
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“The Heart Won’t Lie” was Reba McEntire and Vince Gill‘s first duet together, and fans quickly fell in love with the harmonies of the two talented singers. But did you know the song was originally meant to be a duet between McEntire and Kenny Rogers? Unfortunately, things didn’t work out.
“Originally, Kenny Rogers and I were looking at doing this song as a duet, but we could never get it to sound just right because of the different ranges of our voices,” McEntire revealed.
Later on, when McEntire started working on a new album, she asked Rogers if she could record the song herself, to which Rogers agreed. She then asked Gill if he would like to sing the background harmonies on the song, but her co-producer suggested a better way to use Gill’s talent.
“Tony Brown, who was co-producing the CD with me, suggested letting Vince do more than just sing harmony on the song, so he took a couple of verses, and we decided to turn it into a duet,” McEntire said. “It worked out well in the end for everyone.”
Indeed, their decision paid off. Shortly after the song’s success, McEntire and Gill brought their passionate duet to the stage, much to the crowd’s delight. The pair performed the duet at the 1992 Academy of Country Music Awards, and again in 1994 during the Hot Country Jam at the Roy Acuff Theater.
At the end of every performance, the crowd gave McEntire and Gill a standing ovation.
The Song’s Music Video Was As Romantic As The Tune
Directed by Jon Small, it featured McEntire as a United States Navy Officer Candidate and Gill as a United States Marine Corps Drill Instructor. The short clip’s main highlights were the scenes showing McEntire and Gill in memories hanging out and having a fun time on a beach and in front of a pagoda.
And when the final chorus hits, McEntire and Gill can be seen singing to each other in front of a glass panel. The pair touched each side of their panel. Gill then placed his cap on, and after giving each other a final salute, they both parted to join their respective stations.
It was filmed for more than four days at the Nashville Armed Forces Recruiting Station, and in China.
“Vince doesn’t really care for videos, and this one turned into a four-day shoot,” McEntire recalled. “It was great to spend time with Vince and get to watch him do what he called his Gomer Pyle imitation for his character. But I had to promise him that if he ever does another song with me, he will never have to suffer through a four-day video shoot again!”
You can watch the heart-tugging music video below.
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Reba McEntire, Vince Gill
[…] on February 15, 1993, “The Heart Won’t Lie” was recorded and popularized as a duet between Oklahoma native and country music stars Reba […]