Country legend, Conway Twitty recorded his version of “The Rose” in January 1983. His cover was in his album ‘Dream Maker’, which was a number one country hit in US and Canada. His rendition was his 30th No. 1 single on the country chart.

The song “The Rose” was originally recorded by Bette Midler for the soundtrack of 1979 film ‘The Rose’. However, the song was not really written for the movie. It was written by Amanda McBroom and she said:

“I wrote it in 1977 [or] 1978, and I sang it occasionally in clubs. … Jim Nabors had a local talk show, and I sang [“The Rose”] on his show once.”

According to the songwriter, she wrote the song in response to her manager’s suggestion that she write “some Bob Seger-type tunes.” McBroom obliged and wrote “The Rose” within forty-five minutes.

“‘The Rose’ is … just one verse [musically] repeated three times. When I finished it, I realized it doesn’t have a bridge or a hook, but I couldn’t think of anything to [add].”

This composition was one of seven songs selected by Midler from thirty song possibilities proffered by Paul A. Rothchild, the producer of The Rose soundtrack. Reportedly Rothchild had listed to over 3,000 songs in order to assemble those thirty possibilities.

“The Rose” hit number 1 on the Cashbox Top 100 and peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. In addition, it was number 1 on the Adult Contemporary. Chart for five weeks running. The single was certified Gold by the RIAA for over a half million copies sold in the United States.

“The Rose” did not receive a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Despite not having been recorded prior to the soundtrack of the film The Rose, the song had not been written for the film. According to McBroom, AMPAS inquired of her if the song had been written for the movie, and McBroom answered honestly (that it had not). McBroom did, however, win the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for “The Rose”, as that award’s governing body, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), does not share AMPAS’ official meticulousness over a nominated song’s being completely original with its parent film.

Watch Conway Twitty’s ‘The Rose’ Performance below:

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