I Don't Need You

"I Don't Need You" is a song written by Rick Christian, and was first recorded and released as a single in 1978 on Mercury Records, by Rick Christian himself at Shoe Productions, a recording studio/production company in Memphis, Tennessee, but it failed to chart.

"I Don't Need You"
Single by Kenny Rogers
from the album Share Your Love
B-side	"Without You in My Life"
Released	June 15, 1981
Genre	Country pop[1]
Length	3:27
Label	Liberty
Songwriter(s)	Rick Christian[2]
Producer(s)	Lionel Richie
Kenny Rogers singles chronology
"Lady" (1980) "I Don't Need You" (1981) "Share Your Love with Me" (1981)

Kenny Rogers recording

It was released in June 1981 as the lead single from Rogers album Share Your Love. American country music artist Kenny Rogers had collaborated with R&B/pop singer-songwriter Lionel Richie in 1980 with the song "Lady". After the success of that record, Rogers asked Richie to produce his next album, Share Your Love. Although the original plan was for Richie to write all the songs for Rogers' forthcoming album, the two men agreed to accept songs they both liked for the project which had been written by others. "I Don't Need You", written by Rick Christian, was one of those songs.^[3] Rogers has been quoted describing "I Don't Need You" as "...still to this day one of my favorite songs", although he admitted that "I don't think I ever met Rick Christian, the guy who wrote it."^[3]

Charts

Selected as the lead single, "I Don't Need You" spent two weeks at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in August 1981.^[4] The song also rose to number 1 on two other Billboard music charts, the country chart as well as the adult contemporary chart.^[3] It remained atop the latter chart for six weeks in July and August of that year.

Chart (1981)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[5]	64
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[6]	1
US Billboard Hot 100[7]	3
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[8]	1
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	1
Canadian RPM Top Singles	2
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks	2

Year-end chart (1981)	Rank
US Top Pop Singles (Billboard)[9]	44

Other recordings

• Harry Nilsson, recorded in 1979 and released on his album Flash Harry in 1980 (United Artists/Mercury, 1980).
• The Carpenters, recorded in 1980 but never released.
• Madeleine Marks recorded it for her self-titled album, (RCA), in early 1981.^[10]

References

1. Molanphy, Chris (November 5, 2020). "Friends in Low Places Edition". Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia (Podcast). Slate. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
2. "discogs.com". discogs.com. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
3. Hyatt, Wesley (1999). The Billboard Book of No. 1 Adult Contemporary Hits (Billboard Publications)
4. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications)
5. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 256. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
6. "Kenny Rogers Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
7. "Kenny Rogers Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
8. "Kenny Rogers Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard.
9. "Number One Awards – Billboard's 1981 Year-End Charts : Pop Singles". Billboard. Vol. 93, no. 51. December 26, 1981. p. YE-9. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
10. Clayton, Rose (1981). "A Bright New Scene For Singer & Writer Christian Billboard Magazine (page 35) August 8, 1981 (Billboard Publications)