"The Rose" was written by Amanda McBroom, who wrote both the words and the music, in 1977 or 1978. It was not written for the film. McBroom has said she composed it in 45 minutes after her manager suggested she write songs in the style of Bob Seger. It became the title song of the 1979 film The Rose, where it plays under the closing credits. Bette Midler first recorded it for the soundtrack album, which producer Paul A. Rothchild had assembled from thirty candidate songs. The song has one verse, repeated musically three times, with no bridge and no hook. The film version opens with an extended piano-and-voice introduction, and the single adds orchestration. Released by Atlantic in March 1980 with "Stay with Me" on the B-side, it reached number 1 on Cashbox, number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and held the Adult Contemporary number one for five weeks, earning a RIAA Gold certification. Midler won the Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, and McBroom won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song, although the song received no Academy Award nomination. AFI ranked it 83rd on its 100 Years...100 Songs list in 2004. Later versions by Conway Twitty, who took it to number one on the US country chart, and Westlife, a UK number one, are among the best known.
