"All by Myself" is a song by American singer-songwriter Eric Carmen. It was released by Arista Records in December 1975 as the first single from Carmen's self-titled debut album. The verse of the song is inspired by the second movement (Adagio sostenuto) of Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff's 1900–01 Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Opus 18. The chorus was used from the song "Let's Pretend," which Carmen wrote and recorded with his band the Raspberries in 1972. The slide guitar part was played by studio guitarist Hugh McCracken. The song reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Carmen's most successful song on the pop chart.
Background and composition
Eric Carmen wrote the solo part of the song in sections of four bars each, completing the interlude over two months. To create the song, he used the melody from the second movement of Sergei Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto, a piece known for its use in the 1945 British film Brief Encounter. At the time, Rachmaninoff's music was in the public domain in the United States, so Carmen believed it was not protected by copyright. However, outside the U.S., the music remained protected. After the album was released, the Rachmaninoff estate contacted Carmen and informed him that the music was still protected. An agreement was made for the estate to receive 12 percent of the royalties from the song "All by Myself" and from "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again," which used a melody from the third movement of Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2. Carmen also noted that the chorus melody was taken from his 1973 hit with the Raspberries, "Let's Pretend."
Television performance
Carmen performed the song "All by Myself" and his follow-up hit, "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again," on The Midnight Special TV show on July 23, 1976 (season 4, episode 37). The show was hosted by The Spinners.
Release
The song "All by Myself" was the first single from Carmen's first solo album after leaving the music group the Raspberries. It was released in December 1975. Billboard called the song "a great rock song… capturing the fun and energy of rock music." Cash Box noted that Carmen's voice sounded similar to two of the Bee Gees and compared his songwriting to that of Paul McCartney. Record World described the song as Carmen singing over smooth, flowing music from string instruments on a track he wrote himself.
The song reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was prevented from reaching number one by "Love Machine" by The Miracles and "December 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" by The Four Seasons. "All by Myself" reached number one on the Cash Box Top 100 Singles chart and number three in Canada. The single sold over one million copies in the United States and received a gold certification from the RIAA in April 1976. This was Carmen's first of eight songs to reach the Top 40 in the United States. In the UK, it was his only Top 40 success, reaching number 12 on the UK Singles Chart. The song later appeared in a 1996 episode of the television show Friends, during a scene where characters Chandler Bing and Joey Tribbiani felt sad after Joey moved out.
Celine Dion version
The most famous cover of "All by Myself" was recorded by Canadian singer Celine Dion in 1996. It was the fourth (or third, depending on the country) popular song from her fourth English-language album, Falling into You (1996). The song was produced by David Foster at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas. It was released on December 9, 1996, in the United Kingdom and on March 11, 1997, in the United States. Some versions of the album and single include a Spanish version of the song titled "Sola Otra Vez."
The single became one of Dion's most successful songs in the United States. It reached number one on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart (for three weeks) and the Latin Pop Airplay chart (for two weeks). It reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart, and number five on the Hot 100 Singles Sales chart. It also became a top 10 hit in France, the United Kingdom, Wallonia in Belgium, and on the Irish Singles Chart. In Canada, the song was released as a promotional single and reached number one on the Adult Contemporary Chart. The song was certified gold in the United States (500,000 copies sold) and in the United Kingdom (400,000 copies sold) and silver in France (125,000 copies sold).
During an interview on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, Dion explained that the famous high note (F5) leading into the key change was not planned. David Foster surprised her with it during the recording session. When Dion asked why the surprise, Foster said that if she could not sing it, other singers might. This encouraged Dion to prove she could sing it.
Dion's version of the song received positive reviews from many music critics. Bill Lamb from About.com ranked it number nine in his list of "Top 10 Celine Dion Songs." Entertainment Weekly editor Chuck Eddy said, "Only in her emotional cover of Eric Carmen's 'All by Myself' does she truly show deep emotion." Pip Ellwood-Hughes from Entertainment Focus called the performance "incredible" and "one of the best recorded vocals ever captured." He added that "listening to Dion reach the highs she does on that song is magical and gives a feeling that nothing else can." Dave Sholin from the Gavin Report said, "The public and radio programmers wanted this version of Eric Carmen's 1976 hit, so it was chosen as the third single from Celine's multi-platinum and Grammy-nominated album, Falling into You." Kevin Courtney from the Irish Times said, "It's probably a good thing that Celine is all by herself because people in the room with her might have their eardrums hurt by her powerful delivery."
A reviewer from Music Week gave it the highest score (five out of five), saying, "Dion does a great job with the Eric Carmen power ballad, and this one could be a long-running hit because it appeals to people who buy records once a year." Alan Jones from Music Week noted that Dion handled the song with great skill. Yahoo editor Dan Leroy wrote, "Trying to out-emote Eric Carmen was almost crazy enough to work." The New York Times editor Stephen Holden said the cover, along with "Because You Loved Me," "are the strongest songs on an album full of romantic music that follows a common formula." A reviewer from People said Dion "tries very hard to match the powerful style of Eric Carmen's original version." Geoff Edgers from Salon described it as a "remake that can shatter a dog's ear." Christopher Smith from TalkAboutPopMusic wrote,
A music video was made to promote the single. It was directed by British director Nigel Dick. The video includes scenes from Dion's photo session for the Falling into You album cover and some footage from her Live à Paris concert. It also shows Dion in sepia-toned (brownish) footage that appears lonely and sad. The video was later posted on Dion's official YouTube channel in 2012 and had more than 79 million views as of September 2025. A video of the Spanish version was added to the channel in 2021.
Australian CD and cassette single
European CD and 7-inch single
European CD maxi-single
European 12-inch single
Mexican promo CD single
UK CD single (limited)
US CD and cassette single
Other covers
In 1982, Shirley Bassey performed a version of "All by Myself" as part of an album with the same title. She also released the song as a single.
In 1994, New Zealand singer Margaret Urlich performed a version of "All by Myself." Her version reached number 100 on the Australian music charts in November 1994 and number 26 on the New Zealand charts in March 1995.
In 2018, Ghian Wright performed a version of the song, which was renamed "I'm All Alone (Belter Version)." This version was used in the science fiction television series The Expanse during the episode "Delta-V" from season 3. The lyrics were rewritten in a mix of English and Belter Creole, a made-up language created for the series by Nick Farmer. This language was used by Belters, characters in the show who live in the asteroid belt and outer planets. The lyrics were also adjusted to match the story's setting. A full version of the song was later included in the Collector's Edition of the The Expanse soundtrack, which was released on December 13, 2019.
Usage in media
The first Disney Channel original movie, Under Wraps (1997), included the original song by Eric Carmen as an important part of the story. The character Harold the Mummy (played by Bill Fagerbakke) becomes captivated by the song because it reminds him of his lover (Cristina Patterson).
The original song appears in the 2001 romantic comedy film Bridget Jones's Diary. A version of the song by singer-songwriter Jewel is featured in a key scene of the 1995 film Clueless, when the main character, Cher (played by Alicia Silverstone), realizes her true romantic feelings for the first time.
The 1999 Australian-French film Me, Myself, I, directed by Pip Karmel, includes a cover of the song performed by Maggie McKinney. The song plays during the film’s opening scenes, as the main character, Pamela Drury (played by Rachel Griffiths), takes a bubble bath and feels unhappy about her lonely life.
In the fourteenth episode of the first season of Doom Patrol, the song plays when the people on Danny the Street (except Robotman) feel intense pleasure when Flex Mentallo flexes his muscles.
In the pilot episode of the 2020 television series Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist, titled "Zoey's Extraordinary Power," the song "All by Myself" is performed on the street by strangers. This is the first song in the series’ "Playlist."