"More Than a Woman" is a song by the musical group the Bee Gees. It was written by Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb for the movie Saturday Night Fever. The song was a common part of the group's live performances from 1977 until Maurice Gibb's death in 2003. It was often performed together with the song "Night Fever."

Recording and release

The Bee Gees began recording the song in February and March 1977 at the Château d'Hérouville in Hérouville, France. They continued working on it in April at Criteria Studios in Miami. The song was completed in September at Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles.

The soundtrack includes two versions of the song: one performed by the Bee Gees and another by Tavares. Both versions are shown in the film. The song has been recorded and performed by many artists in different ways. The Bee Gees' version was not released as a single in the United States or the United Kingdom but was released in other countries, such as Italy and Australia. Despite this, the song is still played on the radio often and is one of the Bee Gees' most well-known songs. A shortened live version of the song, performed by the Bee Gees in 1997, is included on both the DVD and CD versions of One Night Only.

The song is also found on Bee Gees collections, such as Tales from the Brothers Gibb and Their Greatest Hits: The Record. The first British copies of Their Greatest Hits: The Record had a mistake in the sound, with a short moment where the audio was quieter on the right side during the first verse. This error was fixed after many copies had already been sold.

A new version of the song was created in 2021 by British DJ SG Lewis. This remix was released because of the popularity of the song on TikTok. The song also appeared in the Glee episode titled "Saturday Night Gleever," where Cory Monteith, Naya Rivera, and Chris Colfer sang it.

Critical reception

Allmusic critic Donald A. Guarisco said "More Than a Woman" is a strong song because the lyrics show the narrator's deep desire for the woman he loves, written in a dramatic style typical of the Bee Gees. The melody matches the emotions in the lyrics by rising and falling softly, showing the changing feelings of longing described in the words.

Personnel

Credits are based on the album Saturday Night Fever: The Original Movie Soundtrack.

• Barry Gibb – sang lead vocals and played guitar
• Robin Gibb – sang vocals
• Maurice Gibb – sang vocals and played bass guitar
• Alan Kendall – played guitar
• Dennis Bryon – played drums
• Blue Weaver – played keyboards
• Joe Lala – played percussion

Tavares version

The song "More Than a Woman" was recorded by Tavares in 1977. It was included in the movie Saturday Night Fever and on its movie soundtrack album. The song also appeared on Tavares' 1978 album Future Bound. Their version of the song reached number 32 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 7 on the UK Singles Chart.

911 version

In 1998, the British boy band 911 recorded "More Than a Woman" for the Bee Gees Tribute Album: Gotta Get a Message to You. The song was also the lead single from their third studio album, There It Is (1999). Phil Harding and Ian Curnow produced this version, which was released on October 12, 1998. It reached number two on the UK Singles Chart and also charted in France and New Zealand.

911's version of "More Than a Woman" was added to BBC Radio 1's As Featured playlist on September 7, 1998. By the end of the month, it was moved to the station's A-list. On October 12, 1998, Virgin Records released the song in the UK as two CD singles and a cassette single. Six days later, the song debuted on the UK Singles Chart and reached number two, becoming the band's highest-charting single in the UK until a later cover of Dr. Hook's "A Little Bit More" topped the chart in January 1999. For most of the week, "More Than a Woman" sold more copies than Spacedust's "Gym and Tonic," but "Gym and Tonic" became the top song that week despite lower sales. The song spent four weeks in the UK top 40 and 15 weeks in the top 100.

On the Eurochart Hot 100, the cover reached number 18 on October 31, 1998, as that week's Sales Breaker. In Europe, the song charted in France in March 1999, appearing on the SNEP Singles Chart for one week at number 94. This was the band's only single to chart in France. In New Zealand, the song became 911's third of four songs to reach the top 50 on the New Zealand Singles Chart. It debuted at number 20 on March 14, 1999, and rose to number eight the following week, becoming the band's highest-charting song in New Zealand. It remained in the top 50 for seven nonconsecutive weeks.

• "More Than a Woman" (radio edit) – 3:11
• "Nothing Stops the Rain" – 3:34
• "Forever in My Heart" – 4:02
• "Interactive element

• "More Than a Woman" (radio edit) – 3:11
• "Nothing Stops the Rain" – 3:34
• "More Than a Woman" (Dave Lee's 54 mix) – 7:59

• "More Than a Woman" (radio edit) – 3:11
• "Nothing Stops the Rain" – 3:34
• "More Than a Woman" (Dave Lee's Rare mix) – 6:37

• "More Than a Woman" (radio edit) – 3:11
• "Nothing Stops the Rain" – 3:34

Personnel are adapted from the UK CD1 liner notes.