Barry White is known as one of the best soul and R&B singers of all time. So it may be surprising that one of his biggest hits first started as a country song, but it’s true. In 1974, White released “You’re The First, The Last, My Everything”. The song was written by White, along with Peter Sterling Radcliffe and Tony Sepe.
“You’re The First, The Last, My Everything” is on Can’t Get Enough, White’s third studio album. The song, White’s third No. 1 single, stayed at the top of the charts for two weeks. The sweet love song says in part, “The first, my last, my everything / And the answer to all my dreams / You’re my sun, my moon, my guiding star / My kind of wonderful, that’s what you are.”
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Radcliffe gets the credit for starting what became one of White’s signature songs. Still, what Radcliffe began is quite different from the end result. Radcliffe’s first version of “You’re The First, The Last, My Everything” began as “You’re My First, You’re My Last, My In-Between”. The song went unrecorded for an astonishing 21 years.
The Story Behind “You’re The First, The Last, My Everything” by Barry White
Radcliffe and White’s relationship actually goes far beyond music. In fact, when White was struggling financially, it’s Radcliffe who reportedly bought Christmas presents for White’s children. Understandably, when Radcliffe later told White he had a song, White listened to the original, ultimately making it his own.
Admittedly, Radcliffe’s country version, which included the sound of horses’ hooves, was not at all the end result. Still, White heard the potential in what became “You’re The First, The Last, My Everything”.
“I said, ‘Sterling, that song is a smash,” White recounts. He goes on to reveal how he made sure he could make “The First, The Last, My Everything” his own.
“I said, ‘Sterling, I want you to stay out of my face for the next two or three weeks,” White remembers. “When you come back, you’re going to be part of a smash.”
White changed a lot of the song, but still kept some of what was Radcliffe’s.
“I heard what was inside that song. … I went into the studio and made up my own melody all the way through,” White recalls. “Half of the words in it I changed right in front of the microphone.”
In 2022, Michael Bublé included this song on his Higher record.
Photo by ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
More Behind The Song
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Left to right: Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page, of British heavy rock group Led Zeppelin, performing at Earl's Court, London, May 1975. The band were initially booked to play three nights at the venue, from 23rd to 25th May, but due to public demand, two more concerts were later added, for 17th and 18th May. Total ticket sales were 85,000. (Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images) -
Portrait of country singer Eddie Rabbitt in Memphis, Tennessee, May 31, 1981. (Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images) -
LOS ANGELES – FEBRUARY 22: 31st Annual Grammy Awards. Broadcast February 22, 1989. Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, California. Pictured accepting award is Bobby McFerrin. His song "Don't Worry, Be Happy" won Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male. Also Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Male. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images) -
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – APRIL 03: Singers Mike McGuire (L) and Marty Raybon of Shenandoah attend the 51st Academy of Country Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 3, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Rick Diamond/ACM2016/Getty Images for dcp) -
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The three founding members of Talking Heads on a Manhattan rooftop, US, 1976. (Jerry Harrison would join the group at the beginning of 1977.) (L-R) Bassist Tina Weymouth, singer-guitarist David Byrne and drummer Chris Frantz. (Photo by Linda D. Robbins/Getty Images) -
Patty Smyth of Scandal at the Poplar Creek Music Theater in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, June 3, 1983. (Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images) -
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images