On My Own (4:51)

“On My Own” is a Soft Rock/Pop song duet by singers Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald when it was released as a single in 1986. The song reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (where it stayed for three consecutive weeks) and the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart. The song also reached number 2 on the UK Singles Chart, number 4 on the New Zealand RIANZ chart, and number 1 on both the Canadian RPM 100 and Dutch Singles Chart. It was released from LaBelle’s first platinum album, “Winner in You” and was written and produced by Burt Bacharach and his former wife Carole Bayer Sager. The song was originally recorded by singer Dionne Warwick for inclusion on her album Friends. It is unclear why the song was not included on the final tracklist. The song was based on a relationship that had reached its end with both parties going their separate ways in a melancholy state with the occasional option of coming back together again one day.

It was often stated the two performers were in separate cities when they recorded their individual parts which were then “married” during mastering. This was reflected in the music video produced to promote the song, which depicted LaBelle and McDonald performing the song simultaneously on different coasts. The singers were shown on separate sides of a split screen, each singing the song while walking through apartments which had identical layouts but different decor and furniture. The views from their respective porches, where they finished the song, made clear their separation by the continent.