Someone You Loved


"Someone You Loved" is a song by Scottish singer-songwriter Lewis Capaldi. It was released on 8 November 2018 via digital download through Vertigo Records, as the third single from his second extended play, Breach. The song was later included on his debut studio album, Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent. It was written by Capaldi, Samuel Romans, and its producers Thomas Barnes, Peter Kelleher and Benjamin Kohn. The song was sent to radio stations on 16 April 2019 as the album's first single in the United States.
"Someone You Loved" was a commercial success, peaking at No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart. The song became Capaldi's first No. 1 single, spending seven consecutive weeks atop the chart and was the best selling single of 2019 in the UK. It also peaked at No. 1 on the Irish Singles Chart, the Canadian Hot 100, and the Recording Industry Association of Malaysia singles chart. In the United States, "Someone You Loved" was a sleeper hit, topping the Billboard Hot 100 in its 24th week on the chart. The song is certified Diamond or higher in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Poland, Philippines, Thailand, and the United States. It was nominated for Song of the Year at the 62nd Grammy Awards. It also received an award for Song of the Year at the 2020 Brit Awards. In early August 2025, on the streaming app Spotify, the song became the List of [Spotify streaming records#Most streamed songs|fourth song to reach 4 billion streams on the app].

Background and composition

"Someone You Loved" is played in the tempo of 110 BPM and key signature of D♭ major. In an interview with the French magazine Brut, Capaldi revealed he wrote the song about his grandmother who had died.
In an interview with the British website NME, Capaldi said that it took him six months to write the song. He said, "A lot of people say that 'the best songs fall into your lap' and that they're the easiest ones to write and take the shortest amount of time: I wholeheartedly disagree with that. I think my best songs come from me sitting at a piano, bashing my head against a brick wall for hours and hours on end to get one good melody."

Critical reception

Reviewer Dave Simpson of The Guardian gave the song four stars out of five, calling it and its heartbreak theme "raw and real."

Music videos

The first music video was published on 28 February 2019 in partnership with an organ donation charity, Live Life Give Life, as part of their "Let Love Live On" campaign. This music video featured Capaldi's distant relative, actor Peter Capaldi as a bereaved husband who finds some joy when he visits the family of the woman his wife donated her heart to, and is able to listen to her heartbeat one last time.
The second music video, featuring the singer himself, was released on 29 August 2019. In the start, Capaldi wanders the streets, following his lost love as his friends and strangers try to stop him from chasing after her. His brother, Aidan, also made an appearance at the beginning of the video where he pulls Lewis from the bench. The director of the music video, Ozzie Pullin, said:
The first person Lewis encounters is his brother, who pulls him up from the bench. This was an almost perfect metaphor because family members are usually the first people to push you forward.
Capaldi said:
For me the video is about the people we surround ourselves with that have the strength when we don't and help us continue to make the right decisions in moments of fear or hardship. In the moment we often choose to ignore friends and family, thinking our judgement is better, but of course in hindsight when you're in that headspace it's almost impossible to make the right decisions.

Chart performance

"Someone You Loved" reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart and stayed there for seven consecutive weeks. It is also Capaldi's first entry on the US Billboard Hot 100, debuting at No. 85 on the issue dated 25 May 2019 and becoming the singer's first number-one single in the country on the issue dated 2 November 2019. It reached No. 1 after 24 weeks on the chart, becoming one of the longest climbs to the top position in Billboard history. After three non-consecutive weeks on top it was replaced by Post Malone's "Circles".
In Ireland, the single cumulated 26.8 million streams in 2019 and was the biggest-selling song in the country that year.

Track listing

  • Digital download
  1. "Someone You Loved" – 3:02
  • Digital download
  1. "Someone You Loved" – 3:09
  • Digital download
  1. "Someone You Loved" – 2:37
  • CD single
  1. "Someone You Loved" – 3:02
  2. "Someone You Loved" – 2:37
  3. "Someone You Loved" – 3:02
  4. "Voice Note From Lewis"

    Personnel

  • TMS – production, mixing
  • Phil Cook – strings
  • Lewis Capaldi – vocals, piano
  • Robert Voseign – mastering
  • Ryan Walter – artwork design
  • Ali Gavillet – photography

    Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Chart Position
Australia 13
Austria 32
Belgium 42
Brazil Airplay 81
Canada 10
Denmark 7
France 75
Germany 36
Hungary 59
Ireland 11
Italy 57
Netherlands 20
New Zealand 17
Romania 60
Spain 95
Sweden 12
Switzerland 10
UK Singles 8
US Billboard Hot 10010
US Adult Contemporary 2
US Adult Top 40 8
US Mainstream Top 40 21

Chart Position
Australia 29
Brazil Streaming 171
Denmark 39
France 165
Global 200 singles of 2021|Global 200] 28
Ireland 43
Portugal 61
Sweden 77
Switzerland 50
UK Singles 30
Ukraine Airplay 45

Chart Position
Australia 48
Denmark 84
Global 200 54
UK Singles 53
Ukraine Airplay 157

Chart Position
Australia 30
Denmark 67
Global 200 49
Netherlands 54
New Zealand 37
Switzerland 20
UK Singles 27

Chart Position
Australia 56
France 134
Global 200 46
Netherlands 77
Portugal 135
Switzerland 32
UK Singles 53

Chart Position
Global 200 78
Switzerland 67
UK Singles 72

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Cover versions