I'll Be There for You (Theme from "Friends")
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"I'll Be There for You", performed by The Rembrandts, is the theme song to the hit American sitcom Friends which began airing in 1994. Although The Rembrandts write most of their own songs, this one was written specifically for the show by Michael Skloff and Allee Willis.
After a Tennessee disc jockey looped the short song into a full-length track and played it on the air, it became so popular that they had to record it. "Our record label said we had to finish the song and record it. There was no way to get out of it," lead singer Phil Sōlem said, in an AP wire story widely quoted at the time of the final episode of the show.
The song was almost not included on the album LP that The Rembrandts released a year later in 1995, but the decision was made at the last minute to add it. Originally the song was not released as a single (and album sales were boosted because fans bought the entire album to get a copy of the song), but radio stations played the song constantly anyway. When the single was finally released, it made number two in the UK and reached number seventeen on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.
Though rarely heard on UK radio after its early popularity, the song was frequently played on UK pop radio in 2004 around the time of the end of Friends, demonstrating the popularity of the show and the magnitude of the song.
The song has been included on the following albums:
- Friends: Music From The TV Series (1994 soundtrack compilation)
- LP - The Rembrandts (1995)
- Friends Again (1999 soundtrack compilation)
- Serial TV: Les Plus Grands Hits Des Séries TV (compilation)
The second stanza of the song reflected the theme of Friends - "comedy in friendship:"
"You're still in bed at ten when your work began at eight
you've burned your breakfast, so far things are goin' great"
The music video of this song was also popular worldwide, featuring all the six main stars of the show where they gradually take the singing and dancing roles of the band.