- Midler for the 1979 movie of the same name, which she starred in. McBroom didn’t know anything about the movie when she wrote the song, but it just so happened to share a title with the film and be right in the wheelhouse of Bette Midler, who fought to get it in the film.McBroom explained: “A song came on the radio. It was ‘Magdalena’ by Danny O’Keefe, sung by Leo Sayer. I liked it immediately. My favorite line was, ‘You’re love is like a razor. My heart is just a scar.’ I thought, ‘Ooh, I love that lyric, but don’t agree with the sentiment that love is a razor.’As I continued to drive down the road the thought came, ‘What, then, do I think love is?’ Suddenly, it was as if someone had opened a window in the top of my head. Words came pouring in. I had to keep reciting them to myself as I drove faster and faster towards home, so I wouldn’t forget them. I screeched into my driveway, ran into the house, past various bewildered dogs and cats and husbands, and sat down at the piano. Ten minutes later, ‘The Rose’ was there.A year or so later, a professional songwriter friend of mine said, ‘Listen, there is this movie coming out called The Rose, based on the life of Janis Joplin. They are looking for a title tune. Do you want me to submit this to them? I had never really tried to submit a song to anyone. I didn’t consider myself a songwriter at the time. So I said, ‘Sure.’The producers hated it. They thought it was dull and not rock and roll and totally wrong. They put it in the reject box. But Paul Rothchild, who had been Janis Joplin’s producer, and now the music supervisor on the film, hauled it out and asked them to reconsider. They again said no. So he mailed it to Bette Midler, the star of the movie. She liked it, lobbied in favor of it; and that’s how it got into the film and changed my life forever.”
- This song branches out far beyond the typical love song, with themes of renewal and strength. The theme – a seed blooming into a rose as a metaphor for love – packs an emotional wallop that has made the song a favorite at both weddings and funerals, a rare feat.
- Roses show up a lot in titles of hit songs, often with very different meanings. Other Top 10 hits include “Bed Of Roses” by Bon Jovi, “Roses Are Red (My Love)” by Bobby Vinton,” “Eighteen Yellow Roses” by Bobby Darin, “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” by Poison and “Kiss From A Rose” by Seal.
- To tie in with this song, Bette Midler appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone (issue dated December 13, 1979) lying on a literal bed of roses. The photo was taken by Annie Leibovitz; an assistant had to cut off all the thorns.
- The song appears in the television show Family Guy in the episode “Baby Not on Board.” The song is sung by the Griffin Family, as Peter, the father, tries to suggest a good driving song. Other TV series to use the song include Glee, True Detective and Fresh Off The Boat.
- Fans of the 2004 cult classic film Napoleon Dynamite remember this song for a classic scene were, as part of the Happy Hands Club, Napoleon does a kinetic interpretation of this song at school. The version used in the film is by a Los Angeles singer named Darci Monet – using the Bette Midler version would have been far too expensive for the film, which was shot on a low budget.
- “The Rose” was Bette Midler’s first big hit, going to #3 in the US and also topping the Adult Contemporary chart. To this point, she was mostly known for reworking familiar songs into something suitable for musical theater, which was her background. Her concert favorites include renditions of “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” “All That Jazz” and “Chapel Of Love.”She didn’t go out and record another big, emotional ballad right away, but when she starred in the 1988 movie Beaches, she sang “The Wind Beneath My Wings,” which was a #1 and another song frequently played at funerals. In 1990 she released “From A Distance,” another song that can bring the tears.
- Bette Midler won a Grammy award for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female, for “The Rose.” It was Midler’s second Grammy – seven years earlier she won for Best New Artist.
- Hundreds of artists have covered this song. Some of the most popular renditions are by Bonnie Tyler, Conway Twitty, LeAnn Rimes and Judy Collins.
