Chicago - Look Away (1988)

“Look Away” is a 1988 power ballad by American rock band Chicago. Written by Diane Warren, produced by Ron ...

“Look Away” is a 1988 power ballad by American rock band Chicago. Written by Diane Warren, produced by Ron Nevison, and with Bill Champlin on lead vocals, it is the second single from the band’s album Chicago 19. “Look Away” is Chicago’s largest selling single of all, topping the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in December 1988, matching the chart success of the group’s “If You Leave Me Now” (1976) and “Hard to Say I’m Sorry” (1982). “Look Away” is Chicago’s seventh song to have peaked at No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart as well as the No. 1 song on the 1989 year-end Billboard Hot 100 chart, even though it never held the No. 1 spot at all in 1989.

The song, unlike hits from early in Chicago’s career, does not prominently feature horns. It is also the band’s only No. 1 single following the 1985 departure of Peter Cetera.

Reception

“Look Away” entered the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in September 1988 and reached No. 1, where it spent two weeks, in December. Champlin said he was unaware of the feat at the time. “Everybody said, ‘I hear your song every day,'” he recalled. “I go, ‘What song?’ I was kind of oblivious to the whole thing, busy working on new stuff. That’s what happens. As everybody else gets aware of what you’re doing, you’re usually about five or six tunes past it.” The single was certified gold in January and ranked No. 1 on the 1989 Billboard Year-End singles chart. It also reached No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

Outside the U.S., “Look Away” peaked at No. 1 in Canada, No. 10 in the Netherlands, No. 15 in Sweden, and No. 20 in Belgium.

A British man now claims he is the author of the song and has launched legal proceedings.