"Halo" was released as the fourth single from Beyoncé's third album, I Am...Sasha Fierce. The song peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent a total of 30 weeks on the chart. Halo has been certified double-platinum by the RIAA.
Writing and production
"Halo" was composed by Ryan Tedder, lead vocalist of OneRepublic, together with Evan "Kidd" Bogart and Beyoncé. In an interview for HitQuarters, Kidd narrated the events that led to writing the song. OneRepublic canceled their tour after Tedder had broken his Achilles tendon and had undergone surgery. The following day, the band sent Tedder to Los Angeles. There, he and Kidd were socializing when Tedder expressed his desire to write a song. Kidd was initially opposed to the idea because Tedder was supposed to be recuperating, but the pair went to Tedder's studio. During the writing sessions, singer Ray LaMontagne was the primary inspiration for "Halo". Kidd suggested they create a song in the style of LaMontagne's "Shelter" for Beyoncé and her husband Jay-Z, and proposed the title "Halo" after hearing Tedder play "angelic" chords. They wrote the song in three hours.
According to Simon Cowell, owner of the music production company Syco Entertainment, Bogart and Tedder intended "Halo" for his client, singer Leona Lewis, who could not record the song because of her tight schedule. Cowell was upset that Beyoncé chose to record the song. David Balls, editor of the British media website Digital Spy, asked Tedder during an interview whether "Halo" had initially been written for Lewis. Tedder answered that he had only tentatively offered the track to Lewis, after Beyoncé waited a long time before recording it. He commented:
Tedder and Beyoncé produced "Halo" in 2008 at Los Angeles' Manfield Studios, and at New York City's Germano and Roc The Mic Studios. Tedder did the musical arrangements and played the instruments, while Christian Baker assisted in recording the music. Mark "Spike" Stent mixed the track with assistance from Matt Green, and Jim Caruana recorded Beyoncé's vocals; both these tasks were done at Roc the Mic Studios.[1] "Halo" is present on the I Am... disc of the double album I Am... Sasha Fierce, as it is a ballad that shows Beyoncé's insecurities about love, and the person she is "underneath all the makeup, underneath the lights and underneath all the exciting star drama". Beyoncé has said that she loves singing ballads because, "... the music and the emotion in the story is told [sic] so much better. It's a better connection because you can hear it and it's not all these other distractions. I really wanted people to hear my voice and hear what I had to say."
Critical reception
Christian Williams of Billboard magazine wrote that the pop sound of "Halo" should take it to the top of the charts.[11] He added that comparisons could be made to Lewis' "Bleeding Love" (2007), but concluded that "Halo" "hangs high on its own merits". Michael Slezak of Entertainment Weekly described "Halo" as "an absolutely glorious and perfectly produced track", which had the potential to be as commercially successful as "Crazy in Love" (2003) and "Irreplaceable" (2007). Joey Guerra of the Houston Chronicle wrote that it was an immediate standout on I Am... Sasha Fierce. Praising the "big and wide" melodies of "Halo", Matos Michaelangelo of The A.V. Club commented that Beyoncé has "a real flair for grandeur". Jennifer Cady of E! Online wrote that the song could be included on a romantic mixtape, and James Montgomery of MTV News noted that the "tear-jerking power" of "Halo" reveals "sides of Beyoncé we never knew existed". Ryan Dombal of Pitchfork wrote that Beyoncé's vocal delivery was "strident and exposed", reminiscent of Céline Dion's style.
In spite of what he called the "garden-variety lyrics" of the ballad, James Reed of The Boston Globe wrote that "Halo" was "the most evocative power ballad" recorded by Beyoncé, comparing it to the work done by American record producer and songwriter Phil Spector on his Wall of Sound mixing board. Critics have highlighted the similarities of "Halo" to Rihanna's "Umbrella" (2007); Alexis Petridis of The Guardian noted that "Halo" has the same "icy synths, drivetime rock dynamic, and a similar repetitive chorus". This view was echoed by Jennifer Vineyard of MTV News[10] and Brent DiCrescenzo of Timeout, who viewed "Halo" as a "Bette Midler–level hymn from ['Umbrella'], lift[ing its] savior theme". Nick Levine of Digital Spy described "Halo" as a "muscular hybrid" of "Umbrella" and Lewis' "Bleeding Love". David Balls of the same website wrote, "Halo' is a contemporary power ballad in the 'Bleeding Love' mould ... Could Lewis have pulled this off better? Well, that's a matter of opinion of course, but Mrs. Jay-Z doesn't leave much room for improvement."
Lyrics
{{{1}}}