"The Story" is a song released as a single by American folk rock singer Brandi Carlile, written by Phil Hanseroth, from her 2007 album The Story. It was featured in Grey's Anatomy in 2007 and is on Grey's Anatomy Soundtrack album 3. About four years later, a version of the song has been recorded by Grey's Anatomy actress Sara Ramirez and was first presented in the 2011 episode "Song Beneath the Song". The track was later covered by LeAnn Rimes for her Remnants album and by Dolly Parton for the charity tribute album Cover Stories.
"The Story" was released as a single in 2007. It was iTunes' Download of the Week in March 2007. Carlile has performed the song live on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Early Show. Along with other songs by Carlile, "The Story" received exposure to a wider audience by being played on the soundtrack to medical drama series Grey's Anatomy. The song, and parts of the video, appeared in 2007 in a special recap episode titled "Every Moment Counts". The song was also used in a General Motors commercial that aired during television coverage of the 2008 Summer Olympics. "The Story" has become the most popular song from Carlile's album.
Chart performance and reception
In the United States Brandi Carlile's "The Story" reached No. 75 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, as well as No. 35 on the Adult Pop Songs chart and No. 48 on the Digital Songs chart. The song peaked at No. 44 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, No. 3 on the Norwegian VG-lista chart, No. 16 on the Swiss singles chart and No. 38 on the Ö3 Austria Top 40 chart. Tom Scanlon of The Seattle Times describes a live performance of "The Story" as "stunning" and "spine-chilling". He notes the transition within the song between acoustic pop-rock and "scream-singing" that resembles Janis Joplin. A writer for Indianapolis Monthly also draws a comparison between Carlile's vocals and those of Joplin. ;Brandi Carlile version
Chart
Peak position
;Sara Ramirez version
Sara Ramirez version
In 2011, "The Story" was again featured in an episode of Grey's Anatomy. The series 7 episode "Song Beneath the Song" was a special musical episode that included renditions of popular songs performed by the show's characters. In the episode Sara Ramirez, in the role of Callie Torres, sings "The Story". Ramirez' version of the song was included as a track on her 2011 extended play, Sara Ramirez and the 2011 album Grey's Anatomy: The Music Event. Sara's rendition was used again in 2018 on the season fourteen finale.
LeAnn Rimes version
artist LeAnn Rimes released a cover version of the song on 24 June 2016 in the UK as the first single from her thirteenth studio album Remnants and her first release after signing with RCA UK. Rimes promoted the track with live performances on BBC One's The One Show and at London nightclub Heaven, but the track failed to enter any commercial charts in the UK. Rimes has indicated that she feels a strong connection with the track. In an interview with Billboard, she said "I fully embrace the journey I am on and have a deeper understanding of how every piece of my story serves a purpose in my evolution as a woman and an artist. This song is not only a love song but a song of self-acceptance and appreciation for life." A music video directed by Isaac Rentz premiered on Rimes' Vevo channel on 9 August 2016.
Dolly Parton version
The song was covered by American singer-songwriter Dolly Parton for the 2017 compilation album Cover Stories. It was released as the first single from the album on February 21, 2017.
Background
When Carlile began planning to record a cover of her ground-breaking 2007 album, The Story, she said that her idol, Parton, was the only person she had in mind to record the title track. When Carlile wrote Parton asking her to record the track, she suggested Parton could drop the key to make it easier to sing. She later recalled the letter, saying it was "about the stupidest thing I think I’ve ever put down in writing." Parton enthusically accepted the offer to record the song and in her hand-written response she told Carlile, "Honey, do me a favor. Don’t drop the key. I think I can handle it." Upon hearing the completed recording, Carlile realized she had been one-upped, saying, "Every gratuitous and show-offy note that I hit in that song, Dolly hits it initially and then takes it higher. She just completely takes me to school."
Music video
The music video for the song was released on May 9, 2017.
