Song · Melissa Etheridge
“I'm The Only One” by Melissa Etheridge
From the album Yes I Am (1993)
“I'm The Only One” by Melissa Etheridge appears on 11 radio countdowns from 4 stations between 1997 and 2024. It was first released in 1993 on the album Yes I Am. Its best result is #552 on the WYEP 913 Countdown 2016. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #2,530 alternative song of all time.
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"I'm the Only One" kicked off Yes I Am, Melissa Etheridge's fourth album, when Island sent it out as the first single in September 1993. She wrote it alone and plays both acoustic and electric guitar on it, with Waddy Wachtel adding more electric crunch, Pino Palladino on bass, Mauricio Lewak on drums and percussion and Scott Thurston on keyboards. Hugh Padgham produced, engineered and mixed it, and he keeps the sound lean and punchy so nothing gets between you and that raw, sandpaper voice.
It's a slow-burning, heart-on-the-sleeve rocker, all grit and pleading, and America took its time catching on. Only after "Come to My Window" broke through did the single go out again, finally reaching number 8 on the Hot 100 and the top of the Adult Contemporary chart in January 1995. No other song of hers has done better on either chart, and it picked up a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Song.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
Classic Rock
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 583 | 102.3 WBAB | WBAB Top 1,023 Rock and Roll Songs of All Time (1997) | 1023 |
| 1999 | 1099 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 2000 |
| 2000 | 1101 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) | 2001 |
| 2001 | 1107 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) | 2002 |
| 2002 | 1106 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) | 2003 |
| 2003 | 1091 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) | 2004 |
| 2004 | 1091 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) | 2005 |
| 2005 | 1091 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) | 1994 |
| 2016 | 552 | WYEP | WYEP 913 Countdown 2016 | 913 |
| 2023 | 634 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s | 893 |
| 2024 | 757 | WYEP | WYEP Best Songs of the Past 50 Years | 1049 |
Also listed as: I'm the Only One.
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