Don't Leave Me Alone
"Don't Leave Me Alone" is a dance-pop song by French DJ and record producer David Guetta, featuring English singer-songwriter Anne-Marie on vocals. Released on 26 July 2018 as the fourth single from Guetta's seventh studio album, 7, the track was issued through the labels Parlophone and What a Music.[1][2] The song marks the first collaboration between Guetta and Anne-Marie, blending future bass and electropop elements with lyrics centered on themes of companionship and vulnerability in relationships.[3] It debuted at Tomorrowland 2018, where Guetta described it as a track about the importance of friends and the excitement of new music.[3] Produced primarily by Guetta, the single received a lyric video on the day of release and an official music video directed by Hannah Lux Davis on 20 August 2018, which has garnered over 157 million views on YouTube.[4][5] Commercially, "Don't Leave Me Alone" achieved moderate success internationally, charting on 12 different national charts for a total of 129 weeks.[6] In the United Kingdom, it peaked at number 18 on the Official Singles Chart and spent 11 weeks in the top 100, while reaching number 16 on the Irish Singles Chart.[7] The track was later certified gold by the RIAA in the United States on 23 January 2023, denoting 500,000 units in sales and streaming equivalents.[3]Background and development
Writing and inspiration
The song "Don't Leave Me Alone" was co-written by David Guetta, Noonie Bao, Sarah Aarons, and Linus Wiklund (known professionally as Lotus IV) during collaborative sessions in early 2018 as part of the development of Guetta's seventh studio album, 7.[8] The writing process began at Wiklund and Bao's home studio in Stockholm, where Guetta selected initial chord progressions played by Wiklund on piano, followed by the addition of an arpeggio, to establish the track's foundation; the structure was influenced by a two-note cadence similar to Guetta's prior track "2U," emphasizing a collaborative approach that allowed for organic evolution from basic elements rather than pre-produced instrumentals.[8] Guetta aimed to craft the song as an emotional pop-EDM hybrid, blending uplifting melodies with heartfelt vulnerability to serve as the album's opening track and set a tone of accessibility and innovation within his catalog.[8] This intent reflected his broader vision for 7, which sought to merge contemporary pop sensibilities with electronic dance elements, drawing on influences from his prior high-energy hits while exploring deeper emotional resonance.[8] The songwriters contributed to its melodic and lyrical structure, with Bao providing background vocals that informed the vocal layering and Aarons adding to the phrasing that captured themes of relational dependence. Anne-Marie provided vocals for the track in this first collaboration between her and Guetta.[9]Recording and production
The recording sessions for "Don't Leave Me Alone" occurred across multiple locations, including Guetta's studios in Los Angeles, London, and Ibiza, with initial writing taking place at the house studio of collaborators Linus Wiklund and Noonie Bao during early 2018.[10][8] Production was finalized at Sonic Vista Studios in Ibiza, building on the songwriters' initial demo to craft the track's structure.[8] The production was led by David Guetta and Lotus IV, with Guetta programming the drums in Ableton Live to create a driving beat. Synth layers were constructed using soft synths, blending simmering, melodic elements with pop sensibilities to fuse the genres into an uplifting electronic track. Vocal processing enhanced the emotional depth by combining elements with synth sounds in the drop for a seamless pop-EDM hybrid, avoiding pure vocal chops.[4][8][11] Final mixing and mastering were conducted by Serban Ghenea at MixStar Studios in Virginia Beach, Virginia, assisted by John Hanes, ensuring the track's clarity and dynamic range for optimal playback on radio and streaming platforms. This polishing phase stripped down extraneous elements for simplicity, allowing the synths, beat, and vocals to shine while maintaining broad commercial compatibility.[4][12]Release and promotion
Single release
"Don't Leave Me Alone" was released on July 27, 2018, as the fourth single from David Guetta's seventh studio album, 7, via digital download.[13] The single was issued by What a Music under exclusive license to Parlophone Records, a division of Warner Music Group, and distributed on major digital platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, and iTunes.[14][15] As the opening track on 7, which arrived on September 14, 2018, the song highlighted Guetta's focus on vocal-driven electronic dance music collaborations.[16] Guetta built anticipation in mid-July 2018 by sharing teaser clips and announcements on social media.[17] A lyric video was uploaded to YouTube on July 26, 2018, accompanying the single's launch.[18]Marketing strategies
To build anticipation for "Don't Leave Me Alone," released on July 27, 2018, David Guetta and Anne-Marie employed a multi-platform pre-release strategy centered on social media teasers. A lyric video was uploaded to YouTube on July 26, 2018, featuring animated visuals synchronized with the song's lyrics, which quickly amassed millions of views and helped generate early buzz among fans of EDM and pop music.[19][18][20] Collaborator promotion played a key role, with Anne-Marie actively participating in interviews that emphasized the track's relatable theme of vulnerability in relationships. In a Q&A, she described the song's narrative as conveying emotional intimacy through its lyrics and melody, aligning it with her personal songwriting style. Joint social media efforts amplified this, including coordinated posts on Instagram and Twitter; for instance, Anne-Marie shared the official video on Twitter upon its release, directing followers to YouTube and encouraging shares to boost visibility.[21] The campaign included targeted pushes to radio stations and streaming playlists to secure airplay and algorithmic exposure. The single received premieres on major outlets like BBC Radio, positioning it for rotation in pop and EDM formats, while Warner Music strategically added it to influential Spotify playlists such as New Music Friday and Today's Top Hits to reach global audiences.[22][23] Tie-ins with live performances further tested and built hype, as Guetta incorporated the track into his summer 2018 festival sets, including a prominent slot at Tomorrowland in Belgium, where audience reactions helped refine its rollout.[24][25]Music and lyrics
Musical composition
"Don't Leave Me Alone" is an EDM-infused pop track blending future bass and electropop elements, characterized by its upbeat electronic production and accessible melodic hooks. The song runs for 3:04 in length, with a tempo of 128 beats per minute (BPM) and is composed in the key of E minor.[12][26][27] The structure follows a verse-chorus form typical of contemporary EDM-pop, consisting of two verse-chorus units (VCUs), each comprising a verse, prechorus, chorus, and dance chorus, followed by a bridge leading into a final chorus. Verses are synth-driven with sparse textures, building tension through intensifying layers into an anthemic EDM chorus that serves as the song's emotional peak. The dance chorus introduces a drop-like section with heightened energy, creating formal instability through textural shifts that redefine sectional functions.[27] Instrumentation features synthesized harmonies and arpeggiated loops cycling through chord progressions (e.g., G–Am–Em | C–D–Em), supported by steady drums, deep bass drops, piano chords, and additional electronic layers that densify the texture in the chorus and dance sections. Layered, processed vocals enhance the celebratory feel of the drop, drawing stylistic influences from David Guetta's earlier work like "Titanium," which similarly combines pop vocals with EDM builds and releases. Anne-Marie delivers the lead vocals, with her melody ascending to a higher register in the prechorus for dynamic buildup and becoming repetitive and fragmented in the chorus for emphasis.[27]Lyrical themes
The lyrics of "Don't Leave Me Alone" revolve around a heartfelt plea for companionship, driven by an intense fear of abandonment and delving into the vulnerability experienced in contemporary romantic relationships.[3] The song portrays emotional dependency as a core element of love, with the narrator expressing distress at the mere thought of separation from their partner.[28] This theme underscores how solitude amplifies personal insecurities, making the partner's presence essential for emotional grounding.[29] Key sections of the lyrics highlight this narrative through vivid depictions of isolation and longing. The chorus emphatically states, "Don't you ever leave me, don't you ever go / I've seen it on TV, I know how it goes / Even when you're angry, even when I'm cold / Don't you ever leave me, don't leave me alone," capturing a desperate insistence on staying together amid potential conflicts.[3] In the verses, lines like "I don't know what I'd do without your comfort / If you really go first, if you really left" and "I don't wanna call and you not answer / Never see your face light up my phone" evoke everyday scenarios of disconnection, emphasizing the singer's reliance on routine intimacies to ward off loneliness.[3] These elements build a sense of immediacy, reinforcing the song's exploration of relational fragility. The narrative unfolds from a first-person perspective, primarily through Anne-Marie's vocals, which infuse the pleas with a mix of assertive empowerment and underlying desperation.[28] This delivery transforms the lyrics into a personal confession, blending strength in voicing needs with the raw admission of emotional neediness. The song's cultural resonance lies in its alignment with 2010s EDM-pop trends, where themes of emotional dependency in relationships are often amplified by high-energy drops to create relatable anthems of vulnerability.[3]Music video
Production details
The music video for "Don't Leave Me Alone" was directed by Hannah Lux Davis, known for her work on high-profile pop videos.[5] It was produced by Brandon Bonfiglio and Tom Birmingham under London Alley Entertainment.[4] The production emphasized a futuristic aesthetic set in a digital age devoid of human connection, blending live-action footage of Anne-Marie with computer-generated effects to convey isolation.[30] Anne-Marie stars as the sole lead performer in dystopian environments, with no appearance by David Guetta to spotlight her emotional delivery. This visual style ties briefly to the song's lyrical themes of loneliness.[31] Post-production focused on editing the visuals to align precisely with the track's rhythmic drops, enhancing the immersive experience. The video premiered on YouTube on August 20, 2018.[4]Concept and synopsis
The music video for "Don't Leave Me Alone" by David Guetta featuring Anne-Marie is set in a virtual reality world that portrays the singer trapped in a digital realm, symbolizing emotional isolation and the yearning for genuine connection in an increasingly disconnected society. Directed by Hannah Lux Davis, the video's overall concept draws from a dystopian vision of a future where human interactions are mediated through technology, emphasizing escapism as a response to loneliness. This framework aligns with the director's intent to blend futuristic aesthetics with the song's themes of vulnerability and attachment.[30][32] The synopsis begins with Anne-Marie in her mundane real-world bedroom, evoking a sense of emotional barrenness, before she dons a VR headset and transports into a vast, initially sparse virtual landscape. As the narrative progresses, she encounters holographic figures that represent lost or idealized connections, including a mysterious male avatar with glowing eyes who becomes her digital companion. Their interactions build through synchronized dances and intimate moments across surreal environments, culminating in an urgent plea echoed in the chorus as the virtual romance intensifies, only to fracture with hints of impending disconnection. By the video's conclusion, Anne-Marie removes the headset, returning to her isolated reality and underscoring the transient nature of virtual bonds.[33][28][34] Visually, the video employs neon aesthetics to illuminate the digital spaces, with vibrant pinks, blues, and greens pulsing through strobe-lit dance floors, lush forests, and stark mountaintops, creating a hypnotic yet otherworldly atmosphere. Glitch effects intensify during the song's drops, distorting the visuals to mimic digital instability and mirroring the lyrical desperation for reassurance. These motifs escalate into controlled chaos—figures multiplying and landscapes shifting rapidly—to symbolize the overwhelming fear of abandonment, differentiating the video's eerie, introspective tone from typical high-energy EDM clips and enhancing the song's emotional depth.[30][33][32]Critical reception
Professional reviews
Dancing Astronaut praised "Don't Leave Me Alone" as an upbeat electro-pop track suited for summer, highlighting Anne-Marie's "love struck vocals" that anchor the song and her delivery in "top form," predicting it was "bound for deserved radio play."[35] In its review of the parent album 7, Rolling Stone described the first half—which opens with the single—as "business as usual" for Guetta, featuring a string of collaborations in his signature EDM-pop style but lacking bold innovation compared to trendier elements elsewhere on the record.[36] Critics noted the production's polished, radio-friendly hook as a strength, with Anne-Marie's emotive performance adding vulnerability to the lyrics about fearing loneliness in a relationship, though some viewed the overall sound as formulaic Guetta fare reminiscent of prior hits like "Flames" with Sia.[36]Public and fan response
The official music video for "Don't Leave Me Alone," released in August 2018, quickly garnered significant attention, reaching 12 million views on YouTube within its first month and accumulating over 157 million views as of November 2025.[37][4] The track also achieved strong streaming performance, surpassing 292 million plays on Spotify as of late 2025, reflecting robust playlist inclusion and listener engagement on the platform.[38] Fans responded enthusiastically to the song's relatable lyrics exploring themes of emotional dependency and fear of solitude, generating positive discussions that highlighted its emotional resonance and catchy chorus, in line with professional acclaim for its sing-along appeal.[39] The chorus, in particular, inspired fan-created memes and covers, including amateur acoustic renditions that circulated widely online, such as a popular version by singer Davina Michelle.[40] The track's virality extended to social media, where it featured in user-generated content and challenges on platforms like TikTok starting post-release, further amplifying its reach among younger audiences. Over time, "Don't Leave Me Alone" has solidified its status as a fan favorite from David Guetta's seventh studio album, 7, with sustained inclusions in his live sets, including performances at major events like the Capital FM Jingle Bell Ball in 2018 and ongoing tours.[41][42]Commercial performance
Chart positions
"Don't Leave Me Alone" experienced solid performance on dance and electronic charts worldwide, particularly in Europe, where it entered the top 30 in multiple countries. In the United States, the track reached a peak of number 12 on the Billboard Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart.[43] On the UK Singles Chart, it climbed to number 18 and remained for 11 weeks.[7] The song also peaked at number 16 in Ireland after debuting at 48, marking its strongest showing there with 12 weeks on the chart.[6] Its trajectory highlighted strong EDM appeal in Europe, such as a number 22 peak on the Dutch Top 40 (9 weeks) and number 27 on the Belgium Singles Top 50 (18 weeks), though it saw a slower climb in Asian markets with limited chart entries.[6] Overall, the single charted for over 20 weeks in key European markets like Germany (peak 32, 18 weeks) and Austria (peak 26, 16 weeks), bolstered by sustained streaming activity.[6] Compared to other tracks from David Guetta's album 7, it outperformed several in dance genres but trailed "Flames" on mainstream pop charts.| Chart (2018) | Peak Position | Weeks on Chart |
|---|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot Dance/Electronic Songs | 12 | Not specified |
| UK Singles (OCC) | 18 | 11 |
| Ireland Singles Top 100 (IRMA) | 16 | 12 |
| Netherlands Top 40 | 22 | 9 |
| France Singles Top 100 (SNEP) | 49 | 10 |
| Australia Singles Top 50 (ARIA) | 43 | 2 |
| Canada Singles Top 100 (Billboard) | 66 | 9 |
| Germany Singles Top 100 (GfK) | 32 | 18 |
| Belgium Singles Top 50 (Ultratop) | 27 | 18 |
Certifications and sales
The song "Don't Leave Me Alone" by David Guetta featuring Anne-Marie has achieved several certifications reflecting its commercial success in key markets. In France, it was certified Gold by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP) on May 31, 2019, for equivalent sales of 75,000 units.[44] In the United Kingdom, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) awarded it Gold certification for 400,000 units. In the United States, it was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on January 23, 2023, for 500,000 units. Streaming has been a major contributor to its performance, with over 290 million streams on Spotify as of late 2025.[45]Track listing and formats
Standard edition
The standard edition of "Don't Leave Me Alone" was released as the fourth single from David Guetta's seventh studio album, 7 (2018), serving as its opening track.[46] Track listing- "Don't Leave Me Alone" (feat. Anne-Marie) – 3:03[47]
The audio is delivered in a standard 44.1 kHz stereo mix, consistent with conventional digital audio specifications for pop releases.[48]