DEF: Bette Midler “The Rose”

At the 1981 Grammy awards, Bette Midler‘s “The Rose,” from the 1979 film of the same name in which she starred, beat out Irene Cara’s “Fame,” Olivia Newton-John’s “Magic,” Barbra Streisand’s “Woman in Love,” and Donna Summer’s “On the Radio” to win the award for best female pop vocal performance. During the song’s run on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart the previous year, “The Rose” became the second of Midler’s four Top 10 hits. Exactly 40 years ago, “The Rose” climbed to a peak position of number 3.