"Since I Don't Have You" is a song by the doo-wop group The Skyliners. Released in early 1959, the single reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and also the top five of the R&B chart. The song, highlighted by a powerful vocal by lead singer Jimmy Beaumont, and a falsetto on the final chorus by Janet Vogel, is considered by oldies fans to be one of the best "heartbreak" ballads ever recorded, and a classic of pre-Beatles rock and roll, and is still frequently played on the radio. The song was featured in the films American Graffiti, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai, Lethal Weapon 2, and Mischief.
This song was covered by the hard rock band Guns N' Roses on their album, "The Spaghetti Incident?". This was Guns N' Roses seventh single release overall, and the third single lifted from "The Spaghetti Incident?". The single was released in mid-1994 and reached #69 on the Hot 100.
Other remakes of the song to chart since the original have included renditions by Chuck Jackson (1964), The Vogues (1970), Lenny Welch (1973), Barbra Streisand (1974), Patti LaBelle (1977), Art Garfunkel (1979), Don McLean (1981), Ronnie Milsap (1991), and The Brian Setzer Orchestra (1998).
McLean's version, which reached #23 on the Hot 100 in 1981, is the cover version which has come closest to the success of the Skyliners' original.
