One (Harry Nilsson song)

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"One"
Side B of the UK single; solid center variant
Single by Harry Nilsson
from the album Aerial Ballet
B-side	"Sister Marie"
Released	1968
Recorded	1967
Studio	RCA (Hollywood, California)
Genre	Chamber pop[1] folk rock[2] soft rock[3]
Label	RCA Records
Songwriter(s)	Harry Nilsson
Producer(s)	Rick Jarrard
Harry Nilsson singles chronology
"Good Old Desk" (1967) "One" (1968) "Everybody's Talkin'" (1968)
Audio
"One" by Harry Nilsson on YouTube

"One" is a song by American singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson from his 1968 album Aerial Ballet. It is known for its opening line "One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do". Nilsson wrote the song after calling someone and getting a busy signal. He stayed on the line listening to the "beep, beep, beep, beep..." tone, writing the song. The busy signal became the opening notes.

A better-known cover version, recorded by Three Dog Night, reached number five on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100^[4] in 1969 and number four in Canada. In 1969, the song was also recorded by Australian pop singer Johnny Farnham, reaching number four on the Go-Set National Top 40 Chart.^[5]