Songfacts®:

• This was released as the first single in North America and Japan and the second single in other parts of the world from Canadian singer Celine Dion's album Falling Into You.
• The song was written by Diane Warren and produced by David Foster for the movie Up Close & Personal. It was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award and won a Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.
• Diane Warren explained in the book Chicken Soup For the Soul: The Story Behind The Song how she honors her father in this song. Said Warren: "I saw the film with the director, Jon Avnet, on a Friday. I thought, 'What would I want to hear at the end of the movie?' Jon played me a tape of a gospel singer to give me a sense of what he was looking for – something really soulful.
  I went into my office on Saturday, the following day, and the chorus came quickly. Michelle Pfeiffer's character is thanking Robert Redford's character for believing in her. The song became personal at the same time that it was telling the story of the film. Once I began, it became a way of thanking my dad for everything he did for me and the support he has always given me. He believed in me and my music from the time I was a little girl. When I was 15, he took me around to music publishers. Not only did he support my goals, he supported me financially while I was struggling in the beginning.
  I had to wait for months to see if my song would be chosen to use in the film or if they would select one of the other four submissions. Thank goodness I had just started therapy! It got me through it."
• The song was an international hit spending six weeks at #1 on Billboard's Hot 100. It also topped the charts in Australia (3 weeks) and Canada (1 week). The single also set a then record on the US Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks, where it remained at #1 for 19 weeks. Warren commented in The Story Behind The Song: "This was the song that brought me to another level. The song was better than I was at the time."
• The track has been covered by various artists including Johnny Mathis (1998), Michael Ball (1998), Jane McDonald (2001) and Clay Aiken (2006). Said Warren: "There have been so many versions from gospel to dance, Spanish versions and recordings all over the world. I am super proud of that song."
• This is a very popular wedding song. One high-profile couple that used it as their first dance is Vince Gill and Amy Grant, who married in Nashville in 2000.
• Diane Warren was very pleased with "Because."
  
  "I feel like it was a leap in my craft," Warren told Billboard in a podcast. "I felt that when I wrote that song, it was better than I was at the time, if that makes sense. I was like, 'Whoa, this is probably my best song.' There's something lyrically about it."