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Key Points John Denver wrote his most romantic song in ten minutes, inspired while skiing in Aspen. The hit was about his then-wife, Annie Martell, but they later divorced. Denver had four number one Billboard hits including 'Annie's Song,' 'I'm Sorry,' 'Thank God I'm a Country Boy,' and 'Sunshine on My Shoulders.' John Denver was so inspired to write his most romantic song that he completed it in just ten minutes, in a place no one would have expected. “Annie’s Song” was the lead single from Denver’s eighth studio album, Back Home Again, and the tune became his second chart-topping hit in the U.S. It held the number-one position for two weeks in July 1974, and reached number one on Billboard‘s Easy Listening chart. The song was about his love for his then-wife Annie Martell. The couple was married from 1967 through 1982. Martell told Mo Rocca for the podcast Mobituaries, “It was written after John and I had gone through a pretty intense time together and things were pretty good for us. He left to go skiing, and he got on the Ajax chair on Aspen Mountain, and the song just came to him.” Parade Daily🎬 SIGN UP for Parade’s Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox 🎬 She added, “He skied down and came home and wrote it down. Initially it was a love song and it was given to me through him, and yet for him it became a bit like a prayer.” The inspiration behind ‘Annie’s Song’ American Songwriter shared a quote from Denver’s autobiography Take Me Home: An Autobiography, where he spoke of the inspiration behind “Annie’s Song.” Denver wrote that while on the ski lift, “Suddenly, I’m hypersensitive to how beautiful everything is.” “All of these things filled up my senses, and when I said this to myself unbidden images came one after the other. All of the pictures merged and I was left with Annie. That song was the embodiment of the love I felt at that time.” Despite the song’s declaration of love, with lyrics speaking of an unforgettable romantic love, (per Genius), their union didn’t last. Annie and Denver divorced in 1982 after 15 years of marriage. “You fill up my senses, like a night in a forest Like the mountains in springtime, like a walk in the rain Like a storm in the desert, like a sleepy blue ocean You fill up my senses, come fill me again.” Denver had four number one Billboard hits including “Annie’s Song,” “I’m Sorry,” “Thank God I’m a Country Boy,” and “Sunshine on My Shoulders.” Holding at number two was “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”
