History Main / IncrediblyLongNote

*** Tellingly, Christine doesnt have any lines until Il Muto near the end of Act 1, likely to give the actress a rest after that song.

* In ''Theatre/HereWeAre'' The Soldier and Fritz sing "Oh my Gooooooooooood!!!" for an extremely long time, crossing over into OverlyLongGag when the actors run out of breath and have no restart partway through.

** -->"Accidents, incidents, accidents happen juuuuust... like thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!"

* ''WesternAnimation/Thomas&Friends'':
** --> "Accidents, incidents, accidents happen juuuuust... like thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!"

* ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'': In "The Water Buffalo Song", Larry holds an "oo" sound at the end of the first verse that lasts about six seconds. Being a Silly Song, this is played for laughs, with Larry gradually tipping back throughout the entire note.

* WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick's review of ''Theatre/LesMiserables'' ends with a rendition of "One Day More" by a number of singers on the Website/ThatGuyWithTheGlasses site. WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic gets to hold the long note and plays it for laughs.

[[Theatre/JesusChristSuperstar Jesus,]] ''[[Creator/TedNeely how much breath does this guy have?!]]''

[[Theatre/JesusChristSuperstar Jesus,]] ''[[Music/IanGillan how much breath does this guy have?!]]''

[[Theatre/JesusChristSuperstar Jesus,]] ''[[Creator/IanGillan how much breath does this guy have?!]]''

Jesus, ''how much breath does this guy have?!''

* A lot of artists on ''Series/TheVoice'' tend to drag out the last note of their performances as long as possible in a last-ditch attempt to try and get the judges to turn around. In [[http://youtu.be.com/1JLTyL5M0aY this example]] from ''Series/TheVoice UK'' auditionee Ruth Brown holds the last note of "When Love Takes Over" for an astonishing 16 seconds - and it convinces Music/TomJones to pick her. Don't think that's very long? You try it.

* In "Burn" from ''Theatre/Hamilton'', Eliza holds an A4 on "mine" at the end of the crescendo, before dropping down into a quiet whisper for the last line of the song.

* [[https://youtu.be/3tXM5yhqY4U Franco Corelli was notorious for this]]. He had enormous lung capacity and superb breath control, and would hold out on climactic loud high notes whether the score called for it or not. Audiences loved it. Conductors and some fellow artists, not so much. He got very good at sustaining softly as well.

* Franco Corelli
* Birgit Nilsson, especially when paired against Franco Corelli.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' had a similar gag to ''Spy Hard'' — Fiona starts singing with a bird, but they do a note so long and so high the bird explodes.
** It's worth pointing out that that last note is also horrendously off-key. Cameron Diaz was unable to hit the note, much less sustain it, so they had to bring in a professional opera singer to do the singing part there. Y'know what they say: [[HollywoodToneDeaf it takes a very good singer to sound that bad]].

* The end of ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kro27B8eXeE&t=2m35s Can You Stand Upon One Leg?]]'' by The Divine Comedy has the singer [[LampshadeHanging lampshading]] how holding a singing note 'for a stupidly long time' is his party piece, and decides to challenge himself by making it a high note. He holds it for ''almost exactly 30 seconds'', and generally finishes many of his more recent performances with this song (because, really, if you're going to do that, you pretty much HAVE to finish on it).

* Elton Britt, a country music singer of the Depression and World War II eras, held a single note – part of a yodel – for 25 seconds in his 1934 hit "Chime Bells." Britt recorded the song several times through the 1930s, with new recordings as late as 1959, where he held the note every time. It was his 1947 version that became an established hit on the then still-relatively new ''Billboard'' country charts, the "yo-del-leh-heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee ... " intact.
* Regine Velazquez does this at the end of almost all of her songs. It's no wonder she is the Filipino songbird. Heck, she can go high as C5-D6!
* The Music/FatboySlim song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_X_1o3Qw4KM "Praise You"]] has vocals taken from the song "Take Yo' Praise" by Camille Yarbrough, but the "should" starting at 0:32 is digitally treated to last for a whopping 46 seconds!
* [[Music/CabCalloway "The Saint Louis Bluuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuues!"]]
** Cab would eventually work this into [[https://youtu.be/8mq4UT4VnbE?t=127 some live performances]] as a show-stopper: he'd hold an especially difficult note, get "challenged" by a wind instrument, and compete with it to see who could keep going for longer.
* Jim Gillette, Lead singer of Michael Angelo Batio's former band, Nitro, belts out a simultaneously awesome and hilarious 30 second falsetto scream in their song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=537hCRIhQKw Machine Gunn Eddie]]" (starting at about 49 seconds in).

* [[https://youtube.com/watch?v=HAnVrdQ3qFk This performance]] of Scriabin's Poem of Ecstasy ends with a 19-second chord.
* Music/TheyMightBeGiants:
** Near the end of "See the Constellation", the Johns holding the last note in "Do you hear what I see in the sky?" for roughly fifteen seconds.
** "Til My Head Falls Off" ends with the two Johns singing the last "off" for over ten seconds straight.
** John Linnell singing the end of ''Fingertips'' in [[http://tmbw.net/wiki/Podcast_2A this]] TMBG podcast starting at 6:18 and ending at 6:37, a full ''19 seconds'' of him singing the letter "I"... He becomes noticeably out of breath the last few seconds.
* "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" from ''{{Theatre/Dreamgirls}}'' is one of the best-known examples in modern theater; it includes not one but '''two''' Incredibly Long Notes at the end, back to back. This is the reason Jennifer Holiday won a Tony in 1982 and Jennifer Hudson an Oscar in 2007. ''There is no mediocrity with this song.'' Performing it is either a singer's SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome or biggest {{Epic Fail}}ure.

* Lord Worm, the vocalist of Cryptopsy, holds a scream for over 30 seconds on the track Open Face Surgery.

* The RockStarSong song "Opening Band" by Paul and Storm is three minutes of SelfDeprecation ending with a succession of "Hello"s, the last of which is held for a long time. 22 seconds to be exact, in the studio version. (Considering that they're also listed up in "Parodies", we can be confident that they like this trope.)
* Also an example of CarefulWithThatAxe, but [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gO2G21Ucqk The Marshall Arts by Razor]] has a 27 second long scream that sounds more like a tire squealing than a human being.
* Music/LinkinPark's late co-frontman Chester Bennington bellowed a few of these in some of their songs, though it sometimes crosses with MetalScream:
** His two-note, seventeen-second belter at the end of the bridge in "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xyxtzD54rM Given Up]]" is particularly regarded for this trope due to the straight, seamless transition between notes. Though admittedly, he has added a slight pause in between said notes during their later live acts.
** Then this gets slightly trumped by "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTgor60kaZk War]]" from ''The Hunting Party'', where he just lets it loose with the long screams, capped with a very long '''"WAAAAAAAAAAAAR!!!!"''' at the very end.
* "The Luckiest Guy On The Lower East Side" by The Magnetic Fields ends in a series of "ride"s of increasingly long duration. They go up in pitch as well.
* In ''[[Theatre/TanzDerVampire Dance of the Vampires]]'', Michael Crawford held a note at the end of Act I for a very long time, as he was escorting his bride across the drawbridge into his castle. (Though it was pre-recorded, not actually performed live).
* Michael Crawford also held a 21-second long note during the song 'I Can Get Away With Anything' on opening night of ''[[Main/TheWomanInWhite Woman in White]]''.
* Music/JudasPriest: [[PunctuatedForEmphasis CAN'T! STOP! THE! PAIN!KILL!ER................................................................................................]] (Almost 20 seconds. Have fun with that on ''VideoGame/RockBand 2''.) [[spoiler: PAIN!]]

* "Dim All the Lights" from ''Music/BadGirls'' by Music/DonnaSummer once held (and may still?) the record for the longest note held in an American Top 40 pop hit.
* ''Theatre/{{Wicked}}'' has this happen a lot, in the form of [[IWantSong "The Wizard And I"]] (Twice!) and [[BSODSong "No Good Deed"]] ([[SerialEscalation FOUR TIMES!]]) Creator/StephenSchwartz explicitly said that while a mezzo-soprano, the vocal range for Elphaba's role in every other song, ''might'' be able to pull it off, she also needs to be a belter for the second number alone.
* The last "fly" in Music/MartinaMcBride's "A Broken Wing" is held out for thirteen seconds. Martina has said that she can usually sustain it ''even longer'' in concert.
* "Run To the Hills" by Music/IronMaiden. You'll know the part.
** "Hallowed Be Thy Name", too.
** The first verse of the TitleTrack, "The Number of the Beast", is prefaced by a legendary scream Music/BruceDickinson has not been able to match since, much less ordinary humans.
* [[Music/TheWho YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!]]
* The last minute and 12 seconds of Music/TheBeatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" from ''Music/TheWhiteAlbum'' consists of Music/GeorgeHarrison singing ''Still my guitar gently weeeeeeeee-eeeeeeee-EEEEEEEE'' accompanied by his powerful guitar and his haunting ''Aaah... Aaah...'' and ''Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!'' which can be heard in the background.
** Similarly, at the end of Harrison's "I Want To Tell You" from ''Music/{{Revolver|Beatles Album}}'' George, John and Paul hold the word "time" well into the fade out.
*** The end of "A Day In The Life" from ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'' has all four of the Beatles striking a final chord on a piano that lasts 45 seconds.
*** During recording, as the piano faded Lennon turned the gain up so that it remained audible for longer.
* ''Theatre/{{Anastasia}}'' at the end of ''Journey to the Past'' has a long note which last at least 20 seconds
* Music/PinkFloyd's "Sheep" from ''Music/{{Animals|1977}}'' has many of these. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcRYdVlGXNQ ''MEEK AND OBEDIENT YOU FOLLOW THE LEADER DOWN WELL TRODDEN CORRIDORS INTO THE VALLEY OF STEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!'']] The first two lines of each verse end on a really long note that slowly morphs into a synthesizer drone; it's a really subtle and really cool effect, and you don't notice it until Roger's voice is completely unrecognizable.
** A similar effect is used in "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB9_z1cUOx8 The Gunner's Dream]]" from ''Music/TheFinalCut'', merging the end of the "hold on to the dream" line and the first note of the sax solo. A straighter and more impressive example occurs further in the same song, when Roger holds the final vowel of "his dream is driving me insaaaaaaaaaaaaaaane" for a good 16 seconds. So long it can still be heard in the background during the next three verses.
* A lot of barbershop songs end with a single held note (called a "post") and the other three parts resolving around it. Website/YouTube multi-tracker Finey Leee [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apYOyn2MRVU demonstrates for your enjoyment]]. (34 seconds, for those wondering.)
** And no mention of barbershop would be complete without a shout-out to Tim Waurick, who is no stranger to 30-second posts [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZdr_H-9ua4 as seen here]]. (skip to 3:50)
* Mabel introducing herself in ''Theatre/ThePiratesOfPenzance'', if the actress can pull it off. (Actually, that's a cadenza, typically of around 30 very short, very staccato notes, but still with no opportunity to breathe between them.)
* When performing Music/{{Styx}}'s 'Suite Madame Blue', Dennis [=DeYoung=] seems to like doing this during the verse 'You've conquered the world, and mooooooooooore ... '. It's not drawn out on the studio version; it's only when live.
* Music/BarbraStreisand's final number in ''Film/{{Yentl}}'' ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt_jjHAQoJU Papa Can You Hear Me/A Piece of Sky]]); her last note clocks in at over 20 seconds. Babs in general is famous for these.
* The Enchant song ''Pure'' features a sustained call of the word 'rain' for close to twenty five seconds, as heard [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJsLa1Q_YTU here]] about 3:52 in.
* The title song of ''[[Theatre/CompanySondheim Company]]'' has two ensemble verses, each ending with everybody singing "We looooooooooove you!" The second time around, the word "love" is sustained for at least a dozen bars. In the original production, the cast sung this note while on an elevator between the two levels of the set, and since there was no way to make the elevator go faster, the note had to be sustained until it reached its destination.
* Melba Moore's 1982 hit "The Other Side Of The Rainbow": She holds the final note, at full volume, for an astonishing [[https://youtu.be/lPYwaeutwPo?t=310 thirty-eight seconds.]]
* The song "Kiss of the Spider Woman", in the version presented in the revue ''And the World Goes Round'' has two instances of a note scored to last over eight measures. The first, coming at the end of the first chorus, is often cut short for choreography or stylistic reasons, but the final note (a high G#) is an excellent opportunity for a strong male vocalist to hold one of these.
* "Come Alive (War of the Roses)" by Music/JanelleMonae has this, notable for not only its length (twentyish seconds) but its incredibly high pitch.
* Creator/WaltDisney ''loves'' this. Notable examples include "Hellfire", "Bells of Notre Dame", "Out There", (noticed all three are from [[WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameDisney the same movie]]) [[WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}} "Go the Distance"]], [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 "I Just Can't Wait to be King]]"...
** ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'' has some incredibly long notes too, especially in "Prince Ali" ''and'' its DarkReprise.
* "I Want Out" by Helloween. After the solo, Michael Kiske sings "leave me aloooooooooooooooooone" for about 20 seconds, overdubbed over the chorus. Immediately after the note is over, Kiske's overdubbed chorus voice sings "to leave my life and to be freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-ohhhhhhh" for the last 13 seconds or so.

* ''Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'':
** In both ''Phantom'' and its stage sequel ''Theatre/LoveNeverDies'', the Phantom gets a long note to cap off his solo songs, "Music of the Night" and "Till I Hear You Sing" respectively.
** In some live productions, the husband does this during the mock opera sequence 'Il Muto' (if the actor can handle it). "I shall not leave, but shall hide over there to obseeeeeeerve heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-(five minutes later)-eeeeeer." Bonus points for also being an incredibly ''low'' note. It often gets applause!
** The last stretch of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fKKiaSLLEY the title song]] involve Christine vocalising a series of very high and long notes, demonstrating (a) what the Phantom has taught her and (b) how he puts her in a near-hypnotised state. Being able to hold a clear and steady note at the proper pitch for so long means that Christine's part is only for the best sopranos.
*** Tellingly, Christine doesnt have any lines until Il Muto near the end of Act 1, likely to give the actress a rest after that song.
** "You will curse the day you did not doooooo all that the Phantom asked of yoooooooooooooooooooooooooooou!" (Some singers manage to hold that note for over 30 seconds...)
* In the stage version of ''Theatre/MammaMia'', Donna sings "The winner takes it aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall!" three times during said song's final chorus, with the third time usually lasting as long as the singer can hold the last note (the end of the song is quieter and much less powerful in the film version).

* In ''Aida'''s ''The Gods Love Nubia'', near the end, the ensemble sings "The spirit always burning though the flesh is torn..." followed by a pause in the music, and Aida finishes the line with "Apaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaart!".
** If you listen carefully, Aida actually holds out "torn" for a while right before that note.
** Also in ''Aida'', the last note of ''Easy As Life''.
* Bill Withers's classic R&B single "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTZqP2sltV0 Lovely Day]]" features extremely lengthy held notes whenever Withers is singing "A lovely '''daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!'''" in the chorus. Including one which goes on for ''18 seconds'', which followed another instance which was only ''slightly'' shorter!
* [[Music/TheHollies All I need is the air that I BREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEATHE!!]]
* [[Music/GunsNRoses Sweet chi-aha-aha-aha-aha-aha-aha-ahild of miyiiiiiiiiiiiiiine~]]
** And don't you cry... toniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-yah-yah-yaaaaaaaaahiiiiiiiiiiiiyaaaaaaaaahiiiiiiiiiiiiyaaaaaaaaahiiiiiiiiiiii...
*** Let's add that ridiculously long one in "I.R.S." on ''Chinese Democracy''.
*** Arguably, what takes the cake is the final scream of "You Could Be Mine". Just when you think it's over Axl somehow manages to grow an additional lung and keeps going for a few more seconds.
* Music/{{Radiohead}}'s "Creep" precedes the LastChorusSlowdown with "Run, run, run, [[https://youtu.be/VzLlwlb1PRI?t=140 RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN]]!
* ''''' DORAMATIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKKU! [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ls7oOxUBbYQ]]'''''
* One of the most well-known examples of this: [[Music/WhitneyHouston "And IIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEIIIIIII will always lo-ove yoooooooooouuuuooouuouuuu..."]]
** In the Music/DollyParton original, it's more like "IIIIIIIII will alllllllll-waaaaaaaaaays love yoouuuu..."
* Anthony Stewart Head, of all people, gets a tremendous one in ''Film/RepoTheGeneticOpera'', during the song Let The Monster Rise. Sarah Brightman, as seen below, also gets a few.
** Also Terrance Zdunich's Graverobber, who holds an incredibly long ''screaming'' note, no less. Twice. [[http://youtu.be/Br87eV_9nGI?t=2m4s GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAVES]]
* In the Music/{{Tool}} song "The Grudge," singer Maynard Keenan holds a primal scream for 24 seconds, though it degrades significantly by the end. At concerts, the audio technicians loop the live scream back on itself so it lasts longer and causes less strain.
* Music/WarrenZevon enjoyed holding the last syllable of "Berkeley" in live versions of "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner" -- in the album version it's only 2-3 seconds, but on Learning to Flinch it's a good 17 seconds.
* [[Music/{{Manowar}} Hold your hammers]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjhNWAo6DN8 HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGH]]

* Kitananx is pretty fond of this.
** For example:
--> Knoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo-hooooooo-hooo-hoooooow iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiits.--
--> ...And then we'll do a battle, within the center of the miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiind!
** And then there's Break The Vase, which contains THREE incredibly long notes in the ending.
* Music/CountingCrows did this in the song "Sullivan Street."
%%* [[Music/{{Disturbed}} TEN THOUSAND FISTS IN THE AAAI~AIII...]][[SingingSimlish AII-III-II]] [[PunctuatedForEmphasis AII~IIIR!]] [[AwesomeMusic/HeavyMetal TEN THOUSAND FISTS IN THE AIR!!]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cKjIo80mKE Especially so when played live]].
%%* [[Music/{{Evanescence}} Bring me to Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiffe]]
* Music/{{Boston}}'s "More Than a Feeling". Particularly noticeable when the song keeps showing up in games like ''Karaoke Revolution'' and ''VideoGame/RockBand''.
--> Till I see Marianne walk awaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...
* It is not uncommon for the actor playing Fyedka in productions of ''Theatre/FiddlerOnTheRoof'' to see how long he can hold the "''Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaa''zaaaaaaar" in "L'Chaim (To Life)" - with said actor usually holding it until the audience starts applauding. It is also not uncommon for betting to be going on backstage about when said actor will pass out.

%%* [[WesternAnimation/CatsDontDance "BIG! AAA~AND! LOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUD-ah!"]]
%%** This actually got the electronic treatment to make it last a few more seconds, but it's still pretty sick.
%%* Theatre/{{Rent}}: "[=MIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIiiiiiii=]!"
%%** "Dearly beloved, we gather here to say our goodbyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyes..."
* ''Theatre/TheBookOfMormon'' has a "HE-ELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
* Music/TheProdigy's "Smack My Bitch Up" from ''Music/TheFatOfTheLand'' has a note sung by Shahin Bada (and almost certainly stretched out digitally) that lasts for 63 beats at approximately 132bpm, making it just under 30 seconds.
* There is a film shown to high school music classes that has a segment by an oboe player, talking about how he used to ask children in classes he visited to try to hold their breath as long as he does as he plays the beginning of a Tchaikovsky piece. He then said he had to stop doing that particular demonstration after a child actually passed out.
* Sonata Arctica's "Draw Me" -- twice.
* Music/RozaRymbaeva draws it out in "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGll0KmTW2w Alia]]". "AAAAAALIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Aru qyzy sen khaaaaalqyyyyyymnyyyyyn! AAAAAALIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Batyr qyzy sen khaaaaalqyyyyymnyyyyyn! Yerke kusy sen daaaalaaaamyyyyn! AAAAAALIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
* ''Theatre/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet'' has a lot of these:
** At the end of the first "Ballad of Sweeney Todd"
** Sweeney has an epic one (upwards of 20 seconds) at the end of the quartet of ''Johanna'', and most of the stage Sweeneys pull it off rather well. Creator/JohnnyDepp? Not so much.
** [[BetaCouple Johanna and Anthony]] have ALOT of these.
** [[JerkAss The Beadle]] has about 3 in "Ladies and Their Sensitivities"
** Also Pirelli. Oh Lord, Pirelli.
* What, no one's heard Clay Aiken's rendition of "Solitaire"?
** An even better example: his and Ruben Studdard's duet of "Jesus is Love" wherein Clay held a note at full belt for 22 seconds.

* Hal Ketchum holds out the last "keep your mansions of gooooooooooold" at the end of "I Know Where Love Lives", complete with a very impressive vibrato.
* On his only studio effort ''Music/{{Grace}}'' Music/JeffBuckley makes a "Hallelujah" last 23 seconds in, wait for it, ''Hallelujah''.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_A7Hu0uKNw Kalinka]] via the Red Army Choir has a number of long held notes, but the longest (starting @ 3:15) goes for 26 seconds.
* Music/BarenakedLadies. Steven Page. "Break Your Heart."
--> ''Yoooooooour heaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaart!''

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=a_YnKpMunYA Seryoga! Seryoogaa! Seryooogaa! Seryoogaaa! Seryoooogaaaaa!]]
* Near the middle of the Music/{{Meshuggah}} song "Sum," vocalist Jens Kidman holds a scream that lasts for over 30 seconds.
** A scream? More like a ten billion ton nuclear assault formed into human voice.

* In the Israeli song למה את לא עונה לי (Why Won't You Answer Me?) Yoni Bloh does a very long "WHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHY?!''
* During the final choral movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, he makes the sopranos hold a note long enough to make them pass out.
* ''Theatre/YoungFrankenstein'': Inspector Hans Kemp has one near the end of "He's Loose", and the entire chorus holds one at the end of the same song. (But only on the CD.)
* Music/SaraBareilles' "Come Round Soon", at about [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4eaz_GzyTI 2:19.]] Gives goosebumps every time.
* "Gethsemane" in ''Theatre/JesusChristSuperstar'' is a no-mediocrity, nail-it-or-fail-it number. Some performers like to add to the awesomeness by holding a long note over the crescendo -- one outstanding example being [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPdxxXoekmk Steve Balsamo]].
* "''[[Music/MeatLoaf Like a bat out of heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeellllll!]]''" In his prime, Meat Loaf was great at this.
* Music/AirSupply's "I'm all out of love, what am I without you? I can't be too late TO SAY THAT I WAS SO WROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG!"
** Which, at the time, set the record for longest-held unaltered note by a soloist in a #1 hit song. 16.2 seconds.
* Freddy Curci of Sheriff holds a falsetto YOOOOOOOOOUUUUU for 26 seconds at the end of "When I'm With You".

* [[Music/DefLeppard Joe Elliott]] holds a note in the live version of "Make Love Like a Man" that is utterly incredible.
* The only thing anyone can ever agree on about Music/FallOutBoy: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVbPvf2aYH4 "The Take Over, The Break's Over"]] has a really awesome long note in the middle of it, and it is glorious.
* ''[[Theatre/CompanySondheim Company's]]'' ''Beeiiiiiiiiiiiiing'' '''''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8kYfPoHyos AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!!!!!!!!!]]''''' Damn it, Raul Esparza!
* In Mexican soccer games, people frequently score ''¡GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-[=OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLs=]!''
** All of Latin America, actually. A football championship between musicians on MTV Brazil even parodied this, with the announcer interrupting the "''GOOOOOOOLLLLLLL!''" to speak a few things in-between.
* Music/FlorenceAndTheMachine in "No Light, No Light", with Florence holding the note from the end of the bridge to the final chorus.
* In a slightly more subtle example, in the Music/FooFighters song "Monkey Wrench", Music/DaveGrohl starts a rant with "One last thing..." coming out of the bridge and finishes with a long-held "freeeeee" -- the entire thing is done without a pause for breath and is over twenty seconds of shouting. This was almost certainly done through editing; it's notable that in live performances, Dave never has enough breath to get through the whole thing.
* In "[[http://youtu.be/LAn7pg6dkUs Birdsong]]" by Tomahawk, Music/MikePatton holds a ridiculously long "say" near the end of the song (about the four-minute mark).
* A lot of artists on ''The Voice'' tend to drag out the last note of their performances as long as possible in a last-ditch attempt to try and get the judges to turn around. In [[http://youtu.be.com/1JLTyL5M0aY this example]] from ''Series/TheVoice UK'' auditionee Ruth Brown holds the last note of "When Love Takes Over" for an astonishing 16 seconds - and it convinces Music/TomJones to pick her. Don't think that's very long? You try it.
* On the officially released live version of ''Joan Crawford has Risen from the Grave'', Eric Bloom of the Music/BlueOysterCult holds the last note of "Joan Crawford has rissssssssssssseeeeennnnnnnnnnnn....." for an unfeasibly long time, finishing on a suffocated gasp before Allen Lanier's piano outro.
* ''Film/{{Farinelli}}'': The title character, an 18th-century castrato, is able to hold a high note so long, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIPQtelKN28 he causes women in the audience to swoon]]. At one point he deliberately holds it long enough to give Haendel a heart attack.
* During one of the Three Tenors shows Music/LucianoPavarotti hyper-extends a note during a performance of "O Sole Mio". The other two mock him for this in the next verse.
* During Music/{{Kiss}}'s MTV Unplugged concert, the band actually stops playing for a while so Paul Stanley can drag out a high note during "I Still Love You".
* Non-music example: ''Series/TheArsenioHallShow'' announcer Burton Richardson's claim to fame is announcing him as "ARSENIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HALL!"
* Videogame/{{Pokemon}}, believe it or not, have a couple, even if they don't have any lyrics or anything. Examples are: R/S/E's Gym Leader Battle, Champion Battle; D/P/Pt's Route 212, Rival Battle; and B2/W2's remix of the Kanto's Gym Leader Battle (even though previous remixes have a shorter long note), and also Ghetsis' Battle remix. The longest and highest note of all Pokemon history (so far) is Reshiram/Zekrom's Battle theme, which the third to last part of the song ends with one that goes for ''' ''17 FUCKING SECONDS.'' '''
* [[VideoGame/BrutalLegend DECAPITATIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO- (hold for about 30 seconds) -OOOOOOOOOOOON!]]

* Music/DavidBowie holds one towards the end of "[[Music/TheRiseAndFallOfZiggyStardustAndTheSpidersFromMars Ziggy Stardust]]" on the ''Stage'' live album.
* Japanese singer Minako Honda does this for ''at least'' 28 seconds in her song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLJgACGgLkM "Wings."]]
* Happens a few times in the Series/EurovisionSongContest, though due to the maximum length rule they don't last as long as most of the other examples already listed. The longest note in the contest happens in Natalia Gordienko's 2021 Moldovan entry Sugar, in which the high note capping off the bridge lasts for 17 seconds and goes over the entirety of the last chorus.
* Terry Jones and Michael Palin play it straight in [[Creator/MontyPython The Lumberjack Song]]:
--> "He's a lumberjack and he's okaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay, sleepsallnightandheworksallday!"
* Brazilian song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9eaRwqSVWQ "Galopeira"]], originally performed by (at the time) child singer Donizeti but made popular by Chitãozinho & Xororó, is famous for drawing out its title line for a ridiculous amount of time, specifically 15 seconds.
* ''Theatre/IfThen'' has the last note of 'Always Starting Over'.
--> "My new life starts right... nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow!"
* The final note of "Invitation to an Autopsy" by Music/GraceAndTony is held for 17 seconds.
* In TheMusical adaptation of ''Theatre/{{Matilda}}'', Miss Honey does this at the end of "This Little Girl":
--> And another door closes, and Jennyyy's ouuutsiiiiiiiiiiide.

* Music/OliviaNewtonJohn, "Can I Trust Your Arms": "And you let me faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall..."
* Myles Kennedy of Music/AlterBridge lets out a freakishly long one at the end of belting the final chorus of ''Blackbird''.
-->"May you never be broken agaaaa-(18 seconds later)-aaain!"
* Irish singer Lisa Hannigan's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoq021gAaz4 "Prayer for the Dying"]] from ''At Swim'' is all about this from the opening line: "The praaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayerrr for, the dyyyyyyyyyiiiiiiiiiinnnnnng..."
* ''VideoGame/TheIdolmaster'' gives us the last line of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnPbLGa7J80 "ALIVE"]] ("sekai ga aruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!") which is twice as long in the M@STER version as in the game version.
* Music/PeterGabriel has a [[TearJerker quite effective]] one at the end of "I Grieve".
* Jumalatar: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBpAXB84-Hc "IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII feel like a Private Eyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye!"]]
* In ''VideoGame/{{Deemo}}'', we have Myosotis:
--> ''[[GratuitousLatin Per ardua ad astra]]... Bye-bye my doleful aria- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!''
* Creator/IdinaMenzel, who originated the role of Elphaba in the aforementioned ''Theatre/{{Wicked}}'', has ''two'' long notes at the end of "Queen of Swords" from her self-titled album.
* When [[WebVideo/{{Vinesauce}} Vinny from Vinesauce]] played an HD mod of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine'', the music would sometimes glitch out, leaving it stuck playing the first note of the current song. Vinny called this glitch a "one-note remix", and it became a RunningGag throughout his streams.
** In the BigRockEnding of "Tired of Love" from his band Red Vox, he holds the last "love" for a whopping sixteen seconds.
* Music/TheWarning with the last notes of "Wildfire" and "Dust to Dust" respectively. The latter is especially noticeable, because it is sung by Dany(the Guitarist and lead singer) instead of Pau (who takes the lead for "Dust to Dust").
* Music/MunchenerFreiheit: "The game will never be o-o-over..." and even more so, "Di-a-a-a-a-ana, I know you're near" (or "Di-a-a-a-a-ana, kannst du mich hören" in the German-language original).
* {{Eurobeat}} singer Elena Gobbi, [[IHaveManyNames as Lolita]], has [[https://youtu.be/D47mNBpOylY "Riding on FIIIRRRRRRRE!"]], particularly the intro and the end of the chorus.
* The last verse of Music/TomLehrer's "Irish Ballad" runs "My tragic tale I won't prolong..." In her [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvIJGjquHNU performance]], Naomi Louisa O'Connell holds the note on "prolong" for a good ten seconds, increasing the length of the verse by 50%.
* In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHmfm_ciZxI Hell Patrol]], by HeavyMetal band Raven (do not confuse by the Judas Priest song of the same name), singer John Gallagher lets out the [[BigNo biggest "NO!"]] at around the 3:10 mark.
* In ''Theatre/LaCageAuxFolles'', the chorus holds the last note of the title song for 26 bars (albeit at a very fast tempo). The original Broadway production used a prerecorded vocal track for this.
* Guitar example: Gary Moore would often use this trope during performances of "Parisienne Walkways", holding one single note for [[https://youtu.be/vkUpfw4Hf3w?t=174 upwards of 30 seconds]].
* [[https://youtu.be/_N_Uqd7JBcM?t=239 Sono chi no sadame…]] [[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventure JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-JO!]]
* Camille Saint-Saëns' ''Sympony No. 3'' contains a number of very long notes. If one is going to have an organ obbligato in a symphony, one may as well take advantage of it.
* A number of Johann Sebastian Bach's organ works also have long sustained notes. The ''Toccata in F,'' BVW 540, actually begins with one.
* The original theatrical release close music for ''[[Film/ANewHope Star Wars ("A New Hope")]]'' ends on a very long note.
* From the [[Franchise/LoveLive Love Live franchise]]: Riko Sakurauchi has her very long "Rikochan Laser Beeeeeeeeeaaaaam" in the "Guilty Kiss" song "New Romantic Sailors". This is in fact a reference to the anime [[Anime/LoveLiveSunshine Love Live! Sunshine!!]]
* The musical ''Paradise Square'' has Nelly's ElevenOClockNumber, "Let it Burn" (famously sung by the insanely-talented Joaquina Kalukango). The final "burn" is held for a whopping '''20 seconds''', which ''cannot'' be easy to do eight shows a week on Broadway.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Coco}}'':
** Ernesto's version of "Remember Me" ends on a rather long high note, leading to the big bell to fall and crush him to his death. Same with Héctor's original version, but on a quieter, more gentle chord.
** The end finale song "Proud Corazón" has Miguel pull one of these in the final crescendo.

* Near the middle of the Music/{{Meshuggah}} song "Sum," vocalist Jens Kidman holds a scream from the UncannyValley that lasts for over 30 seconds.

* Creator/WaltDisney ''loves'' this. Notable examples include "Hellfire", "Bells of Notre Dame", "Out There", (noticed all three are from [[WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameDisney the same movie]]) [[WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}} "Go the Distance"]], [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing "I Just Can't Wait to be King]]"...

* In ''[[Theater/TanzDerVampire Dance of the Vampires]]'', Michael Crawford held a note at the end of Act I for a very long time, as he was escorting his bride across the drawbridge into his castle. (Though it was pre-recorded, not actually performed live).

* During Music/{{Kiss}}'s MTVUnplugged concert, the band actually stops playing for a while so Paul Stanley can drag out a high note during "I Still Love You".

* Pokemon, believe it or not, have a couple, even if they don't have any lyrics or anything. Examples are: R/S/E's Gym Leader Battle, Champion Battle; D/P/Pt's Route 212, Rival Battle; and B2/W2's remix of the Kanto's Gym Leader Battle (even though previous remixes have a shorter long note), and also Ghetsis' Battle remix. The longest and highest note of all Pokemon history (so far) is Reshiram/Zekrom's Battle theme, which the third to last part of the song ends with one that goes for ''' ''17 FUCKING SECONDS.'' '''

* The ''original theatrical release'' close music for ''[[Film/ANewHope Star Wars ("A New Hope")]]'' ends on a very long note.