SteelHeart Releasing Cover Of Badfinger's 'Without You'

Official Announcement | Published: Jun 29, 2026 2:42 PM EDT

() SteelHeart have announced that they are releasing their cover of the Badfinger classic "Without You" (a major hit for Harry Nilsson) on July 10th. Here is the official announcement:

Croatian-born rock vocalist Miljenko Matijevic with his impressive 4-octave range delivers the most powerful vocal performance of his career on a song that defined an era.

1996. The same year Mariah Carey's cover of "Without You" swept across Europe and became the #7 best-selling single of the year in the UK. The same year it reached number one in over a dozen countries and held the European Hot 100 chart for two weeks. SteelHeart frontman Miljenko Matijevic - already a global name for "She's Gone" and "I'll Never Let You Go (Angel Eyes)" - had quietly recorded his own version of the Badfinger classic.

That recording sat. Matijevic waited. Thirty years later, he's ready. "Without You" by SteelHeart arrives July 10 - with a 40-piece orchestra and what Matijevic calls the most emotional vocal he's ever captured on tape.

The announcement comes on the heels of the band's SteelHeart 30 campaign, celebrating three decades since their self-titled debut album hit shelves on July 10, 1990 - a record that sold 33,000 copies on its first day in Japan alone, went Platinum, and reached #40 on the Billboard 200. The band's power ballad "She's Gone" spent 17 weeks at #1 on international charts and has accumulated over 278 million Spotify streams, recently earning its own 30th Anniversary Orchestral video now live on YouTube.

"Without You" - written by Pete Ham and Tom Evans of Badfinger, first released on their 1970 album No Dice, and later immortalized by Harry Nilsson and Air Supply before Carey's chart-topping rendition - has never received Matijevic's definitive interpretation. Until now.

The timing is deliberate. SteelHeart has been riding a wave of renewed momentum - the SteelHeart 30 album featuring re-recordings, remixes, and orchestral sessions; a limited run of 500 signed and numbered vinyls; and a recent collaboration with Tesla's Jeff Keith on a cover of Foghat's "I Just Wanna Make Love To You."

Matijevic, born in Zagreb, Croatia, moved to the United States at age six and has been a defining voice in rock for over three decades. From fronting SteelHeart to performing the music from the film Rock Star as the singing voice for Mark Wahlberg's character, to fronting The Doors alongside Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger, he has built one of rock's most resilient careers - rising from the severe injuries he suffered in a 1992 stage accident that nearly ended his life.