<P> Released near the beginning of his career, "The Dance" was a hit single around the world, including the United States, Europe, and Ireland, charting inside the British pop top 40 . In 1990, it was named both Song of the Year and Video of the Year by the Academy of Country Music . It was awarded the number 14 position in the CMT 100 Greatest Songs of Country Music broadcast in 2003 and also the number 5 position on the network's The Greatest: 100 Greatest Music Videos special in 2004 . </P> <P> In a 1994 Playboy interview, Brooks said, "unless I am totally surprised, The Dance will be the greatest success as a song we will ever do . I'll go to my grave with The Dance . It'll probably always be my favorite song ." </P> <P> In 2001, after the death of Dale Earnhardt, Brooks was invited to the NASCAR awards ceremony that was honoring Earnhardt to play the song as a tribute . The song has been used as several country stations' last song before changing formats . It was also the second song to be played on UK station Country 1035, the first being another Brooks number . </P> <P> On 6 February 2014, "The Dance" was performed by Brooks on the final episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on NBC . </P>

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