The song was covered in 2004 by
Shannon Noll, a runner-up of
Australian Idol. It was released as the third single from his debut album, ''
That's What I'm Talking About. The single was promoted as a strictly limited edition release of 40,000 copies, all of which were sold during its 13-week chart run. In July 2004, it debuted at number one on the Australia ARIA singles chart and is certified gold by ARIA with sales of over 35,000. Noll often mentioned that "Learn to Fly" was his favourite track from his debut album, and dedicated the performance of the track to his late father during the Up Close with Shannon Noll'' television special. The single release includes two previously unreleased
B-sides, one being a cover of the
Southern Sons 1991 hit "
Hold Me in Your Arms" (the song with which Noll auditioned for
Australian Idol) and the other being a cover of the
Michael Jackson hit "
Gone Too Soon". Noll performed "Gone Too Soon" to a tearful audience during the broadcast of the 2004
Allan Border Medal as a tribute to Australian cricketer
David Hookes, who was killed during an altercation at a Melbourne bar several months earlier.
Music video The video, directed by Ryan Renshaw, was the fourth music video from Shannon Noll. The video contains scenes from a live performance Noll undertook at the venue "
Seagulls" in Tweed Heads. The non-performance sequences of the video were filmed over a two-night period in
Brisbane, Australia. The video begins with Shannon leaving a venue after finishing a live performance. As he leaves the venue out the back entrance, he is set upon by a group of paparazzi which he evades and he runs to catch a taxi to the train station to travel back home. The video was popular with fans as it was the first video in which Shannon plays a character, rather than only performing the track for the camera.
Track listing Australian CD single • "Learn to Fly" – 4:11 • "
Gone Too Soon" (
Larry Grossman,
Buz Kohan) – 3:41 • "
Hold Me in Your Arms" (Phil Buckle) – 4:03
Charts Weekly charts Year-end charts Certifications ==References==