After a brief rest on the bench, From The Vault is back this week with one of the most successful releases of the 1990’s. It’s Mariah Carey‘s melismatic ‘One Sweet Day’, her smash duet with R&B’s finest Boyz II Men.
The second single lifted from Mimi’s blockbuster LP ‘Daydream’, ‘Day’s production was cooked up by Carey and former fervent collaborator Walter Afanasieff. It was written by the dynamic duo alongside the R&B quad about specific loved ones who passed away. Most notably, it was also penned with people affected by the AIDS epidemic in mind – in a bid to raise awareness.
On a chart front, the single remains a landmark to this day; it debuted at #1 – which was the singer’s second consecutive single to do so. Yet, most importantly, it is the longest running #1 single on Billboard Hot 100 of all time, totaling an impressive 16 consecutive weeks at the top. It became Mimi’s tenth chart-topper on that tally and the Boyz’ fourth.
(Fun fact: the single replaced Whitney Houston’s ‘Exhale (Shoop Shoop)’ at #1 and was replaced by Celine Dion’s ‘Because You Love Me’. Needless to say, power ballads staged a “chart stampede” during the mid-nineties).
A true world smash, it managed to peak inside the Top 10 in many European countries and remains a fixture on “talent shows” all around the globe.
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With the success and the critical acclaim the single and its parent album had received, it was believed Mariah was a shoo-in for a Grammy sweep after being nominated 6 times in 1996, but all those assumptions were cut short when the ‘Outside’ vocalist went home empty-ended on Grammy night. An injustice if we’ve ever seen one.
Given that Mimi and the Boyz were enjoying gargantuan success in their own rights, busy schedules meant both parties didn’t have time to shoot a proper music video for the single. So in order to make the most of their tenure together, Larry Jordan was in charge of documenting the conception of the track. This edited footage was turned into the track’s “video”.
Its raw quality suited the heartfelt song to the tee, choosing to put the emphasis on the group bonding and the song’s almost other-worldly vocals, rather than drowning everything in “glamorous” and “sophisticated” sets – ala some of Mariah’s more outlandish visuals since her post-Butterfly days.
With “The New Era” nigh, we can’t wait for Ms. Carey-Cannon to unleash it. Did ‘Triumphant (Get ‘Em)’ make the cut? What about ‘Almost Home’? Are we in for some more Adult Contemporary numbers in the vein of ‘#Beautiful’? Are there any other collaborations to help her on the charts? We guess it’s a matter of time until we find out. Hopefully.
Still, we’re hoping her ever-loyal ‘Lambily’ and we – over at TGJ HQ – aren’t the only ones anticipating new Mimi. Album and single sales will tell, ay?
Love this Sam.
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Classic,Classic,was playing this song earlier today.
I’ve recently started to listen to Mariah and I wish I started to listen to her 🙂
Actually,Mariah felt a proper music video won’t capture the rawness and the depth of the song..I believe Almost Home won’t make the tracklist as was announced by her publicists…I can’t wait to get my hands on this album,Mimi always has something special for me 🙂
LEGEND!!!
And the live performances to this song were FLAWLESS…Mimi,Whitney and Celine weren’t playing those days
Damn they are so above what we have today with the young singers.
Mariah used to SERVE during those days not a fan of her latest efforts but to each her own!! Sang Mariah!!! Yea Whitney Houston & Celine Dion are Kold pieces of work!!
I Praise true greats,my posts get withheld…Others post racist remarks and they get a pass.TGJ staff need to get their mandate right
I’m sorry but her album will flop.
Im sorry but Beyonce will never match or even come close to Mariah Careys legacy
I Love This Song So much. 😀
can’t wait for her next album, I’m yet to hate anything by her.
I appreciate how she still do her thing 20+ years later.
Longest running Number 1 single in US chart history!! 16 WEEKS!! #Slayage #Queen
#Legend<3
Sam tries so hard. U branched off into things that had nothing to do with this songs success. It’s the longest charting song. U know that “Triumphant” won’t be on her album, “Beautiful”, yes that’s a gem. “AH” was a soundtrack single. Of course many others will get her album outside of the lambs, look how well her single performed, and that wasn’t even really an urban single. Is anyone outside of the “BeyH” into another Bey reocrd, it doesn’t seem so. Stick to the script and stop hating.. Some u always try to throw some negativity into the mix..
Endless SLAYAGE!!!
Damn these guys at TGJ try so hard to shade Mariah when her career and talent easily slays everything they stan for…
Lol,they amuse me at times…everytime they do this,they end up looking like the stupid ones
Mariah, Whitney, Celine… omg just class, talent and true power from true greatness.
And I´m not even mad that she didn´t get any grammys for the unbelievable Daydream era. At the end of the day an iconic album won the awards, Alanis Morissette´s “Jagged Little Pill”. Those were the days. Pure talent on top, all kinds of music. The sad thing is the way grammys have been given away in recent years. Although to be fair they didn´t have much choice: the mainstream music has gone downhill big time in the last 10 years.
A classic.
Mariah will slay! These other broke down p**** b****** need Triple A. When the Queen Release b****** wigs will be pulled from the bald scalp that lays under the nappy lace front.
I’m sick of scaredoncye she’s fake and will never release.