We Belong Together
Encyclopedia
"We Belong Together" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey
from her tenth studio album, The Emancipation of Mimi
(2005). The song was released on March 29, 2005, through Island Records
as the second single from the album. "We Belong Together" was written by Carey, Jermaine Dupri
, Manuel Seal
, and Johntá Austin
, and produced by the former three. As the song samples lyrics from Bobby Womack's
"If You Think You're Lonely Now
" (1981) and The Deele's
"Two Occasions
" (1987), several others are credited as songwriters. Following the release of "It's Like That
", the album's lead single
, which features a strong beat and production, "We Belong Together" is built on a simple piano arrangement
with an understated backbeat. According to Carey, this was done to highlight her vocals, instead of having them obscured by heavy instrumentation. The song's lyrics chronicle a woman's desperation for her former lover to return after their separation and her loneliness following his departure.
Following her decline in popularity between 2001 and 2005, critics dubbed the song her musical comeback, as many had considered her career over. They described it as Carey's "return to form" and referred to it as the "return of The Voice". "We Belong Together" broke several records in the United States and became Carey's sixteenth chart topper on the US Billboard Hot 100. After staying at number one for fourteen non-consecutive weeks, the song became the second longest running number one song in US chart history, behind Carey's 1996 collaboration with Boyz II Men
, "One Sweet Day
". Billboard listed it as the "song of the decade" and the ninth most popular song of all time. Besides its chart success, the song broke several airplay records, and according to Nielsen BDS, gathered both the largest one-day and one-week audiences in history. The song charted strongly outside the US, topping the singles charts in Australia and the Netherlands, and reaching the top two positions in New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
Due to its continued success, Carey performed the song on several live award shows and television appearances around the world. Following stateside performances at the 2005 MTV Movie Awards
, MTV Video Music Awards
, Macy's Fourth of July Parade
, and The Oprah Winfrey Show
, Carey performed it on several European events and programs such as the Live 8
charity concert in the United Kingdom, the Fashion Rocks
in Monaco, and the German Bambi Awards
. Most notably, Carey performed a medley of "We Belong Together" and "Fly Like a Bird
", another single from the album, at the 48th annual Grammy Award
s on February 8, 2006. The performance received rave reviews from critics, and induced the night's only standing ovation. Aside from its many televised appearances, Carey performed the song on both her Adventures of Mimi
and Angels Advocate Tour
s. On the former tour, critics described it as one of the concert's finest and impressive moments, while on the latter, it was introduced by Carey as the "song of the decade" to the audience.
"We Belong Together" earned several music industry awards and nominations throughout 2005–06: two Grammy Awards, two Radio Music Award
s, two Soul Train Music Awards
, one Vibe Award, a World Music Award and a Teen Choice Award
. The song's music video was filmed as a two-part story with "It's Like That", which features Carey at her bachelorette party. The video for "We Belong Together" is a continuation focusing on Carey's actual wedding to an older and powerful man. Furthering rumors of the video's connection to her 1993 marriage to Tommy Mottola
, Carey donned her actual Vera Wang
wedding dress for the shoot. The video ends with Carey escaping the wedding with her ex-lover, who appears at the main stairwell just as the pair are to be wed. Carey and her lover, (played by Wentworth Miller
) run down the flowery walkway and get into his car, while Carey's 27-foot train flows behind them.
. Since she was hospitalized for exhaustion, the film project received strongly negative critical feedback, with the album faring slightly better. Following Carey's absence from the public eye, as well as her abandonment of promotional appearances for the film and soundtrack, her unprecedented $100 million five-album record deal with Virgin Records
(EMI Records
) was bought out for $50 million. After recovering and completing her contractual agreement with Virgin Records, Carey began recording her intended "comeback" and follow-up album, Charmbracelet
(2002). Although the album focused on incorporating several inspirational and adult contemporary ballads and re-capturing Carey's audience from throughout the 1990s, critics took notice of Carey's different vocals.
As Glitter had been a mixture of 1980s covers and more dance-oriented material, Charmbracelet was void of up-tempo numbers, and harbored on slower, more contemporary melodies. In his review of the album, Stephen Thomas Erlewine
harshly criticized the album's content, but also Carey's voice, which he described as "in tatters". He wrote "Whenever she sings, there's a raspy whistle behind her thin voice and she strains to make notes throughout the record. She cannot coo or softly croon, nor can she perform her trademark gravity-defying vocal runs. Her voice is damaged, and there's not a moment where it sounds strong or inviting." Though fueled by strong media attention regarding Carey's return to music, as well as her new deal with Island Records
, the album failed to deliver the type of success she had been accustomed to throughout the 1990s, and only managed sales of five million copies globally. After the album's release, and its succeeding tour, Carey began conceptualizing and working on a new project, eventually titled The Emancipation of Mimi
, her tenth studio effort. "We Belong Together" became a song that critics considered Carey's "return to form" and "the return of The Voice", after several questioned her vocal abilities following the release of Charmbracelet.
head L.A. Reid suggested to Carey, however, that she compose a few more strong singles to ensure the project's commercial success. Noting that she had written some of her best work with Jermaine Dupri
, Reid recommended that Carey meet with Dupri for a brief studio session. Carey took Reid's advice and headed to Atlanta to collaborate with Dupri. During this two-day trip, the duo wrote and produced "Shake It Off" and "Get Your Number", which were eventually released as the album's third and fourth singles. (Following this recording session, "Shake It Off" was briefly selected as the album's lead single, replacing the originally planned "Say Somethin'".) Carey returned to Atlanta for a second meeting with Dupri; during this trip, Carey and Dupri penned the last two songs to be included on the album, "We Belong Together" and "It's Like That". In an interview with Billboard, Carey described her sentiments regarding the song during the production stage:
Carey and her management then decided to release "It's Like That", which Carey called "the right fire-starter", as the album's lead single. Carey later reminisced about her experience with Dupri: "I am so grateful I went to Atlanta," she said. "And I have to say, we wrote some of my favorite songs on the album. I'm so proud of Jermaine – he's so focused, and he knew what had to be done." In an interview with MTV, Carey described the album: "The album is not about making the older executives happy by making a bring-down-the-house, tearjerker ballad, or [something] steeped in the media dramas of my life. What I tried to do was keep the sessions very sparse, underproduced, like in '70s soul music..."
ballad with strong pop and hip-hop
influences. The song is propelled by a programmed Roland TR-808
-styled kick
and hi-hat
, which is prominently utilized in hip hop music. Carey adopted a reserved, rap-flavored singing style, which garnered approval from the critics who admonished her ornate, melisma
tic singing style. Reviewer Jennifer Vineyard from MTV News
commented that Carey's spare and understated singing approach gave the song more power, which would not have been achieved if she had belted
. The song also incorporates 1980s retro-soul music by "cleverly" referencing Bobby Womack
's "If You Think You're Lonely Now
" (1981) and The Deele's
"Two Occasions
" (1987), with Babyface. In the second verse of "We Belong Together", Carey sings: "Bobby Womack's on the radio / Singing to me, 'If you think you're lonely now'." She then flips across a radio dial: "So I turn the dial, tryin’ to catch a break / And then I hear Babyface / 'I only think of you...'." The line "If you think you're lonely now" is from the song of the same name and "I only think of you" is from the chorus of "Two Occasions." In the remix she also says "I only think of you / On two occasions / That's day and night..." Due to the inclusion of the lyrics from both songs, the songwriters were given co-writing credits on the song. "We Belong Together" follows the common verse-chorus form
and is structured into three distinct sections, with each section presenting the protagonist in different emotions. The first section chronicles the break-up of the couple, and a sorrowful tone is established as she laments her former mistakes. In the second section, the narrative switches to the present, and the protagonist becomes increasingly agitated and feels "all out of her element" when she attempts to distract herself by listening to the radio, but fails. "We Belong Together" has no bridge
; instead, Carey transitions into the third section by raising the pitch
an octave, which emphasizes the sheer frustration and desperation of the protagonist. Metro Times
writer Johnny Loftus described the song's production, lyrics and vocals in detail:
"We Belong Together" is a simple, understated musical arrangement set in C major
and composed in 4/4
time
. Similarly, within the song, Carey's voice spans from G3 to the high note of A5. Carey's vocal range
is demonstrated with a greater emphasis in the ending chorus, where the chorus is raised an octave higher, lying from G4 to A5. As such, Carey ends with an anticipated coda, completing both the chorus and the song with a potent, belted note of C5 for approximately four semibreves (around 17 seconds). It follows the common verse-chorus form and is structured into three sections that portray the protagonist in a range of emotions; from doleful and resigned in the first section, to desperate and agitated in the second. In the last section the song climaxes with an octave raise, which not only emphasizes the protagonist's heightened desperation, but her determination to be with her lover.
(2002), that suggested Carey had lost her signature vocal range and power. Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine
wrote "the...diva [keeps] cool with breathy, rapid-fire verses until the final full strong-voiced climax that... proves that 'The Voice' has indeed returned." Additionally, he claimed that "The song is as 'innovative' as Mariah has been in years." Other critics commended Carey on her novel singing style which, according to Kelefa Sanneh
of The New York Times
, gave the song its propulsion, writing "This style is part of the reason why she has been able to turn a ballad
into a summer smash. 'We Belong Together' doesn't have a guest rapper, or a hard-hitting beat, but Ms. Carey's tricky vocal lines give the song more propulsion than you'd expect, with tightly coiled counter-rhythms that tug against the beat." Johnny Loftus from Metro Times called it a "summer hit" and wrote "We all know it’s the intangibles that make a summer single anyway, those untraceable currents that grab the heart and feet, and despite not being an anthem, 'We Belong Together' is that rousing."
Writing for Vibe, Michael Ehrlich claimed the song would "cut across generations", while Cinquemani felt it would revive "faith in Mariah the balladeer". Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic chose "We Belong Together" as a "top Pick" from the album, while Todd Burns from Stylus Magazine
described it as "beautifully cadenced". Echoing Cinquemani's comments about the song and Carey's past as a balladeer, Jozen Cummings from PopMatters
wrote "Carey makes the song her own, reminding fans of her 'Hero
' days with full, throaty vocals and a crashing climax at the end. The dichotomy between 'The Emancipation of Mimi's' first two tracks is the album’s bread and butter." Since first hearing the song on the radio, Sherri Winston from South Florida Sun-Sentinel claimed she "knew it would be a smash", complimenting its understated beat and Carey's vocals. Billboards Michael Paoletta described "We Belong Together" as one of the album's strongest cuts, claiming that it highlighted the strongest focal point on the song: Carey's voice. Slant Magazine ranked it 2nd on their best songs of 2005 list.
—after making its debut at number 81—and on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
chart. It had major cross-over success, becoming the first song to simultaneously occupy the number one position on nine Billboard charts on the week ending August 6, 2005: the Hot 100, Billboard Hot 100 Airplay, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay
, Pop 100 Airplay
, Top 40 Mainstream
, Rhythmic Airplay Chart
, Hot Dance Club Songs, and the Hot Ringtones
charts. Spending fourteen weeks atop the Hot 100, "We Belong Together" became the second longest running number one song in US chart history, behind only Carey's 1996 collaboration with Boyz II Men
, "One Sweet Day
", which spent sixteen weeks at number one. Aside from its chart success, the song broke several airplay records, and according to Mediabase
and Nielsen BDS, gathered both the largest one-day and one-week audiences in BDS history, reaching 32.8 million and 223 million impressions respectively. To date, "We Belong Together" has been listened to more than 8 billion times in the United States alone. During the week of September 25, 2005, Carey set another record, becoming the first female to occupy the first two spots atop the Hot 100, as "We Belong Together" remained at number one, and her next single, "Shake It Off
" held the number two spot. Additionally, the song held the top position on the official Hot 100 Airplay chart for sixteen weeks, tying for the second all time spot with No Doubt
's "Don't Speak
" (1996). "We Belong Together" was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA), denoting shipments of over one million copies throughout the United States. On the Billboard Hot 100 Year-end Chart
of 2005, the song was declared the number one song, a career first for Carey. Billboard listed "We Belong Together" ninth on The Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs and second on Top Billboard Hot 100 R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. The song was also declared the most popular song of the 2000s decade by Billboard.
Besides its success in the United States, "We Belong Together" achieved strong charting throughout Europe and Australasia. On the ARIA Charts
, the song debuted atop the singles chart in Australia during the week dated July 3, 2005. The following week, it held the number one spot for a second week, and stayed on the chart for a total of eleven weeks. To date, "We Belong Together" was certified Platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association
(ARIA), denoting shipments of over 70,000 units. The song finished at number seventeen on the 2005 Australian Year-End Chart. In both Flemish and Wallonian territories in Belgium, "We Belong Together" peaked at numbers twelve and twenty-four, spending a total of fifteen and fourteen weeks fluctuating in the singles chart, respectively. The song finished at number forty-seven on the Flemmish Year-End Chart of 2005. "We Belong Together" made its debut at number fifteen on the Danish Tracklisten
chart during the week of August 7, 2005, eventually peaking at number three. In France, the song peaked at number twelve, and spent nineteen weeks fluctuating within the French singles chart
. On the Dutch Top 40
chart, "We Belong Together" reached number one in its fourth week, and spent a total of sixteen weeks in the chart, four of which were at the number two position. The song finished at number forty-one on the Dutch Year-End Chart of 2005. In New Zealand, the song spend three weeks at number two on the singles chart
, and a total of twelve before making its exit on October 3, 2005. At the end of 2005, "We Belong Together" finished at number thirty-six, and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand
(RIANZ), denoting shipments of over 15,000 units. In both Norway and Spain, the song peaked at number nine and three, and spent nine and seven weeks within the charts. In Switzerland, the song peaked at number four on the official singles chart, and charted for thirteen weeks. During mid-week predictions in the United Kingdom, "We Belong Together" was positioned to become Carey's third UK number one single. However, it wound up debuting at number two on the UK Singles Chart
, selling 39,436 copies, only 392 copies behind Tupac Shakur
's "Ghetto Gospel
". In its second week, the song dropped to number three, before re-surfacing to number two in its third week, this time blocked by James Blunt
's "You're Beautiful
". The song spent a total of eighteen weeks within the singles chart, and has estimated sales of over 240,000 units in the United Kingdom.
s ceremony, Carey won five awards, with the song receiving awards in the "Rhythmic Top 40
Title of the Year", "Hot 100
song of the Year" and "Hot 100 Airplay of the Year" categories. On November 6, 2005, Carey earned two awards for "We Belong Together" at the Radio Music Award
s ceremony, in the "Song of the Year/Mainstream Hit Radio" and "Song of the Year/Urban and Rhythmic Radio" categories. Similarly, "We Belong Together" won the "Best R&B/Soul Single" and "Best R&B/Soul Single, Female
" awards at the 20th annual Soul Train Music Awards
, "Choice Love Song" at the Teen Choice Awards
, "Best R&B Song" at the Vibe Awards, and "World's Most-Played Single" at the 2005 World Music Awards.
At the 48th annual Grammy Award
s, held at the Shrine Auditorium
on February 8, 2006, Carey was nominated for eight awards, the most she had received in one night throughout her career. "We Belong Together" was nominated for all three top categories; however, it won two awards: "Best R&B Song
" and "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
". The song was named "Song of the Year" at the ASCAP Awards, and "Song of the Year", "Most Performed Song" and "Number-one Billboard Song" at the BMI
Awards. Towards the summer of 2006, Carey took home "Song of the Year", "Best Pop Female Song Performance" and "Best R&B/Soul Female Song Performance" at the GrooveVolt Music & Fashion Awards.
and Styles P
, two-thirds of the hip-hop trio The LOX
. The remix is fundamentally different from the original, described as having a "a faster, springier backbeat" by Kelefa Sanneh
of The New York Times. Lyrically, the song is similar to the album version of the song, in which both rappers' verses contemplate on past memories. Styles P raps "Past is the past, just let it be bygones / Matter of fact I know a fly song that we could vibe on", which Sanneh writes "Cheerfully out of place, he sounds like a man who has wandered into the wrong summertime party, but so what? He figures he might as well stick around and enjoy it." In two separate reviews of The Emancipation of Mimi, Sanneh referred to the song as both "great" and "excellent", in regards to the remix.
Aside from the album version's main remix, several others were commissioned and released, although none contained new vocals from Carey. Peter Rauhofer
created the "Reconstruction Mix/Atlantic Soul Vocal Mix" and "Atlantic Soul Vocal Mix", which both feature a synthetic bass line, a piano and guitar line, and distinctive hi-hats that produce a more up-tempo, hard-hitting beat.
in Los Angeles alongside the video for Carey's previous single, "It's Like That
". Carey had collaborated with Ratner several times in the past, having worked on the video for "Heartbreaker
", which became one of the most expensive of all time, costing an estimated $2.5 million. The video was filmed in conjunction with "It's Like That" and serves as the second half to the two-part story. The music video for "It's Like That" features Carey at her bachelorette party set to wed an older and powerful man, played by Eric Roberts
. Towards the end of the video, her ex-lover and past flame, played by Wentworth Miller
, arrives at the event, and the video concludes with them staring into each others eyes as Carey's soon-to-be husband watches from a balcony. The video for "We Belong Together" finishes their tale of love, and features Carey on her wedding day. For the scenes of Carey's wedding to the older man, she wore her Vera Wang
gown she originally wore during her nuptials to Tommy Mottola
in 1993. In an interview with MSNBC
, when asked if there was a connection to the use of the dress in the video and reality, Carey responded:
As Carey, now dry and clothed, is shown in another scenario following the dressing scene, a still of Carey and Miller in the video for "It's like That" is shown, during the lyrics "I can't sleep at night / When you are on my mind". After several other scenes of Carey dressed in the purple gown and white shirt are interspersed, the altar is displayed, where before being ordained by the minister, Carey looks into her ex-lover's eyes once more. She turns to Roberts, and begins running towards Miller, leaving the reception. As the song's climax is reached, Carey and Miller are shown running from the reception, as the guests stand up in awe, and watch the pair leave. Carey, dressed in the white shirt, is shown with growing anticipation, crying to the camera and moving her hands and hair. Back at the wedding scene, Carey and her lover get into his vehicle, and drive away as her 27-foot train hangs behind the car. The video was nominated for "Best R&B Video
" and "Best Female Video
" at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards.
, performing "It's Like That", "We Belong Together", and "Shake It Off". Additional European and Asian appearances included an interview on the French talk show Le Grand Journal
, and a performance of "We Belong Together" on both Music Station
and Riponggi Hills in Japan. After returning to the United States for a string of televised performances, Carey launched the release of the album on Good Morning America
, in the form of a five-piece outdoor concert. The concert, taking place in Times Square
and featuring the largest crowd in the plaza since the 2004 New Year's Eve celebration, featured the first three singles from the album, as well as "Fly Like a Bird" and "Make It Happen" (1991). The following week, she performed "We Belong Together" at the 2005 BET Awards
, with an additional appearance at the annual VH1
Save the Music
special, filmed live on April 17 from the Beacon Theatre. Throughout May, Carey appeared on several US television programs, performing "We Belong Together" on The David Letterman Show
(May 5), The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
(May 11), and The Ellen DeGeneres Show
(May 13), which included a performance of "It's Like That". As June approached, Carey made an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show
(May 24), featuring a live rendition of "We Belong Together". She appeared on stage wearing a long blue evening gown, and featured a four piece band, as well as three background vocalists. Eleven days later on June 4, she performed at the annual Macy's Fourth of July Parade
, singing "America the Beautiful
" and "We Belong Together".
The following week, Carey made a live appearance at the 2005 annual MTV Movie Awards
. The recital aired on television in black and white format, with Carey wearing a red Armani Privé and sporting a retro curled hairstyle, appearing in color. She performed "We Belong Together" on a white runway
-styled stage with four male and female dancers. Following the stateside promotion of the album, Carey traveled to the United Kingdom on July 2, 2005 for a benefit concert held in Hyde Park, London
titled Live 8
. The televised event was watched by over 9.6 million British citizens and held a live audience of over 200,000. Carey performed a three song set-list, opening with "We Belong Together" and "Make It Happen", and followed by "Hero
", which featured a live choir of African children. On August 3, USA Today announced that Carey would be added to the roster of performers at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards
, held on the 28th of the month. The ceremony was held at the American Airlines Arena in downtown Miami Beach Florida, with Carey's performance taking place at the National Hotel in South Beach
. Apart from The Killers, she was the only performer to tape their appearance from an undisclosed location in Miami. After being introduced by Eva Longoria
, Carey appeared on a long stage in the hotel's courtyard, with Dupri opening the song in a nearby cabana. After performing "Shake It Off" and the official remix version of "We Belong Together", Carey made her way into the shallow pool, followed by Dupri and the back-up dancers. Following the awards ceremony, Carey once again took to Europe, being featured as a head-lining performer at the 2005 Fashion Rocks
, held in Monaco
. Following her introduction by Donatella Versace
, Carey performed the Peter Rauhofer Remix for "We Belong Together" on a suspended rafter, while wearing a metallic Versace
gown. S, which featured a heavy-techno accompaniment to the original intrumentation. Carey played a similarly-choreographed performance of the song's Peter Rauhofer Remix at the German Bambi Awards
, held in October 2005. Two months later, she celebrated the new year on television, placing as the featured performer at the Times Square Ball drop
on New Year's Eve in New York. The special, titled Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest, aired on ABC
at 10 pm on December 31, and featured Carey on stage wearing a short sparkling dress, and performing a selection of the album's singles.
At the 48th Grammy Awards, held on February 8, 2006, Carey was nominated for eight awards—the most she had ever received in one night. That night, Carey returned to the Grammy stage for the first time since 1996. Her performance opened with a pre-taped video in which she discussed the importance of God and religion in her life. Carey then came to the stage, dressed in a white Chanel
gown, and sang a shortened version of "We Belong Together". Next, Carey's pastor Clarence Keaton read a Bible passage to open Carey's performance of "Fly Like a Bird", as he did in the studio recording of the song. Midway through the song, a black temporary wall was removed, revealing a large choir who joined Carey for the song's gospel climax. The performance earned the night's only standing ovation, prompting Teri Hatcher
, who was presenting the next award, to exclaim, "It's like we've all just been saved!" Carey's performance earned rave reviews from critics. Gary Susman from Entertainment Weekly
called Carey the "comeback queen", noting that her voice "soar[ed] into the rafters like only Carey's can." Carey included "We Belong Together" on both succeeding tours following its release, the Adventures of Mimi
and Angels Advocate Tour
s. On the former, the song was featured as the encore number, with Carey re-entering the arenas in a form fitting beige evening gown. Backed by three background vocalists, Trey Lorenz
, Sherry Tatum, and MaryAnn Tatum, Carey began the song as confetti dropped the arena rafters. According to Jennifer Vineyard from MTV News
, the performance was "a major accomplishment", and the highlight of the show, and found Carey re-connect with the audience in ways that she was unable throughout most of the show. Similarly, during her Angel's Advocate Tour, the song was placed as one of the final numbers on the set-list. Dressed in a black Herve Leger
gown, Carey introduced the song as the Billboards "song of the decade", and thanked the audience for making it her 16th number-one single in the United States. Following the song's completion, Carey exited the arena for a few moments, before returning to perform "Hero
" as the encore.
Danish maxi-single (Promo)
European CD single
Japanese CD single
UK CD Single
UK CD maxi-single
US CD Single (Promo)
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...
from her tenth studio album, The Emancipation of Mimi
The Emancipation of Mimi
The Emancipation of Mimi is the tenth studio album by American recording artist Mariah Carey, released in the United States on April 12, 2005, by Island Records. Following the relatively poor critical and commercial responses to her albums, Glitter and Charmbracelet , The Emancipation of Mimi...
(2005). The song was released on March 29, 2005, through Island Records
Island Records
Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
as the second single from the album. "We Belong Together" was written by Carey, Jermaine Dupri
Jermaine Dupri
Jermaine Dupri Mauldin , known as Jermaine Dupri or JD, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper.- Early life and career :...
, Manuel Seal
Manuel Seal
Manuel Seal, Jr. is an American Hip-Hop/R&B record producer and songwriter.Formerly a contract songwriter and producer at Jermaine Dupri's So So Def Recordings, Manuel Seal, Jr...
, and Johntá Austin
Johnta Austin
Johntá Austin is an American singer-songwriter, who is currently signed to Jermaine Dupri's So So Def Recordings. He is commonly known for collaborating with Producers Bryan-Michael Cox, Jermaine Dupri & The Production Team StarGate. Austin was awarded two Grammy Awards for his work on the songs...
, and produced by the former three. As the song samples lyrics from Bobby Womack's
Bobby Womack
Robert Dwayne "Bobby" Womack is an American singer-songwriter and musician. An active recording artist since the early 1960s where he started his career as the lead singer of his family musical group The Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guitarist, Womack's career has spanned more than 40...
"If You Think You're Lonely Now
If You Think You're Lonely Now
"If You Think You're Lonely Now" is a song recorded and released as a single by American soul singer-songwriter Bobby Womack in 1981. It was released from his album The Poet...
" (1981) and The Deele's
The Deele
The Deele is an American 80s R&B band from Cincinnati, Ohio, originally consisting of Indianapolis native Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds along with Antonio "L.A." Reid, Carlos "Satin" Greene, Darnell "Dee" Bristol, Stanley Burke, and Kevin "Kayo" Roberson...
"Two Occasions
Two Occasions
"Two Occasions" is a R&B song written by Babyface, Darnell Bristol and Sid Johnson . It was produced by Babyface and L.A. Reid for The Deele's third studio album Eyes of a Stranger . The ballad was released as the album's second single in 1988...
" (1987), several others are credited as songwriters. Following the release of "It's Like That
It's like That (Mariah Carey song)
"It's Like That" is a song written by Mariah Carey, Jermaine Dupri, Manuel Seal, and Johntá Austin, and produced by Carey, Dupri, and Seal for Carey's tenth studio album, The Emancipation of Mimi . It borrows the hook "it's like that y'all" from the Run-D.M.C. tracks "Hollis Crew" and "Here We Go...
", the album's lead single
Lead single
A lead single is usually the first single released by a musician or a band before the release of its home album.During the era of the grammophone record, all music arrived in the marketplace as what is now termed a single, one potential hit song backed by an additional song of generally less...
, which features a strong beat and production, "We Belong Together" is built on a simple piano arrangement
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
with an understated backbeat. According to Carey, this was done to highlight her vocals, instead of having them obscured by heavy instrumentation. The song's lyrics chronicle a woman's desperation for her former lover to return after their separation and her loneliness following his departure.
Following her decline in popularity between 2001 and 2005, critics dubbed the song her musical comeback, as many had considered her career over. They described it as Carey's "return to form" and referred to it as the "return of The Voice". "We Belong Together" broke several records in the United States and became Carey's sixteenth chart topper on the US Billboard Hot 100. After staying at number one for fourteen non-consecutive weeks, the song became the second longest running number one song in US chart history, behind Carey's 1996 collaboration with Boyz II Men
Boyz II Men
Boyz II Men is an American R&B vocal group best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are the most successful R&B group of all time, having sold more than albums worldwide. In the 1990s, Boyz II Men found fame on Motown Records as a quartet, but original member Michael McCary...
, "One Sweet Day
One Sweet Day
"One Sweet Day" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey and R&B group Boyz II Men. The song was written by Carey, Walter Afanasieff and the members of Boyz II Men: Wanya Morris, Shawn Stockman, Nathan Morris, and Michael McCary. "One Sweet Day" was produced by Carey and Afanasieff for...
". Billboard listed it as the "song of the decade" and the ninth most popular song of all time. Besides its chart success, the song broke several airplay records, and according to Nielsen BDS, gathered both the largest one-day and one-week audiences in history. The song charted strongly outside the US, topping the singles charts in Australia and the Netherlands, and reaching the top two positions in New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
Due to its continued success, Carey performed the song on several live award shows and television appearances around the world. Following stateside performances at the 2005 MTV Movie Awards
MTV Movie Awards
The MTV Movie Awards is a film awards show presented annually on MTV . It also contains movie parodies that used official movie footage with hosts and other celebrities and music performances. The nominees are decided by producers and executives at MTV. Winners are decided online by the general...
, MTV Video Music Awards
2005 MTV Video Music Awards
The 2005 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on August 28, 2005, honoring the best music videos from July 1, 2004 to June 30, 2005. The show was hosted by Diddy at the AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami, Florida...
, Macy's Fourth of July Parade
Macy's
Macy's is a U.S. chain of mid-to-high range department stores. In addition to its flagship Herald Square location in New York City, the company operates over 800 stores in the United States...
, and The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
, Carey performed it on several European events and programs such as the Live 8
Live 8
Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 Conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland from 6–8 July 2005; they also coincided with the 20th anniversary of Live Aid...
charity concert in the United Kingdom, the Fashion Rocks
Fashion Rocks
Fashion Rocks was an annual international charity fundraiser event which features fashions by the world's top designers being presented to live performances by popular music acts.The inaugural event was held at the Royal Albert Hall on October 15, 2003...
in Monaco, and the German Bambi Awards
Bambi (prize)
The Bambi - Deutschlands Wichtigster Medienpreis, often simply called Bambi Awards and stylized as BAMBI, are presented annually by Hubert Burda Media to recognize excellence in international media and television "with vision and creativity who affected and inspired the German public that year",...
. Most notably, Carey performed a medley of "We Belong Together" and "Fly Like a Bird
Fly like a Bird
"Fly Like a Bird" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey, first released on April 3, 2006 by Island Records as a promotional single from her tenth studio album, The Emancipation of Mimi . Written and produced by Carey and James "Big Jim" Wright, the song draws influence from...
", another single from the album, at the 48th annual Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
s on February 8, 2006. The performance received rave reviews from critics, and induced the night's only standing ovation. Aside from its many televised appearances, Carey performed the song on both her Adventures of Mimi
The Adventures of Mimi Tour
The Adventures of Mimi: The Voice, The Hits, The Tour was a 2006 concert tour of arenas by American R&B singer-songwriter Mariah Carey. It was one of a few tours in her then-sixteen year career and was named after a fan's "Carey-centric" diary of the same name...
and Angels Advocate Tour
Angels Advocate Tour
The Angels Advocate Tour is the seventh concert tour by American R&B singer Mariah Carey, in support of her twelfth studio album, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel. The tour visited North America, also Egypt, Brazil and Singapore...
s. On the former tour, critics described it as one of the concert's finest and impressive moments, while on the latter, it was introduced by Carey as the "song of the decade" to the audience.
"We Belong Together" earned several music industry awards and nominations throughout 2005–06: two Grammy Awards, two Radio Music Award
Radio Music Award
The Radio Music Awards was an annual U.S. award show that honors the year's most successful songs on mainstream radio. Nominations were based on the amount of airplay recording artists receive on radio stations in various formats using chart information compiled by Mediabase.Originally conceived as...
s, two Soul Train Music Awards
Soul Train Music Awards
The Soul Train Music Awards is an annual award show which previously aired in national television syndication, and honors the best in Black music and entertainment...
, one Vibe Award, a World Music Award and a Teen Choice Award
Teen Choice Awards
The Teen Choice Awards, are an annual awards show that air on the Fox cable channel, that honor the year's biggest biggest achievements in music, movies, sports, television, fashion and more, voted by teen viewers aged 14 through 17. Winners receive an authentic full size surfboard designed with...
. The song's music video was filmed as a two-part story with "It's Like That", which features Carey at her bachelorette party. The video for "We Belong Together" is a continuation focusing on Carey's actual wedding to an older and powerful man. Furthering rumors of the video's connection to her 1993 marriage to Tommy Mottola
Tommy Mottola
Thomas Daniel "Tommy" Mottola is an American music executive, co-owner of Casablanca Records in a joint venture with the Universal Music Group. He is the ex-husband of Mariah Carey and is married to Mexican singer Thalía...
, Carey donned her actual Vera Wang
Vera Wang
Vera Ellen Wang is a Chinese American fashion designer based in New York City and former figure skater. She is known for her wide clientele of couture bridesmaid gowns and wedding gown collections.-Personal life:...
wedding dress for the shoot. The video ends with Carey escaping the wedding with her ex-lover, who appears at the main stairwell just as the pair are to be wed. Carey and her lover, (played by Wentworth Miller
Wentworth Miller
Wentworth Earl Miller III is an English-born American actor; model and screenwriter who rose to stardom following his role as Michael Scofield in the Fox Network television series Prison Break.-Early life:...
) run down the flowery walkway and get into his car, while Carey's 27-foot train flows behind them.
Background
In 2001, Carey suffered a physical and emotional breakdown, causing her to abandon promotion of her then-released studio album Glitter (2001), and its accompanying filmGlitter (film)
Glitter is a 2001 film starring R&B singer, songwriter Mariah Carey. It was produced by 20th Century Fox and Columbia Pictures and directed by Vondie Curtis-Hall. It centers on the life and times of a struggling singer from the early club music scene in the 1980s.-Production:Carey has said about...
. Since she was hospitalized for exhaustion, the film project received strongly negative critical feedback, with the album faring slightly better. Following Carey's absence from the public eye, as well as her abandonment of promotional appearances for the film and soundtrack, her unprecedented $100 million five-album record deal with Virgin Records
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
(EMI Records
EMI Records
EMI Records is the flagship record label founded by the EMI company in 1972 and launched in January 1973 as the successor to its Columbia label. The EMI label was launched worldwide...
) was bought out for $50 million. After recovering and completing her contractual agreement with Virgin Records, Carey began recording her intended "comeback" and follow-up album, Charmbracelet
Charmbracelet
Charmbracelet is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey, released on December 3, 2002 through Island Records and MonarC Entertainment. The album was her first release since facing a breakdown following the release of her film Glitter and its accompanying...
(2002). Although the album focused on incorporating several inspirational and adult contemporary ballads and re-capturing Carey's audience from throughout the 1990s, critics took notice of Carey's different vocals.
As Glitter had been a mixture of 1980s covers and more dance-oriented material, Charmbracelet was void of up-tempo numbers, and harbored on slower, more contemporary melodies. In his review of the album, Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine is a senior editor for Allmusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for Allmusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes. He is also frontman and guitarist for the Ann Arbor-based band Who Dat?Erlewine is the nephew...
harshly criticized the album's content, but also Carey's voice, which he described as "in tatters". He wrote "Whenever she sings, there's a raspy whistle behind her thin voice and she strains to make notes throughout the record. She cannot coo or softly croon, nor can she perform her trademark gravity-defying vocal runs. Her voice is damaged, and there's not a moment where it sounds strong or inviting." Though fueled by strong media attention regarding Carey's return to music, as well as her new deal with Island Records
Island Records
Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
, the album failed to deliver the type of success she had been accustomed to throughout the 1990s, and only managed sales of five million copies globally. After the album's release, and its succeeding tour, Carey began conceptualizing and working on a new project, eventually titled The Emancipation of Mimi
The Emancipation of Mimi
The Emancipation of Mimi is the tenth studio album by American recording artist Mariah Carey, released in the United States on April 12, 2005, by Island Records. Following the relatively poor critical and commercial responses to her albums, Glitter and Charmbracelet , The Emancipation of Mimi...
, her tenth studio effort. "We Belong Together" became a song that critics considered Carey's "return to form" and "the return of The Voice", after several questioned her vocal abilities following the release of Charmbracelet.
Writing and recording
By November 2004, Carey had already recorded several songs for her newly-titled tenth studio album, The Emancipation of Mimi. Island RecordsIsland Records
Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
head L.A. Reid suggested to Carey, however, that she compose a few more strong singles to ensure the project's commercial success. Noting that she had written some of her best work with Jermaine Dupri
Jermaine Dupri
Jermaine Dupri Mauldin , known as Jermaine Dupri or JD, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper.- Early life and career :...
, Reid recommended that Carey meet with Dupri for a brief studio session. Carey took Reid's advice and headed to Atlanta to collaborate with Dupri. During this two-day trip, the duo wrote and produced "Shake It Off" and "Get Your Number", which were eventually released as the album's third and fourth singles. (Following this recording session, "Shake It Off" was briefly selected as the album's lead single, replacing the originally planned "Say Somethin'".) Carey returned to Atlanta for a second meeting with Dupri; during this trip, Carey and Dupri penned the last two songs to be included on the album, "We Belong Together" and "It's Like That". In an interview with Billboard, Carey described her sentiments regarding the song during the production stage:
I had the chills. I had a great feeling about it when we finished writing the song, and I was flying back from Atlanta at some crazy hour of the morning...But we were listening to it on the plane ride on the way home, and even from the demo version, I really felt something very special.
Carey and her management then decided to release "It's Like That", which Carey called "the right fire-starter", as the album's lead single. Carey later reminisced about her experience with Dupri: "I am so grateful I went to Atlanta," she said. "And I have to say, we wrote some of my favorite songs on the album. I'm so proud of Jermaine – he's so focused, and he knew what had to be done." In an interview with MTV, Carey described the album: "The album is not about making the older executives happy by making a bring-down-the-house, tearjerker ballad, or [something] steeped in the media dramas of my life. What I tried to do was keep the sessions very sparse, underproduced, like in '70s soul music..."
Music and structure
"We Belong Together" is an R&BContemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
ballad with strong pop and hip-hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
influences. The song is propelled by a programmed Roland TR-808
Roland TR-808
The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer was one of the first programmable drum machines . Introduced by the Roland Corporation in early 1980, it was originally manufactured for use as a tool for studio musicians to create demos. Like earlier Roland drum machines, it does not sound very much like a real...
-styled kick
Bass drum
Bass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...
and hi-hat
Hi-hat
A hi-hat, or hihat, is a type of cymbal and stand used as a typical part of a drum kit by percussionists in R&B, hip-hop, disco, jazz, rock and roll, house, reggae and other forms of contemporary popular music.- Operation :...
, which is prominently utilized in hip hop music. Carey adopted a reserved, rap-flavored singing style, which garnered approval from the critics who admonished her ornate, melisma
Melisma
Melisma, in music, is the singing of a single syllable of text while moving between several different notes in succession. Music sung in this style is referred to as melismatic, as opposed to syllabic, where each syllable of text is matched to a single note.-History:Music of ancient cultures used...
tic singing style. Reviewer Jennifer Vineyard from MTV News
MTV News
MTV News is the news division of MTV, one of the first and most popular music television network in the U.S., as well as some of MTV's related channels around the world. MTV News began in the late 1980s with the program The Week In Rock, hosted by Kurt Loder, the first official MTV News correspondent...
commented that Carey's spare and understated singing approach gave the song more power, which would not have been achieved if she had belted
Belt (music)
Belting refers to a specific technique of singing by which a singer produces a loud sound in the upper middle of the pitch range. It is often described as a vocal register although some dispute this since technically the larynx is not oscillating in a unique way...
. The song also incorporates 1980s retro-soul music by "cleverly" referencing Bobby Womack
Bobby Womack
Robert Dwayne "Bobby" Womack is an American singer-songwriter and musician. An active recording artist since the early 1960s where he started his career as the lead singer of his family musical group The Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guitarist, Womack's career has spanned more than 40...
's "If You Think You're Lonely Now
If You Think You're Lonely Now
"If You Think You're Lonely Now" is a song recorded and released as a single by American soul singer-songwriter Bobby Womack in 1981. It was released from his album The Poet...
" (1981) and The Deele's
The Deele
The Deele is an American 80s R&B band from Cincinnati, Ohio, originally consisting of Indianapolis native Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds along with Antonio "L.A." Reid, Carlos "Satin" Greene, Darnell "Dee" Bristol, Stanley Burke, and Kevin "Kayo" Roberson...
"Two Occasions
Two Occasions
"Two Occasions" is a R&B song written by Babyface, Darnell Bristol and Sid Johnson . It was produced by Babyface and L.A. Reid for The Deele's third studio album Eyes of a Stranger . The ballad was released as the album's second single in 1988...
" (1987), with Babyface. In the second verse of "We Belong Together", Carey sings: "Bobby Womack's on the radio / Singing to me, 'If you think you're lonely now'." She then flips across a radio dial: "So I turn the dial, tryin’ to catch a break / And then I hear Babyface / 'I only think of you...'." The line "If you think you're lonely now" is from the song of the same name and "I only think of you" is from the chorus of "Two Occasions." In the remix she also says "I only think of you / On two occasions / That's day and night..." Due to the inclusion of the lyrics from both songs, the songwriters were given co-writing credits on the song. "We Belong Together" follows the common verse-chorus form
Verse-chorus form
Verse-chorus form is a musical form common in popular music and predominant in rock since the 1960s. In contrast to AABA form, which is focused on the verse , in verse-chorus form the chorus is highlighted...
and is structured into three distinct sections, with each section presenting the protagonist in different emotions. The first section chronicles the break-up of the couple, and a sorrowful tone is established as she laments her former mistakes. In the second section, the narrative switches to the present, and the protagonist becomes increasingly agitated and feels "all out of her element" when she attempts to distract herself by listening to the radio, but fails. "We Belong Together" has no bridge
Bridge (music)
In music, especially western popular music, a bridge is a contrasting section which also prepares for the return of the original material section...
; instead, Carey transitions into the third section by raising the pitch
Pitch (music)
Pitch is an auditory perceptual property that allows the ordering of sounds on a frequency-related scale.Pitches are compared as "higher" and "lower" in the sense associated with musical melodies,...
an octave, which emphasizes the sheer frustration and desperation of the protagonist. Metro Times
Metro Times
The Metro Times is the largest circulating weekly newspaper in the metro Detroit area. Supported entirely by advertising, it is distributed free of charge every Wednesday in newsstands in businesses and libraries around the city and suburbs...
writer Johnny Loftus described the song's production, lyrics and vocals in detail:
It’s straightforward, heartfelt and classy. Mariah pleads with her departed lover – 'When you left I lost a part of me / It’s still so hard to believe' – and the song’s gentle R&B roll is perfectly understated, built from a few piano chords and a slowed-down So So Def rhythm. It has a homebody quality, almost like an autumn song would – you can imagine a split-up couple singing it quietly, separately, as the world goes on around them. She’s on a porch with tea; he’s stuck in traffic when he finds Mariah on the radio. It even cleverly references that feel, with Mariah finding the Bobby Womack and Babyface songs on her radio just too tough to hear. There’s no tired 'I tried to 2-way you” retorts, no trash-technology love affair 'I was at the grocery store and this guy had the same ring tone as you, and I cried.' No, there’s a classic sensibility to the lyrics and sound of 'We Belong Together' that makes for perfect – and perfectly universal – pop/R&B songwriting. In other words, it’s the jam. And there’s probably a happy ending, too: Mariah’s triumphant octave shift finale makes the song’s title an emphatic.
"We Belong Together" is a simple, understated musical arrangement set in C major
C major
C major is a musical major scale based on C, with pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature has no flats/sharps.Its relative minor is A minor, and its parallel minor is C minor....
and composed in 4/4
Quarter note
A quarter note or crotchet is a note played for one quarter of the duration of a whole note . Often people will say that a crotchet is one beat, however, this is not always correct, as the beat is indicated by the time signature of the music; a quarter note may or may not be the beat...
time
Time signature
The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
. Similarly, within the song, Carey's voice spans from G3 to the high note of A5. Carey's vocal range
Vocal range
Vocal range is the measure of the breadth of pitches that a human voice can phonate. Although the study of vocal range has little practical application in terms of speech, it is a topic of study within linguistics, phonetics, and speech and language pathology, particularly in relation to the study...
is demonstrated with a greater emphasis in the ending chorus, where the chorus is raised an octave higher, lying from G4 to A5. As such, Carey ends with an anticipated coda, completing both the chorus and the song with a potent, belted note of C5 for approximately four semibreves (around 17 seconds). It follows the common verse-chorus form and is structured into three sections that portray the protagonist in a range of emotions; from doleful and resigned in the first section, to desperate and agitated in the second. In the last section the song climaxes with an octave raise, which not only emphasizes the protagonist's heightened desperation, but her determination to be with her lover.
Reception
"We Belong Together" became a "career re-defining" song for Carey, at a point when many critics had considered her career over.Critical response
Unlike most of Carey's recent singles at that time, "We Belong Together" received generally positive reviews from critics, most of whom hailed the song as her "return to form", following reviews for CharmbraceletCharmbracelet
Charmbracelet is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey, released on December 3, 2002 through Island Records and MonarC Entertainment. The album was her first release since facing a breakdown following the release of her film Glitter and its accompanying...
(2002), that suggested Carey had lost her signature vocal range and power. Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...
wrote "the...diva [keeps] cool with breathy, rapid-fire verses until the final full strong-voiced climax that... proves that 'The Voice' has indeed returned." Additionally, he claimed that "The song is as 'innovative' as Mariah has been in years." Other critics commended Carey on her novel singing style which, according to Kelefa Sanneh
Kelefa Sanneh
Kelefa T. Sanneh is an American journalist and music critic. From 2000 to 2008, he wrote for the New York Times, covering the rock 'n' roll, hip-hop, and pop music scenes...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, gave the song its propulsion, writing "This style is part of the reason why she has been able to turn a ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
into a summer smash. 'We Belong Together' doesn't have a guest rapper, or a hard-hitting beat, but Ms. Carey's tricky vocal lines give the song more propulsion than you'd expect, with tightly coiled counter-rhythms that tug against the beat." Johnny Loftus from Metro Times called it a "summer hit" and wrote "We all know it’s the intangibles that make a summer single anyway, those untraceable currents that grab the heart and feet, and despite not being an anthem, 'We Belong Together' is that rousing."
Writing for Vibe, Michael Ehrlich claimed the song would "cut across generations", while Cinquemani felt it would revive "faith in Mariah the balladeer". Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic chose "We Belong Together" as a "top Pick" from the album, while Todd Burns from Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine was an online music and film magazine launched in 2002. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, a number of different podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog....
described it as "beautifully cadenced". Echoing Cinquemani's comments about the song and Carey's past as a balladeer, Jozen Cummings from PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
wrote "Carey makes the song her own, reminding fans of her 'Hero
Hero (Mariah Carey song)
"Hero" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey. It was released on October 19, 1993 by Columbia Records as the second single from Carey's third studio album, Music Box . Originally intended for Gloria Estefan, the song was written and produced by Carey and Walter Afanasieff...
' days with full, throaty vocals and a crashing climax at the end. The dichotomy between 'The Emancipation of Mimi's' first two tracks is the album’s bread and butter." Since first hearing the song on the radio, Sherri Winston from South Florida Sun-Sentinel claimed she "knew it would be a smash", complimenting its understated beat and Carey's vocals. Billboards Michael Paoletta described "We Belong Together" as one of the album's strongest cuts, claiming that it highlighted the strongest focal point on the song: Carey's voice. Slant Magazine ranked it 2nd on their best songs of 2005 list.
Commercial reception
Between 2001 and 2003, Carey's popularity had substantially declined and many had considered her career over. However, after being released to North American radio on March 29, 2005, "We Belong Together" became the most popular song for Carey's post-2000 career. The song spent fourteen non-consecutive weeks at number one on both the US Billboard Hot 100Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
—after making its debut at number 81—and on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
chart. It had major cross-over success, becoming the first song to simultaneously occupy the number one position on nine Billboard charts on the week ending August 6, 2005: the Hot 100, Billboard Hot 100 Airplay, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay
The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart is the airplay component chart of the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. It is not the R&B subset of The Hot 100 Airplay, but rather a separate panel of R&B stations in urban markets used for the R&B/Hip-Hop chart...
, Pop 100 Airplay
Pop 100 Airplay
The Pop 100 Airplay was a chart created in 2005 and released weekly by Billboard in the United States. It measured mainstream radio airplay, and was one of the three component charts, along with the Hot 100 Singles Sales and Hot Digital Songs charts, that determined the chart positions of singles...
, Top 40 Mainstream
Mainstream Top 40 (Pop Songs)
The Mainstream Top 40 is an airplay chart from Billboard magazine, and is also known as Pop Songs on billboard.com. It was often mistaken for and confused with the now discontinued Pop 100 Airplay chart...
, Rhythmic Airplay Chart
Rhythmic Airplay Chart
The Rhythmic Airplay Chart is an airplay chart that is featured weekly in Billboard Magazine. The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on Rhythmic stations, whose playlist includes mostly hit-driven R&B/Hip-Hop, Rhythmic pop, and some Dance tracks...
, Hot Dance Club Songs, and the Hot Ringtones
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
charts. Spending fourteen weeks atop the Hot 100, "We Belong Together" became the second longest running number one song in US chart history, behind only Carey's 1996 collaboration with Boyz II Men
Boyz II Men
Boyz II Men is an American R&B vocal group best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are the most successful R&B group of all time, having sold more than albums worldwide. In the 1990s, Boyz II Men found fame on Motown Records as a quartet, but original member Michael McCary...
, "One Sweet Day
One Sweet Day
"One Sweet Day" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey and R&B group Boyz II Men. The song was written by Carey, Walter Afanasieff and the members of Boyz II Men: Wanya Morris, Shawn Stockman, Nathan Morris, and Michael McCary. "One Sweet Day" was produced by Carey and Afanasieff for...
", which spent sixteen weeks at number one. Aside from its chart success, the song broke several airplay records, and according to Mediabase
Mediabase
Mediabase is a music industry service that monitors radio station airplay in 180 US and Canadian markets. Mediabase publishes music charts and data based on the most played songs on terrestrial and satellite radio, and provides in-depth analytical tools for radio and record industry professionals...
and Nielsen BDS, gathered both the largest one-day and one-week audiences in BDS history, reaching 32.8 million and 223 million impressions respectively. To date, "We Belong Together" has been listened to more than 8 billion times in the United States alone. During the week of September 25, 2005, Carey set another record, becoming the first female to occupy the first two spots atop the Hot 100, as "We Belong Together" remained at number one, and her next single, "Shake It Off
Shake It Off
"Shake It Off" is a song performed by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey, taken from her tenth studio album, The Emancipation of Mimi . It was written and produced by Carey along with Jermaine Dupri, Bryan-Michael Cox, and Johntá Austin...
" held the number two spot. Additionally, the song held the top position on the official Hot 100 Airplay chart for sixteen weeks, tying for the second all time spot with No Doubt
No Doubt
No Doubt is an American rock band from Anaheim, California that formed in 1986. The ska-pop sound of their first album No Doubt , failed to make an impact...
's "Don't Speak
Don't Speak
"Don't Speak" is a song by the American rock band No Doubt. It was released in 1996 as the third single from the band's third studio album, Tragic Kingdom...
" (1996). "We Belong Together" was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
(RIAA), denoting shipments of over one million copies throughout the United States. On the Billboard Hot 100 Year-end Chart
Billboard Year-End
Billboard Year-End charts are a cumulative measure of a single or album's performance in the United States, based upon the Billboard magazine charts during any given chart year. Billboard's "chart year" runs from the first week of December to the final week in November...
of 2005, the song was declared the number one song, a career first for Carey. Billboard listed "We Belong Together" ninth on The Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs and second on Top Billboard Hot 100 R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. The song was also declared the most popular song of the 2000s decade by Billboard.
Besides its success in the United States, "We Belong Together" achieved strong charting throughout Europe and Australasia. On the ARIA Charts
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
, the song debuted atop the singles chart in Australia during the week dated July 3, 2005. The following week, it held the number one spot for a second week, and stayed on the chart for a total of eleven weeks. To date, "We Belong Together" was certified Platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...
(ARIA), denoting shipments of over 70,000 units. The song finished at number seventeen on the 2005 Australian Year-End Chart. In both Flemish and Wallonian territories in Belgium, "We Belong Together" peaked at numbers twelve and twenty-four, spending a total of fifteen and fourteen weeks fluctuating in the singles chart, respectively. The song finished at number forty-seven on the Flemmish Year-End Chart of 2005. "We Belong Together" made its debut at number fifteen on the Danish Tracklisten
Tracklisten
Tracklisten is a Danish top 40 record chart that is presented every Thursday midnight at .The weekly Danish Singles Chart also known as Track Top-40 combines the 40 best selling tracks from legal music downloads and the sales of music singles on either CD or vinyl...
chart during the week of August 7, 2005, eventually peaking at number three. In France, the song peaked at number twelve, and spent nineteen weeks fluctuating within the French singles chart
Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique
The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry...
. On the Dutch Top 40
Dutch Top 40
The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting...
chart, "We Belong Together" reached number one in its fourth week, and spent a total of sixteen weeks in the chart, four of which were at the number two position. The song finished at number forty-one on the Dutch Year-End Chart of 2005. In New Zealand, the song spend three weeks at number two on the singles chart
Recording Industry Association of New Zealand
The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand...
, and a total of twelve before making its exit on October 3, 2005. At the end of 2005, "We Belong Together" finished at number thirty-six, and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand
Recording Industry Association of New Zealand
The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand...
(RIANZ), denoting shipments of over 15,000 units. In both Norway and Spain, the song peaked at number nine and three, and spent nine and seven weeks within the charts. In Switzerland, the song peaked at number four on the official singles chart, and charted for thirteen weeks. During mid-week predictions in the United Kingdom, "We Belong Together" was positioned to become Carey's third UK number one single. However, it wound up debuting at number two on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, selling 39,436 copies, only 392 copies behind Tupac Shakur
Tupac Shakur
Tupac Amaru Shakur , known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor. Shakur has sold over 75 million albums worldwide as of 2007, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world...
's "Ghetto Gospel
Ghetto Gospel
"Ghetto Gospel" is a song by rapper Tupac Shakur, which was originally released as the second single on his posthumous 2004 album Loyal to the Game...
". In its second week, the song dropped to number three, before re-surfacing to number two in its third week, this time blocked by James Blunt
James Blunt
James Hillier Blount , better known by his stage name James Blunt, is an English singer-songwriter and musician, and former army officer, whose debut album, Back to Bedlam and single releases, including "You're Beautiful" and "Goodbye My Lover", brought him to fame in 2005...
's "You're Beautiful
You're Beautiful
"You're Beautiful" is a pop rock song co-written by British singer James Blunt, Sacha Skarbek, and Amanda Ghost for Blunt's debut album Back to Bedlam . It was released as the third single from the album in 2005. In the UK and Australia the song reached number one and number two respectively...
". The song spent a total of eighteen weeks within the singles chart, and has estimated sales of over 240,000 units in the United Kingdom.
Awards and nominations
"We Belong Together" was awarded several prestigious music industry awards throughout 2005 and 2006. At the 2005 Billboard Music AwardBillboard Music Award
The Billboard Music Award is an honor given by Billboard magazine, the preeminent publication covering the music business. The Billboard Music Awards show had been held annually in December until it went dormant in 2007, but it returned in May 2011...
s ceremony, Carey won five awards, with the song receiving awards in the "Rhythmic Top 40
Rhythmic Contemporary
Rhythmic contemporary, also known as rhythmic top 40, rhythmic contemporary hit radio or rhythmic crossover, is a music radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip-hop and R&B hits. Rhythmic contemporary rarely uses rock music or country music in its airplay, but it may...
Title of the Year", "Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
song of the Year" and "Hot 100 Airplay of the Year" categories. On November 6, 2005, Carey earned two awards for "We Belong Together" at the Radio Music Award
Radio Music Award
The Radio Music Awards was an annual U.S. award show that honors the year's most successful songs on mainstream radio. Nominations were based on the amount of airplay recording artists receive on radio stations in various formats using chart information compiled by Mediabase.Originally conceived as...
s ceremony, in the "Song of the Year/Mainstream Hit Radio" and "Song of the Year/Urban and Rhythmic Radio" categories. Similarly, "We Belong Together" won the "Best R&B/Soul Single" and "Best R&B/Soul Single, Female
Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B/Soul Single, Female
The Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B/Soul Single, Female was given out every year since the first annual Soul Train Music Awards in 1987. From 1989-1992 the award was known as the R&B/Urban Contemporary Single - Female....
" awards at the 20th annual Soul Train Music Awards
Soul Train Music Awards
The Soul Train Music Awards is an annual award show which previously aired in national television syndication, and honors the best in Black music and entertainment...
, "Choice Love Song" at the Teen Choice Awards
Teen Choice Awards
The Teen Choice Awards, are an annual awards show that air on the Fox cable channel, that honor the year's biggest biggest achievements in music, movies, sports, television, fashion and more, voted by teen viewers aged 14 through 17. Winners receive an authentic full size surfboard designed with...
, "Best R&B Song" at the Vibe Awards, and "World's Most-Played Single" at the 2005 World Music Awards.
At the 48th annual Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
s, held at the Shrine Auditorium
Shrine Auditorium
The Shrine Auditorium is a landmark large-event venue, in Los Angeles, California, USA. It is also the headquarters of the Al Malaikah Temple, a division of the Shriners.-History:...
on February 8, 2006, Carey was nominated for eight awards, the most she had received in one night throughout her career. "We Belong Together" was nominated for all three top categories; however, it won two awards: "Best R&B Song
Grammy Award for Best R&B Song
The Grammy Award for Best R&B Song has been awarded since 1959. From 1969 to 2000 it was known as the Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Song, from 1962 to 1968 it was known as Best Rhythm & Blues Recording, and from 1959-1961 as Best Rhythm & Blues Performance...
" and "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to female recording artists for quality R&B songs...
". The song was named "Song of the Year" at the ASCAP Awards, and "Song of the Year", "Most Performed Song" and "Number-one Billboard Song" at the BMI
Broadcast Music Incorporated
Broadcast Music, Inc. is one of three United States performing rights organizations, along with ASCAP and SESAC. It collects license fees on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed...
Awards. Towards the summer of 2006, Carey took home "Song of the Year", "Best Pop Female Song Performance" and "Best R&B/Soul Female Song Performance" at the GrooveVolt Music & Fashion Awards.
Remixes
Carey recorded an official remix version for "We Belong Together", which she produced with DJ Clue. The remix features vocals from rappers JadakissJadakiss
Jason Phillips , better known as Jadakiss, is an American rapper. He is a member of the group The LOX. Jadakiss is one of the three owners of the imprint known as D-Block. In early 2007, Jadakiss signed to Roc-a-Fella Records / Def Jam Records.-Early life:By the age of 16, Jadakiss was a freestyle...
and Styles P
Styles P
David Styles better known by his stage name, Styles P, is an American rapper, author, and entrepreneur. He is prominently known as a member of Hip Hop group The LOX and is also a part of the Ruff Ryders hip-hop group, and in addition has released multiple albums and mixtapes as a solo...
, two-thirds of the hip-hop trio The LOX
The LOX
The Lox are an American hip hop group composed of Jadakiss, Sheek Louch, and Styles P. They were originally signed to Sean Combs' Bad Boy Records before joining Ruff Ryders Entertainment, and are now a part of their own label, D-Block Records-Early career:...
. The remix is fundamentally different from the original, described as having a "a faster, springier backbeat" by Kelefa Sanneh
Kelefa Sanneh
Kelefa T. Sanneh is an American journalist and music critic. From 2000 to 2008, he wrote for the New York Times, covering the rock 'n' roll, hip-hop, and pop music scenes...
of The New York Times. Lyrically, the song is similar to the album version of the song, in which both rappers' verses contemplate on past memories. Styles P raps "Past is the past, just let it be bygones / Matter of fact I know a fly song that we could vibe on", which Sanneh writes "Cheerfully out of place, he sounds like a man who has wandered into the wrong summertime party, but so what? He figures he might as well stick around and enjoy it." In two separate reviews of The Emancipation of Mimi, Sanneh referred to the song as both "great" and "excellent", in regards to the remix.
Aside from the album version's main remix, several others were commissioned and released, although none contained new vocals from Carey. Peter Rauhofer
Peter Rauhofer
Peter Rauhofer is a DJ, remixer and producer who formerly went under the moniker Club 69 as well as Size Queen. A native of Vienna, Austria, he is famous for his remixes of a number of Madonna's songs including "Nothing Really Matters", "American Life", "Nothing Fails, "Nobody Knows Me", "Get...
created the "Reconstruction Mix/Atlantic Soul Vocal Mix" and "Atlantic Soul Vocal Mix", which both feature a synthetic bass line, a piano and guitar line, and distinctive hi-hats that produce a more up-tempo, hard-hitting beat.
Background
The song's music video was filmed by movie director Brett RatnerBrett Ratner
Brett Ratner is an American film director, film producer and music video director. He is best known for directing the Rush Hour film series, The Family Man, Red Dragon, X-Men: The Last Stand, and Tower Heist. He was also a producer on the Fox drama series, Prison Break.- Early life :Ratner was...
in Los Angeles alongside the video for Carey's previous single, "It's Like That
It's like That (Mariah Carey song)
"It's Like That" is a song written by Mariah Carey, Jermaine Dupri, Manuel Seal, and Johntá Austin, and produced by Carey, Dupri, and Seal for Carey's tenth studio album, The Emancipation of Mimi . It borrows the hook "it's like that y'all" from the Run-D.M.C. tracks "Hollis Crew" and "Here We Go...
". Carey had collaborated with Ratner several times in the past, having worked on the video for "Heartbreaker
Heartbreaker (Mariah Carey song)
"Heartbreaker" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey. It was released on September 21, 1999 by Columbia Records as the lead single from Carey's seventh studio album, Rainbow . The song was written by Carey and Jay-Z and produced by the former and DJ Clue...
", which became one of the most expensive of all time, costing an estimated $2.5 million. The video was filmed in conjunction with "It's Like That" and serves as the second half to the two-part story. The music video for "It's Like That" features Carey at her bachelorette party set to wed an older and powerful man, played by Eric Roberts
Eric Roberts
Eric Anthony Roberts is an American actor. His career began with King of the Gypsies , earning a Golden Globe nomination for best actor debut. He starred as the protagonist in the 1980 dramatisation of Willa Cather's 1905 short story, Paul's Case...
. Towards the end of the video, her ex-lover and past flame, played by Wentworth Miller
Wentworth Miller
Wentworth Earl Miller III is an English-born American actor; model and screenwriter who rose to stardom following his role as Michael Scofield in the Fox Network television series Prison Break.-Early life:...
, arrives at the event, and the video concludes with them staring into each others eyes as Carey's soon-to-be husband watches from a balcony. The video for "We Belong Together" finishes their tale of love, and features Carey on her wedding day. For the scenes of Carey's wedding to the older man, she wore her Vera Wang
Vera Wang
Vera Ellen Wang is a Chinese American fashion designer based in New York City and former figure skater. She is known for her wide clientele of couture bridesmaid gowns and wedding gown collections.-Personal life:...
gown she originally wore during her nuptials to Tommy Mottola
Tommy Mottola
Thomas Daniel "Tommy" Mottola is an American music executive, co-owner of Casablanca Records in a joint venture with the Universal Music Group. He is the ex-husband of Mariah Carey and is married to Mexican singer Thalía...
in 1993. In an interview with MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
, when asked if there was a connection to the use of the dress in the video and reality, Carey responded:
The wedding dress was a Vera WangVera WangVera Ellen Wang is a Chinese American fashion designer based in New York City and former figure skater. She is known for her wide clientele of couture bridesmaid gowns and wedding gown collections.-Personal life:...
original dress from a while ago that I actually wore on a certain occasion and had it in storage and when we came up with the concept for the video that had the element of a wedding in it, I said, ‘well, I do have my old wedding dress,’. 'It’s still worth [sic] for me ’cause I can’t believe I was ever married but whatever, end of story. And I knew that we wouldn’t be able to get a fabulous dress like in two days so I just took that dress out of the storage – it has a 27-foot train and it was just all hand-beaded and stuff and so I figured we might as well get a use out of it.'
Synopsis
The video features Carey readying for her wedding, and follows her to the altar, as well as her escape from the reception. It begins with a scene of a large mansion, apparently owned by the older man who she is to marry. Carey is seen walking barefoot in a room, shedding a black sheer robe and laying down on a bed draped with white linens. Dressed in lingerie, Carey's face is shown close-up, as scenes of her tossing in the bed are shown. As the song begins, Carey is seen sitting in front of a large mirror, preparing for her wedding by putting on earrings and shoes, and staring at the ring on her finger. Additional scenes of Carey sitting on a small blue sofa, wearing a purple dress, and Carey staring at the camera during a shower moment are interspersed. The wedding is then shown, with Miller approaching the reception through a stairwell in the back. Small children as seen throwing flowers on the white carpet, followed by Roberts and Carey walking down the aisle.As Carey, now dry and clothed, is shown in another scenario following the dressing scene, a still of Carey and Miller in the video for "It's like That" is shown, during the lyrics "I can't sleep at night / When you are on my mind". After several other scenes of Carey dressed in the purple gown and white shirt are interspersed, the altar is displayed, where before being ordained by the minister, Carey looks into her ex-lover's eyes once more. She turns to Roberts, and begins running towards Miller, leaving the reception. As the song's climax is reached, Carey and Miller are shown running from the reception, as the guests stand up in awe, and watch the pair leave. Carey, dressed in the white shirt, is shown with growing anticipation, crying to the camera and moving her hands and hair. Back at the wedding scene, Carey and her lover get into his vehicle, and drive away as her 27-foot train hangs behind the car. The video was nominated for "Best R&B Video
MTV Video Music Award for Best R&B Video
The MTV Video Music Award for Best R&B Video was first awarded in 1993, and was given every year until 2006, as the following year MTV revammped the VMAs and eliminated all of the genre categories. The following year, though, when MTV returned the VIdeo Music Awards to their previous format, Best...
" and "Best Female Video
MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video is one of the original general awards that has been handed out every year since the first annual MTV Video Music Awards in 1984. In 2007, however, the award was briefly renamed Female Artist of the Year, and it awarded the artist's whole body of work...
" at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards.
Live performances
Due to its continued chart success, Carey performed "We Belong Together" on several live televised performances and included it on the set-lists of all of her tours following its release. In the United Kingdom, Carey filmed a two-part appearance on the British music program Top of the PopsTop of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
, performing "It's Like That", "We Belong Together", and "Shake It Off". Additional European and Asian appearances included an interview on the French talk show Le Grand Journal
Le Grand Journal (Canal+)
Le Grand Journal is a French nightly news and talk show airing every weekday evening on Canal+. Debuting on August 30, 2004, it was created and hosted by Michel Denisot. Originally a one-hour program, it expanded to two hours in 2005. Even though the show is broadcast on the premium channel Canal+,...
, and a performance of "We Belong Together" on both Music Station
Music Station
is a Japanese music television program. It began broadcasting on October 24, 1986 and continues to be broadcast weekly in High-definition from 8PM-9PM on tv asahi...
and Riponggi Hills in Japan. After returning to the United States for a string of televised performances, Carey launched the release of the album on Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
, in the form of a five-piece outdoor concert. The concert, taking place in Times Square
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
and featuring the largest crowd in the plaza since the 2004 New Year's Eve celebration, featured the first three singles from the album, as well as "Fly Like a Bird" and "Make It Happen" (1991). The following week, she performed "We Belong Together" at the 2005 BET Awards
BET Awards
The BET Awards were established in 2001 by the Black Entertainment Television network to celebrate African Americans and other minorities in music, acting, sports, and other fields of entertainment over the past year. The awards are presented annually and broadcast live on BET...
, with an additional appearance at the annual VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
Save the Music
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
special, filmed live on April 17 from the Beacon Theatre. Throughout May, Carey appeared on several US television programs, performing "We Belong Together" on The David Letterman Show
The David Letterman Show
The David Letterman Show was a live morning NBC talk show hosted by David Letterman from June 23 to October 24, 1980. The show originally ran for 90 minutes, then 60 minutes from August 4 onward.-Background:...
(May 5), The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that initially aired from May 25, 1992 to May 29, 2009, and resumed production on March 1, 2010. The fourth incarnation of the Tonight Show franchise made its debut on May 25, 1992, three days following Johnny...
(May 11), and The Ellen DeGeneres Show
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
The Ellen DeGeneres Show, often shortened to Ellen, is an American television talk show hosted by comedian/actress Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it is produced by Telepictures and airs in syndication, including stations owned by NBC Universal. For its first five seasons, the show...
(May 13), which included a performance of "It's Like That". As June approached, Carey made an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
(May 24), featuring a live rendition of "We Belong Together". She appeared on stage wearing a long blue evening gown, and featured a four piece band, as well as three background vocalists. Eleven days later on June 4, she performed at the annual Macy's Fourth of July Parade
Macy's
Macy's is a U.S. chain of mid-to-high range department stores. In addition to its flagship Herald Square location in New York City, the company operates over 800 stores in the United States...
, singing "America the Beautiful
America the Beautiful
"America the Beautiful" is an American patriotic song. The lyrics were written by Katharine Lee Bates and the music composed by church organist and choirmaster Samuel A. Ward....
" and "We Belong Together".
The following week, Carey made a live appearance at the 2005 annual MTV Movie Awards
MTV Movie Awards
The MTV Movie Awards is a film awards show presented annually on MTV . It also contains movie parodies that used official movie footage with hosts and other celebrities and music performances. The nominees are decided by producers and executives at MTV. Winners are decided online by the general...
. The recital aired on television in black and white format, with Carey wearing a red Armani Privé and sporting a retro curled hairstyle, appearing in color. She performed "We Belong Together" on a white runway
Runway (fashion)
Runway or catwalk describes a narrow, usually flat platform that runs into an auditorium, used by models to demonstrate clothing and accessories during a fashion show In fashion jargon, "what's on the catwalk" or similar phrasing can refer to whatever is new and popular in fashion.- Exclusive...
-styled stage with four male and female dancers. Following the stateside promotion of the album, Carey traveled to the United Kingdom on July 2, 2005 for a benefit concert held in Hyde Park, London
Hyde Park, London
Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, United Kingdom, and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine...
titled Live 8
Live 8
Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 Conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland from 6–8 July 2005; they also coincided with the 20th anniversary of Live Aid...
. The televised event was watched by over 9.6 million British citizens and held a live audience of over 200,000. Carey performed a three song set-list, opening with "We Belong Together" and "Make It Happen", and followed by "Hero
Hero (Mariah Carey song)
"Hero" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey. It was released on October 19, 1993 by Columbia Records as the second single from Carey's third studio album, Music Box . Originally intended for Gloria Estefan, the song was written and produced by Carey and Walter Afanasieff...
", which featured a live choir of African children. On August 3, USA Today announced that Carey would be added to the roster of performers at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards
2005 MTV Video Music Awards
The 2005 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on August 28, 2005, honoring the best music videos from July 1, 2004 to June 30, 2005. The show was hosted by Diddy at the AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami, Florida...
, held on the 28th of the month. The ceremony was held at the American Airlines Arena in downtown Miami Beach Florida, with Carey's performance taking place at the National Hotel in South Beach
South Beach
South Beach, also nicknamed SoBe, is a neighborhood in the city of Miami Beach, Florida, United States. It is the area south of Indian Creek and encompasses roughly the southernmost 23 blocks of the main barrier island that separates the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay.This area was the first...
. Apart from The Killers, she was the only performer to tape their appearance from an undisclosed location in Miami. After being introduced by Eva Longoria
Eva Longoria
Eva Jacqueline Longoria is an American actress, best known for portraying Gabrielle Solis on the ABC television series Desperate Housewives...
, Carey appeared on a long stage in the hotel's courtyard, with Dupri opening the song in a nearby cabana. After performing "Shake It Off" and the official remix version of "We Belong Together", Carey made her way into the shallow pool, followed by Dupri and the back-up dancers. Following the awards ceremony, Carey once again took to Europe, being featured as a head-lining performer at the 2005 Fashion Rocks
Fashion Rocks
Fashion Rocks was an annual international charity fundraiser event which features fashions by the world's top designers being presented to live performances by popular music acts.The inaugural event was held at the Royal Albert Hall on October 15, 2003...
, held in Monaco
Monaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...
. Following her introduction by Donatella Versace
Donatella Versace
Donatella Versace is an Italian fashion designer and current Vice-President of the Versace Group, as well as chief designer. She owns 20 percent of the entire stock market assets of Versace. Her brother, Santo Versace, owns 30 percent...
, Carey performed the Peter Rauhofer Remix for "We Belong Together" on a suspended rafter, while wearing a metallic Versace
Versace
Gianni Versace S.p.A. , usually referred to as Versace, is an Italian fashion label founded by Gianni Versace in 1978.The first Versace boutique was opened in Milan's Via della Spiga in 1978, and its popularity was immediate. Today, Versace is one of the world's leading international fashion houses...
gown. S, which featured a heavy-techno accompaniment to the original intrumentation. Carey played a similarly-choreographed performance of the song's Peter Rauhofer Remix at the German Bambi Awards
Bambi (prize)
The Bambi - Deutschlands Wichtigster Medienpreis, often simply called Bambi Awards and stylized as BAMBI, are presented annually by Hubert Burda Media to recognize excellence in international media and television "with vision and creativity who affected and inspired the German public that year",...
, held in October 2005. Two months later, she celebrated the new year on television, placing as the featured performer at the Times Square Ball drop
Times Square Ball
The Times Square Ball is a time ball dropped each year during the New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square, Manhattan, New York City. The ball is made by Waterford Crystal and electric lights is raised to the top of a pole on the One Times Square building at 6:00 pm and then lowered to mark the...
on New Year's Eve in New York. The special, titled Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest, aired on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
at 10 pm on December 31, and featured Carey on stage wearing a short sparkling dress, and performing a selection of the album's singles.
At the 48th Grammy Awards, held on February 8, 2006, Carey was nominated for eight awards—the most she had ever received in one night. That night, Carey returned to the Grammy stage for the first time since 1996. Her performance opened with a pre-taped video in which she discussed the importance of God and religion in her life. Carey then came to the stage, dressed in a white Chanel
Chanel
Chanel S.A. is a French fashion house founded by the couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, well established in haute couture, specializing in luxury goods . She gained the name "Coco" while maintaining a career as a singer at a café in France...
gown, and sang a shortened version of "We Belong Together". Next, Carey's pastor Clarence Keaton read a Bible passage to open Carey's performance of "Fly Like a Bird", as he did in the studio recording of the song. Midway through the song, a black temporary wall was removed, revealing a large choir who joined Carey for the song's gospel climax. The performance earned the night's only standing ovation, prompting Teri Hatcher
Teri Hatcher
Teri Lynn Hatcher is an American actress, writer, and presenter. She is known for her television roles as Susan Mayer on the ABC comedy-drama series Desperate Housewives, and Lois Lane on the ABC comedy-drama series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman...
, who was presenting the next award, to exclaim, "It's like we've all just been saved!" Carey's performance earned rave reviews from critics. Gary Susman from Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
called Carey the "comeback queen", noting that her voice "soar[ed] into the rafters like only Carey's can." Carey included "We Belong Together" on both succeeding tours following its release, the Adventures of Mimi
The Adventures of Mimi Tour
The Adventures of Mimi: The Voice, The Hits, The Tour was a 2006 concert tour of arenas by American R&B singer-songwriter Mariah Carey. It was one of a few tours in her then-sixteen year career and was named after a fan's "Carey-centric" diary of the same name...
and Angels Advocate Tour
Angels Advocate Tour
The Angels Advocate Tour is the seventh concert tour by American R&B singer Mariah Carey, in support of her twelfth studio album, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel. The tour visited North America, also Egypt, Brazil and Singapore...
s. On the former, the song was featured as the encore number, with Carey re-entering the arenas in a form fitting beige evening gown. Backed by three background vocalists, Trey Lorenz
Trey Lorenz
Trey Lorenz is an African American singer and songwriter. He was born in Florence, South Carolina and is a graduate of Wilson High School.-Biography:...
, Sherry Tatum, and MaryAnn Tatum, Carey began the song as confetti dropped the arena rafters. According to Jennifer Vineyard from MTV News
MTV News
MTV News is the news division of MTV, one of the first and most popular music television network in the U.S., as well as some of MTV's related channels around the world. MTV News began in the late 1980s with the program The Week In Rock, hosted by Kurt Loder, the first official MTV News correspondent...
, the performance was "a major accomplishment", and the highlight of the show, and found Carey re-connect with the audience in ways that she was unable throughout most of the show. Similarly, during her Angel's Advocate Tour, the song was placed as one of the final numbers on the set-list. Dressed in a black Herve Leger
Herve Leger
Herve Leger, sometimes written as Hervé Léger , is a French fashion house founded by the designer currently known as Hervé L. Leroux.-History:Herve Leger was founded in 1985 by the designer currently known as Hervé L. Leroux...
gown, Carey introduced the song as the Billboards "song of the decade", and thanked the audience for making it her 16th number-one single in the United States. Following the song's completion, Carey exited the arena for a few moments, before returning to perform "Hero
Hero (Mariah Carey song)
"Hero" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey. It was released on October 19, 1993 by Columbia Records as the second single from Carey's third studio album, Music Box . Originally intended for Gloria Estefan, the song was written and produced by Carey and Walter Afanasieff...
" as the encore.
Formats and track listings
Australian CD Single- "We Belong Together" – 3:22
- "We Belong Together" (Reconstruction Radio Mix) – 4:05
- "It's Like ThatIt's like That (Mariah Carey song)"It's Like That" is a song written by Mariah Carey, Jermaine Dupri, Manuel Seal, and Johntá Austin, and produced by Carey, Dupri, and Seal for Carey's tenth studio album, The Emancipation of Mimi . It borrows the hook "it's like that y'all" from the Run-D.M.C. tracks "Hollis Crew" and "Here We Go...
(Remix)" (feat. Fat JoeFat JoeJoseph Antonio Cartagena , better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper, CEO of Terror Squad Entertainment, and member of musical groups D.I.T.C. and Terror Squad....
) – 3:32
Danish maxi-single (Promo)
- "We Belong Together (Remix)" – 4:30
- "We Belong Together (Reconstruction Radio Mix)" – 4:04
- "We Belong Together (Reconstruction Club Mix)" – 9:25
- "We Belong Together (Atlantic Soul Radio Edit" – 4:22
- "We Belong Together (Atlantic Soul Vocal)" – 7:23
- "We Belong Together (Atlantic Soul Instrumental)" – 7:22
European CD single
- "We Belong Together" – 3:22
- "We Belong Together (Remix)" (feat. JadakissJadakissJason Phillips , better known as Jadakiss, is an American rapper. He is a member of the group The LOX. Jadakiss is one of the three owners of the imprint known as D-Block. In early 2007, Jadakiss signed to Roc-a-Fella Records / Def Jam Records.-Early life:By the age of 16, Jadakiss was a freestyle...
and Styles PStyles PDavid Styles better known by his stage name, Styles P, is an American rapper, author, and entrepreneur. He is prominently known as a member of Hip Hop group The LOX and is also a part of the Ruff Ryders hip-hop group, and in addition has released multiple albums and mixtapes as a solo...
) – 4:30
Japanese CD single
- "We Belong Together" – 3:22
- "We Belong Together" (Instrumental) – 3:22
UK CD Single
- "We Belong Together" – 3:23
- "We Belong Together" (Remix) – 4:06
UK CD maxi-single
- "We Belong Together (Remix)" – 4:30
- "We Belong Together (Reconstruction Radio Mix)" – 4:04
- "We Belong Together (Reconstruction Club Mix)" – 9:25
- "We Belong Together (Atlantic Soul Radio Edit" – 4:22
- "We Belong Together (Atlantic Soul Vocal)" – 7:23
- "We Belong Together (Atlantic Soul Instrumental)" – 7:22
US CD Single (Promo)
- "We Belong Together" – 4:27
- "We Belong Together (Instrumental)" – 4:28
Credits and personnel
Credits for The Emancipation of Mimi adapted from the album's liner notes.- Mariah CareyMariah CareyMariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...
– songwriting, producer, vocals, background vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists... - Jermaine DupriJermaine DupriJermaine Dupri Mauldin , known as Jermaine Dupri or JD, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper.- Early life and career :...
– songwriting, producer - Manuel SealManuel SealManuel Seal, Jr. is an American Hip-Hop/R&B record producer and songwriter.Formerly a contract songwriter and producer at Jermaine Dupri's So So Def Recordings, Manuel Seal, Jr...
– songwriting, producer - Johntá AustinJohnta AustinJohntá Austin is an American singer-songwriter, who is currently signed to Jermaine Dupri's So So Def Recordings. He is commonly known for collaborating with Producers Bryan-Michael Cox, Jermaine Dupri & The Production Team StarGate. Austin was awarded two Grammy Awards for his work on the songs...
– songwriting - Bobby WomackBobby WomackRobert Dwayne "Bobby" Womack is an American singer-songwriter and musician. An active recording artist since the early 1960s where he started his career as the lead singer of his family musical group The Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guitarist, Womack's career has spanned more than 40...
– songwriting - Patrick MotenPatrick MotenPatrick Moten was an American musician and songwriter, who co-wrote Bobby Womack's "If You Think You're Lonely Now"...
– songwriting - Kenneth Edmonds – songwriting
- Darnell BristolDarnell BristolDarnell "Dee" Bristol is a member of The Deele and a songwriter who co-wrote The Deele's "Two Occasions." Years later, he would be credited as a co-writer of Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together", when Carey would reusing portions of "Two Occasions." He has also been credited on certain releases with...
– songwriting - Sandra Sully – songwriting
- Brian Frye – engineerAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
- Herb Power – masteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
Charts
| Chart (2005) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
1 |
| Austrian Singles Chart Ö3 Austria Top 40 Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann... |
31 |
| Belgian Flandres Albums Chart Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts... |
12 |
| Belgian Wallonia Albums Chart Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts... |
24 |
| Danish Singles Chart Tracklisten Tracklisten is a Danish top 40 record chart that is presented every Thursday midnight at .The weekly Danish Singles Chart also known as Track Top-40 combines the 40 best selling tracks from legal music downloads and the sales of music singles on either CD or vinyl... |
3 |
| Dutch Singles Chart Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting... |
1 |
| European Singles Chart | 3 |
| French Singles Chart Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... |
12 |
| German Singles Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
11 |
| Irish Singles Chart Irish Recorded Music Association Irish Recorded Music Association is the Irish record industry association. IRMA is a non-profit association set up to manage and control the music industry in the Republic of Ireland.-Goals and activities:... |
3 |
| Italian Singles Chart Federation of the Italian Music Industry The Federation of the Italian Music Industry is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy.... |
15 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
2 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
9 |
| Spanish Singles Chart | 3 |
| Swedish Singles Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
11 |
| Swiss Singles Chart Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
4 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
2 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
1 |
| US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs | 1 |
| US Billboard Adult Contemporary | 3 |
| US Billboard Pop Songs Mainstream Top 40 (Pop Songs) The Mainstream Top 40 is an airplay chart from Billboard magazine, and is also known as Pop Songs on billboard.com. It was often mistaken for and confused with the now discontinued Pop 100 Airplay chart... |
1 |
Certifications
| Region | Certifications |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956... ) |
Platinum |
| New Zealand (RIANZ Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... ) |
Platinum |
| United States (RIAA Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States... ) |
Platinum |
End of year charts
| End of Year Chart (2005) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 17 |
| Belgian Singles Chart (Flanders) | 47 |
| Dutch Top 40 | 41 |
| European Hot 100 Singles | 45 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 36 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 57 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 57 |
| UK Singles Chart | 20 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
End-of-decade charts
| Chart (2000–2009) | Rank |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
All-time charts
| Chart (2000–2009) | Rank |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 9 |
| US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs | 2 |
See also
- List of number-one singles in Australia in 2005
- List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 2005 (U.S.)
- List of number-one R&B singles of 2005 (U.S.)
- List of number-one dance singles of 2005 (U.S.)
- List of number-one dance airplay hits of 2005 (U.S.)