Be Without You

"Be Without You"
Single by Mary J. Blige
from the album The Breakthrough & Reflections (A Retrospective)
B-side	"Show Love"
Released	November 15, 2005 (2005-11-15)
Format	Digital download, CD single, 12" single
Recorded	2004
Genre	R&B, Soul
Length	4:06
Label	Geffen
Writer(s)	Mary J. Blige, Johnta Austin, Bryan-Michael Cox, Jason Perry
Producer	Bryan-Michael Cox
Certification	2× Platinum (RIAA)
Mary J. Blige singles chronology
"It's a Wrap" (2004) "Be Without You" (2005) "One" (with U2) (2006)

"Be Without You" is an R&B song written by American singer-songwriter Mary J. Blige, Johnta Austin, Bryan Michael Cox, and Jason Perry for Blige's seventh studio album The Breakthrough. It was released as the album's lead single in late 2005. It was produced by Cox and released as the album's first official single. The song was nominated for Record of the Year and Song of the Year and won the Best R&B Song and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance categories at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards and was the most played song on radio in the year 2006. The single was certified double platinum by the RIAA in 2007. With 15 weeks at #1, and a 75 week span on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, it is the most successful R&B song in the 50 year history of that chart.

The song appears on the game Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol.

Music video

The music video for "Be Without You" was directed by Matthew Rolston and was shot on various locations in New York City in October 2005.

Starring Oscar-nominated actor Terrence Howard in the role of Blige's boyfriend the video first aired on November 28, 2005. It peaked on AOL Videos Top 11 on the tenth spot on the January 21, 2006 entering the chart the first time and also the LAUNCH Music Videos Top 100 at the sixth position the same week. There's also a "Live At Launch Exclusive Performance" available for download from January 2006, which peaked seventieth on the same chart. It won the "Video of the Year" award at the 2006 BET Awards on June 27, 2006 and was nominated for "Best R&B Video" at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards. The video begins in a black and white city where Blige is standing on top of the building as the song begins. Then, it shifts into a bathroom where Mary cleans out the mirror. In the 1st scene, Blige is typing the lyrics on her laptop. The next scene shows a color appeared where Mary is falling in love with her boyfriend and sleeping with him. Then, the next scene goes to a kitchen where Mary and her love interest are celebrating dinner with her family. Meanwhile, she is seen in a color scene where she is standing next to a group of candles and the next scene shows at a red carpet premiere where Mary wallks out of the limo. Then, Blige and her boyfriend breaks up after having a fight (As seen in the events at the beginning of the video) and her boyfriend storms off. After 2 candles started melting, the final scene as the black and white changes to a color scene where a knock was on the door. Blige opens it and it was her boyfriend. She hugged him at the end of the song.

Chart performance

The single debuted at number ninety-three on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at number three in February 2006, Blige's third highest peak of her career after 2001's "Family Affair" and 1996's "Not Gon' Cry." Moreover, the song became the most successful release in the history of the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart when it spent a record fifteen consecutive weeks at number one. "Be Without You" topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart for nine weeks, and the dance remix has also topped the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart. The song broke the record for the longest-running single in the existence of the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, where it spent a grand total of 75 weeks on that chart. After its run on the main R&B chart it moved to the Recurrent R&B Airplay chart. It has now been on that chart for over a year and is still in the top 10 there.

In the UK the single only peaked at number 32 on the UK singles chart; however, with the Moto Blanco remix of the song becoming a large club hit in the UK, the song actually managed to hold (to that time) the record for the most weeks on the UK top 75 for a Mary J. Blige single (18 in total). Having proved very popular, the Moto Blanco remix was featured as a B-Side in the UK on subsequent singles "MJB Da MVP" and "Enough Cryin'." A cover of the Moto Blanco remix by Wi-Fi featuring Melanie M was due to be released in the UK in February 2007.

Remixes

The official remix was also produced by Bryan-Michael Cox and features former Shady Records rapper Stat Quo.

Covers

• Paris Bennett covered the song for fifth season of American Idol.
• Lil Rounds covered the song for the eighth season of American Idol.
• English dance group Booty Luv covered the song for their debut album Boogie 2Nite.

Track listings and formats

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Be Without You".

• U.S. CD single

1. "Be Without You" (Kendu Mix)
2. "Show Love"
3. "Be Without You" (Moto Blanco Vocal Mix)
4. "Be Without You" (video)

• UK CD single

1. "Be Without You" (Kendu Mix)
2. "Be Without You" (Moto Blanco Vocal Mix)
3. "Be Without You" (instrumental)
4. "Be Without You" (video)

• 12" promo

1. "Be Without You" (Main Mix)
2. "Be Without You" (Instrumental)
3. "Be Without You" (A Capella)

• 12" single

1. "Be Without You" (Kendu Mix)
2. "Be Without You" (Moto Blanco Vocal Mix)
3. "Be Without You" (Moto Blanco Dub)
4. "Be Without You" (instrumental)

Charts

Peak positions

Chart (2006)	Peak position
Australian Singles Chart	30
Austrian Singles Chart	23
Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart	42
Belgian (Wallonia) Ultratip Chart	1
Dutch Top 40	7
Eurochart Hot 100 Singles	26
Finnish Singles Chart	13
French Singles Chart	22
German Singles Chart	12
New Zealand Singles Chart	9
Swedish Singles Chart	34
Swiss Singles Chart	5
UK Singles Chart	32
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	3
U.S. Billboard Adult Top 40	34
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play	1
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs	1
U.S. Billboard Pop 100 Airplay	1

Year-end charts

Chart (2006)	Position
Dutch Top 40	73
Swiss Singles Chart	53
US Bilboard Hot 100	11

Chart successions

Preceded by "Don't Forget About Us" by Mariah Carey	Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs number-one single January 7, 2006 - April 15, 2006	Succeeded by "What You Know" by T.I.
Preceded by "Sorry" by Madonna	Billboard Hot Dance Airplay number-one single March 27, 2006 - April 10, 2006	Succeeded by "SOS" by Rihanna
Preceded by "Check on It" by Beyoncé featuring Bun B and Slim Thug	Billboard Hot Dance Club Play number-one single March 11, 2006	Succeeded by "Sorry" by Madonna