I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)

"I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)"
Single by Aretha Franklin and George Michael
from the album Aretha
Released	January, 1987
Format	7" single, CD single
Recorded	1986
Genre	R&B, pop
Length	4:00
Label	Arista
Writer(s)	Simon Climie, Dennis Morgan
Producer	Narada Michael Walden for Perfection Light Productions
Aretha Franklin singles chronology
"Jimmy Lee" (1987) "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" (1987) "Rock-a-Lott" (1987)
George Michael singles chronology "A Different Corner" (1986) "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" (1987) "I Want Your Sex" (1987)

"I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" is a chart-topping song performed by Aretha Franklin and George Michael as a duet in 1987. It was written by Simon Climie and Dennis Morgan.

Music video

The video begins with George Michael and two bodyguards entering a dark room. There is a large screen on the wall showing Aretha Franklin preparing for George Michael. In the course of the video the two are shown performing the song both are shown in front of a screen and on it. At the end of the clip Aretha winks at the camera.

Chart performance

The song was a one-off project that helped Michael achieve his ambition to sing with one of his favorite artists, and it reached number one in both the UK Singles Chart and Billboard's Hot 100. The song was, remarkably, Franklin's first and only UK number-one hit, and only her fourth top ten achievement in the country since "I Say a Little Prayer", nearly two decades earlier. This was also the last of Franklin's seventeen Top 10 hits in the Billboard Hot 100.

For Michael, it became his third consecutive number-one in the UK since going solo, following 1984's "Careless Whisper" (though the single was actually from the Wham! album Make It Big) and 1986's "A Different Corner". However, as the song was a duet, he was not afforded the same status or level of congratulation as Gerry & the Pacemakers or Frankie Goes to Hollywood, the only two artists to have previously achieved number one with their first three releases. Michael's previous success (with Wham!, which included four number-ones) was also a factor in watering down the achievement. In the U.S., it was Michael's fourth #1 hit, counting his Wham! days.

The single was the first Michael had recorded (as a lead artist) which he had not written himself. The co-writer, Simon Climie, was unknown at the time, although he later had success as a performer with Climie Fisher in 1988.

The continuous run of UK chart-toppers ended for Michael thereafter, with his next number-one coming in 1991—again as part of a duet (this time with Elton John) - while his next entirely solo number-one in the UK didn't appear until 1996.

On the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" debuted at #59, the week of February 21, 1987, reaching #1 in its ninth week, April 18, 1987, and remaining there for two consecutive weeks.

Charts and certifications

Charts

Chart (1987)	Peak position
Australian Singles Chart	1
Austrian Singles Chart	9
Canadian RPM Top Singles	4
Dutch Singles Chart	1
German Singles Chart	5
Irish Singles Chart	1
Italian Singles Chart	11
New Zealand Singles Chart	3
Norwegian Singles Chart	4
Swedish Singles Chart	4
Swiss Singles Chart	5
UK Singles Chart	1
US Billboard Hot 100	1
US Billboard Adult Contemporary	2
US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs	12

Certifications

Country	Certification
Netherlands	Gold

Preceded by "Jack Your Body" by Steve 'Silk' Hurley	Irish Singles Chart number-one single 7 February 1987 – 21 February 1987 (3 weeks)	Succeeded by "Stand By Me" by Ben E. King
	UK number-one single 15 February 1987 – 22 February 1987 (2 weeks)
Preceded by "I Want to Wake Up with You" by Boris Gardiner	Australian Kent Music Report number-one single 16 March 1987 – 6 April 1987 (4 weeks)	Succeeded by "Boom Boom (Let's Go Back to My Room)" by Paul Lekakis
Preceded by "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" by Starship	Billboard Hot 100 number-one single April 18, 1987 – April 25, 1987 (2 weeks)	Succeeded by "(I Just) Died in Your Arms" by Cutting Crew

Track listing

7"

1. "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" – 3:52
2. "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" (Instrumental) – 4:00

US 12" maxi-single

1. "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" (Edited remix) – 5:29
2. "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" (Percappela) – 5:14
3. "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" (Album version) – 4:01
4. "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" (Extended remix) – 7:30 (Note: This 12" version has never appeared on CD)
   • Remixed by Steve Thompson and Michael Barbiero

Cover versions

• The Shadows did an instrumental version in 1987 on the album Simply Shadows.
• A live version of the song was featured on the Bucks Fizz album Live at Fairfield Halls in 1991.
• A cover of "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" was recorded in 2001 by Hear'Say as the B-side to their single "Everybody".
• Also Michael McDonald covered it in 2008 on his album Soul Speak.
• Simon Climie had co-written the song and also produced it.
• A cover version of the chorus of "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" featured in "Welcome Back", a 3-minute-long British TV commercial for telecommunications company T-Mobile which first aired on 29 October 2010.
• The song was performed as a duet by Joshua Ledet and Jessica Sanchez on the eleventh season of American Idol.
• Crystal Lewis & Michael English covered the song for English's 2012 project, Some People Change.

External links

• Full lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics