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" CD
Recorded	1986
Genre	R&B pop rock dance-rock
Length	3:52
Label	Arista
Songwriter(s)	Simon Climie Dennis Morgan
Producer(s)	Narada Michael Walden
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) A Different Corner1986 "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" (1987) I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)1987 "I Want Your Sex" (1987) I Want Your Sex1987

"I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" is a Grammy Award-winning number-one song recorded by American singer Aretha Franklin and English singer George Michael as a duet in 1987. It was written by Simon Climie and Dennis Morgan, and produced by Narada Michael Walden. Billboard listed "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" as Aretha Franklin's all-time biggest Hot 100 single.^[1] It also stands as Franklin's biggest hit on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, spending several weeks at number two (thwarted from the number-one position by Starship and Steve Winwood).

Music video

The official music video for the song was directed by Andy Morahan.^[2] It begins with George Michael and two bodyguards entering a dark room. There is a large viewing screen on the wall showing Aretha Franklin preparing for George Michael. Over the course of the video, each of the singers are shown performing the song both in front of the screen and on it. During the second verse, footage from both Franklin's and Michael's earlier careers is shown on the screen. As the second chorus ends, Michael joins Franklin on the stage, and footage of earlier famous duet pairs – Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, Sonny and Cher, and others – are shown on the viewing screen while Michael and Franklin sing the song's bridge. At the end of the video, Franklin winks at the camera.^[3]

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 on both the UK Singles Chart and Billboard Hot 100. The song was Franklin's first and only UK number-one hit, and only her fourth top 10 achievement in the country since "I Say a Little Prayer", nearly two decades earlier. This was also the last of Franklin's 17 top 10 hits on 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". In the US, it was Michael's fourth number-one hit, counting his Wham! days.

Producer Narada Michael Walden had the unique distinction of knocking himself out of the US number-one spot, having knocked "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" out of the top.

The single was the first Michael had recorded as a solo artist that 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. On the US Billboard Hot 100, "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" debuted at number 59, the week of February 21, 1987, reaching number one in its ninth week, April 18, 1987, and remaining there for two consecutive weeks.

Personnel

• Aretha Franklin – vocals
• George Michael – vocals
• Corrado Rustici – Charvel GTM6 MIDI guitar synthesizer
• Randy Jackson – Spector bass guitar
• Walter Afanasieff – synthesizer, Moog synth bass, programming
• Narada Michael Walden – drums
• Preston Glass – percussion programming
• Gregory "Gigi" Gonaway – tambourine, Simmons percussion
• Claytoven Richardson, Jeanie Tracy, Jennifer Hall, Jim Gilstrap, Kevin Dorsey, Kitty Beethoven, Myrna Matthews – backing vocals

Charts and certifications

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
   • 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 the Fairfield Hall, Croydon 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".
• Michael McDonald covered it in 2008 on his album Soul Speak.
• A cover version of the chorus of "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" featured in "Welcome Back", a three-minute-long British TV commercial for telecommunications company T-Mobile which first aired on October 29, 2010.^[28]
• The song was performed as a duet by Joshua Ledet and Jessica Sanchez on the eleventh season of American Idol during top eight week and the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2012 during Ledet's set.
• The song was also performed as a duet by CJ Harris and Malaya Watson on the thirteenth season of American Idol during top eight redux week.
• Crystal Lewis and Michael English covered the song for English's 2012 project, Some People Change.
• Country music superstars Tim McGraw and Faith Hill opened their 2017–18 Soul2Soul World Tour with a cover of the song.

References

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics