Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 1996
Don't Leave Me (Blackstreet song)
Buy Don't Leave Me (Blackstreet song) now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = Don't Leave Me
| cover = Blackstreet-Don't_Leave_Me.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Blackstreet
| album = Another Level
| released =
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre =
| length = 5:20
| label = Interscope
| writer =
| producer =
| prev_title = Never Gonna Let You Go
| prev_year = 1997
| next_title = Fix
| next_year = 1997
| misc =
}}
"'Don't Leave Me'" is a single by R&B group Blackstreet, produced by Teddy Riley. It contains a sample of the DeBarge song "A Dream," also used in the contemporary Tupac Shakur track "I Ain't Mad at Cha". It features Eric Williams, Mark Middleton, and Chauncey Hannibal on lead vocals. Released in February 1997, "Don't Leave Me" topped the New Zealand Singles Chart for two weeks in May 1997 and reached 6 in the United Kingdom. In the United States it peaked at No. 12 on the 'Billboard' Hot 100 Airplay chart.
Critical reception
Pan-European magazine 'Music & Media' noted that after the success of "No Diggity", "Riley & Co. switch to ballad mode with this well constructed song, which has already met with approval across Europe." Stephan Hampe, head of music at RSH, a CHR network covering northern Germany commented, "I think this is going to break Blackstreet in a big way in Germany, because it is the kind of great song that really stands out". He added, "while No Diggity received a warm welcome too, it remained largely confined to the quarters traditionally inhabited by the R&B fraternity over here. This record however, has the potential to appeal to a much broader audience, so we put in powerplay rotation (32 plays a week) because we want to familiarize our audience quickly with this song."
David Finlan from 'Experience' said that the song "is slightly depressing, because it is about a man trying to keep his girlfriend from breaking up with him. This song hits home because everybody has been through a breakup and as we all know, they are not fun." Malaysian newspaper 'New Straits Times' noted "the fantastic four-part harmony interplay" on "Don't Leave Me". A reviewer from 'People Magazine' stated that Blackstreet "pours on the heartache and late-night yearning" on the song. James L. Brown from 'USC Today' described it as "a slow bump and grind ballad".
Chart performance
The song did not chart on the 'Billboard' Hot 100 or the Hot R&B Singles chart due to 'Billboard' rules at the time preventing songs not released as physical singles from charting. However, the song peaked on the Hot 100 Airplay and Hot R&B Airplay charts at No. 12 and No. 1, respectively. Internationally, it went to No. 1 in New Zealand and No. 6 in the United Kingdom. In the former country, it stayed at No. 1 for two weeks in May 1997 and earned a Gold sales certification from Recorded Music NZ, finishing the year as the 12th-most-successful single.
Music video
The official music video for the song was directed by Michael Martin.
Track listings
Charts and certifications
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"!Chart (1997)
!Position
|-
!scope="row"|Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)
|88
|-
!scope="row"|France (SNEP)
|83
|-
!scope="row"|New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)
|12
|-
!scope="row"|Romania (Romanian Top 100)
|57
|-
!scope="row"|UK Singles (OCC)
|67
|}
Certifications
Release history
References
Category:1990s ballads
Category:1996 songs
Category:1997 singles
Category:Blackstreet songs
Category:Contemporary R&B ballads
Category:Interscope Records singles
Category:Number-one singles in New Zealand
Category:Song recordings produced by Teddy Riley
Category:Songs written by Bink (record producer)
Category:Songs written by Teddy Riley
Category:Soul ballads
Buy Don't Leave Me (Blackstreet song) now from Amazon
<-- Return to songs from 1996