Don't Let Go (Love)

"Don't Let Go (Love)" is a 1996 Grammy-nominated single by En Vogue from the Set It Off soundtrack, also appearing on the group's third album, EV3. It has been certified platinum by the RIAA for shipments of over 1,000,000 units. The song was the last single by En Vogue to feature former band member Dawn Robinson (as of April 2008, she has returned to the group). The song became En Vogue's biggest international single, peaking in the top ten of many countries. It hit #5 in the UK in early 1997 and spent thirteen weeks in the UK top forty, eight of those weeks in the top ten. "Don't Let Go (Love)" became the third En Vogue track to peak at #2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 where it was the group's fifth and final Top Ten hit. The song was a #1 R&B song for 1 week becoming En Vogue's sixth and final #1 R&B Hit to date. The single re-entered the UK chart at Number 23 in 2011 after girl group contestants Little Mix performed the song on the eighth series of British television talent contest The X Factor on November 19, 2011: the En Vogue track reached #23 on the UK chart and also returned to the Irish charts at #50.

In October 2011, NME placed it at number 127 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".^[1] The song was notable in the 1996 movie Set It Off.

This song compelled Elektra mogul Sylvia Rhone to place En Vogue back in the studio to record their EV3 for release in 1997. However, Dawn Robinson felt a solo career while still a member of En Vogue was not feasible, while the other group members plus the record producers and label executives were focused on the new En Vogue album. Forced to choose, Robinson decided to leave En Vogue for a solo career with Dr. Dre's Aftermath Records. The turn of events following the success of "Don't Let Go (Love)" was the beginning of a long and tumultuous era for En Vogue as member changes became quite frequent.

Music video

A music video was released to promote the single in which they sang in front of an audience in black outfits while some clips of the "Set it Off" movie were inserted. A second video was released using the same footage of En Vogue singing in front of an audience, but the scenes from Set it Off were replaced with images that followed a new storyline. In this version, Mekhi Phifer plays a man who has been secretly dating all four members of En Vogue. The four women find out about each other and confront Phifer's character at a party.

Versions

During promotion of the single, several versions surfaced. The main album version was essentially used for the music video, but with a slightly different ending where Terry Ellis ad libs as the final chorus fades. An edit version which cut out several seconds in the beginning, as well as the instrumental following Cindy's ad libbing towards the end, was mainly spun at radio stations.

In 1997 Don't Let Go (Love) went to number one on the Norwegian top 20 singles chart (VG-Lista Topp 20) and stayed at the top spot for six consecutive weeks. In total it stayed in the top 20 for 16 weeks.

Cover versions

• American rock band Deepfield covered this song on their debut album, Archetypes and Repetition.

• In 2008, on their Change Tour, the British girl group Sugababes performed the song.

• Australian pop singer Ricki-Lee Coulter used this song as her audition song when she auditioned for the second season of Australian Idol. Other Australian Idol contestants that have used this song include Season 3's Laura Gissara, who used it for her Top 30 Semi-Final performance song, and Season 3's James Kannis, who used it in the Top 100 Theatre Rounds.

• The song was sampled in the 2009 recording, also titled "Don't Let Go", by British hip-hop artist Professor Green.

• In 2011, Korean girl group Bella released a Korean language version of the song as their debut single.

• On November 19, 2011, girl group contestants Little Mix performed the song on the eighth season of British television talent contest The X Factor making the single re-enter the UK chart at Number 23. On the final the group performed the song for the second time and they won the show on 11 December, making them the first girl group to ever win the show. The song features as a bonus track on the group's single. Following the group's win, and featuring it on their single, the song re-entered the charts again a few weeks later at Number 27.

Awards and nominations

Sources

• Chartpositions: http://charts.org.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=En+Vogue&titel=Don%27t+Let+Go+%28Love%29&cat=s
• Norwegian chart position VG-lista Topp 20: http://lista.vg.no/album_info.php?AlbumOp=show&albumId=1887&albumtype=song&albumtype_id=

See also

• R&B number-one hits of 1997 (USA)
• List of number-one hits in Norway