I Wanna Be the Only One

"I Wanna Be the Only One"
Single by Eternal featuring BeBe Winans
from the album Before the Rain
Released 19 May 1997
Genre R&B, gospel
Length 4:18 (album version)
3:36 (radio edit)
Label EMI
Writer(s) BeBe Winans and James "Rhett" Lawrence
Producer(s) Nigel Lowis
Eternal featuring BeBe Winans singles chronology
"Don't You Love Me"
(1997)
"I Wanna Be the Only One"
(1997)
"Angel of Mine"
(1997)

"I Wanna Be the Only One" is a song by English R&B girl group Eternal. It was the third single released from their album Before the Rain. In May 1997, the group joined forces with US singer BeBe Winans and scored their first - and only - UK chart-topper with this song. The girl group had previously scored #1 hits in Japan with "Stay", "Power Of A Woman", "Who Are You" and "Finally".

"I Wanna Be the Only One" became Eternal's biggest hit to date: it was the third most played song on British radio and the most played song on European radio by a UK act in 1997. It earned Eternal a MOBO Award and Capital FM Award for Best Single. It was also nominated for Best Single at the BRIT Awards; although the gong went to All Saints, unofficial reports suggest that winner Never Ever was closely challenged by both Eternal and the Spice Girls.

Track listing

CD1

  1. "I Wanna Be the Only One" (Radio Edit) 3:36 (Horns by Gary Barnacle, Stuart Brooks and Andy Rogers)
  2. "A Friend Is a Friend" 4:10
  3. "Show Me" 4:28
  4. "Don't You Love Me" (French Remix) 3:37

CD2

  1. "I Wanna Be the Only One"
  2. "I Wanna Be the Only One" (Black Box Lelewel 'Til The End Mix)
  3. "I Wanna Be the Only One" (Paul Gotel Dark Skies Mix)
  4. "I Wanna Be the Only One" (SPS Cained Mix)
  5. "I Wanna Be the Only One" (Blacksmith "Eternal's Mix Tape")

Charts

Country Date Position Certification
United Kingdom May 1997 #1 Platinum [1]
Norway August 1997 #2 [2] Platinum
The Netherlands July 1997 #3 [3] Platinum [4]
Ireland 22 May 1997 #3 [5]  
Austria 27 July 1997 #6 [6]  
Sweden 29 August 1997 #6 [7]  
France 22 November 1997 #6 [8]  
Switzerland 10 August 1997 #7 [9] Gold
Australia 29 March 1998 #10 [10] Gold [11]
Germany September 1997 #14 [12]  

References

  1. BPI.co.uk Certification "I Wanna Be the Only One" Accessed: 29 October 2006
  2. NorwegianCharts.com "I Wanna Be the Only One" page. Accessed: 29 October 2006
  3. Top4000.nl Week 30, 1997. Accessed: 28 October 2006
  4. NVPI.nl Dutch certification database Accessed 4 November 2006
  5. IrishCharts.ie Irish chart search (Accessed: 2 November 2006)
  6. AustrianCharts.at "I Wanna Be the Only One" page. Accessed: 28 October 2006
  7. SwedishCharts.com "I Wanna Be the Only One" page. Accessed: 29 October 2006
  8. LesCharts.com "I Wanna Be the Only One" page. Accessed: 29 October 2006
  9. Swisscharts.com "I Wanna Be the Only One" page. Accessed: 28 October 2006
  10. Australian-Charts.com "I Wanne Be The Only One" page. Accessed: 24 November 2006
  11. Aria.com.au Certifications 1998 Accessed: 29 October 2006
  12. Infinity charts German Top 20 - The Chart Of September 1997 Accessed: 2 November 2006
Preceded by
"You're Not Alone" by Olive
UK Singles Chart number-one single
25 May 1997 (1 week)
Succeeded by
"MMMBop" by Hanson

External links