"Adorn" is a song written and recorded by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

singer and songwriter Miguel. It was released as the lead single from his 2012 studio album ''

Kaleidoscope Dream ''Kaleidoscope Dream'' is the second studio album by American R&B singer-songwriter Miguel. It was released on September 25, 2012, by Black Ice Records, ByStorm Entertainment, and RCA Records. After the commercial breakthrough of his debut albu ...

''. The recording was produced by Miguel, who was inspired by his girlfriend and a series of dreams he had prior to writing the song. "Adorn" was released to

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

on August 7, 2012. It peaked at number 17 on the '' Billboard'' Hot 100 and number-one on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart, becoming Miguel's most successful single to date. It was certified

triple platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA). The song was received positively by critics, being voted the year's second-best single in the annual

Pazz & Jop Pazz & Jop was an annual poll of top musical releases, compiled by American newspaper ''The Village Voice'' and created by music critic Robert Christgau. It published lists of the year's top releases for 1971 and, after Christgau's two-year abse ...

poll. The song also earned Miguel three

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

nominations, winning one for

Best R&B Song The Grammy Award for Best R&B Song (sometimes known as the R&B Songwriter's Award) has been awarded since 1969. From 1969 to 2000, it was known as the Grammy Award for Best Rhythm and Blues Song. Beyoncé has won it a record four times, while Bab ...

Music and lyrics

"Adorn" features

on-beat In music and music theory, the beat is the basic unit of time, the pulse (regularly repeating event), of the ''mensural level'' (or ''beat level''). The beat is often defined as the rhythm listeners would tap their toes to when listening to a pi ...

sub-bass Sub-bass sounds are the deep, low-register pitches below approximately 70 Hz (C2 in scientific pitch notation) and extending downward to include the lowest frequency humans can hear, approximately 20 Hz (E0). In this range, human hear ...

sounds, falsetto howls, irregular vocal echoes, obscured synths, and sparse keyboard arrangements. The lyrics feature brazen declarations of affection, including promises of adoration to a female subject. Writers liken "Adorn" to

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

's 1982 ballad "

Sexual Healing "Sexual Healing" is a song recorded by American singer Marvin Gaye from his seventeenth and final studio album, ''Midnight Love'' (1982). It was his first single since his exit from his long-term record label Motown earlier in the year, followin ...

". Miguel was inspired to write the song by a series of dreams he had prior to writing it. His girlfriend (now ex-wife), model and artist

Nazanin Mandi Nazanin Aliza Mandighomi Pimentel ( ; born September 11, 1986), known professionally as Nazanin Mandi, is an American actress, singer, model, and life coach. Early life Nazanin Mandi was born on September 11, 1986, in Valencia, California. Sh ...

, was also an inspiration behind the song. Miguel later told ''

People A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...

'' magazine: "I had been on a long trip and was anxious to see her. That's where the song began, with that emotion while I was on the plane. I don't remember how I got from 'These lips can't wait to taste your skin' to the end of the song, but when I listened to it, I thought, 'This is special.'"

Release and reception

"Adorn" originally appeared on the Miguel mixtape ''Art Dealer Chic, Vol. 1'', released on February 27, 2012. It was later included on a promotional extended play titled ''Kaleidoscope Dream: The Water Preview'' on July 31, one of two extended plays released by Miguel to promote ''Kaleidoscope Dream''. On August 7, "Adorn" was solicited to

rhythmic contemporary Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip hop and upbeat R&B hits. Rhythmic contemporary never uses ...

radio stations in the United States, and released to

. A remix of the song, featuring American rapper

Wiz Khalifa Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. He released his debut album, ''Show and Prove'', in 2006 and signed to Warner Bros. Records in 200 ...

, was released on September 18. "Adorn" charted at number 17 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number-one on the

, becoming Miguel's most successful single to date. It was also his third number-one hit on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart and still holds the record for the longest run atop the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay (previously known as Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay) is a chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the top R&B and hip hop songs in the United States, based on audience impressions from a panel of radio stations monitored ...

chart, being the only song in the chart's history to spend 20 or more weeks at number-one. By July 2013, the song had reached 1,014,000 copies sold in the US. By 2019, it had three million copies according to the

(RIAA), who certified it

. In a review for ''

Seattle Weekly The ''Seattle Weekly'' is an alternative biweekly distributed newspaper in Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded by Darrell Oldham and David Brewster as ''The Weekly.'' Its first issue was published on March 31, 1976. The newspaper ...

'', Erin Thompson wrote that Miguel "made a particularly nice choice of metaphor in the song's chorus—'Let my love adorn you.' When a woman hears the word 'adorn,' she probably thinks of diamonds and Dior; Miguel's rich vocals convey the same sense of luxury. That's a man who knows how to treat a woman." ''SoulBounce'' called it an "electro soul slice of niceness", while ''

MSN Music ''MSN Music'' was a part of MSN's web services. It delivered music news, music videos, spotlights on new music, artist information, and live performances of artists. The website also served as a digital music store from 2004 to 2008. History I ...

''s

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

cited the song's "throbbing, garbled

hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...

" as "one of 2012's signature pop moments". Brian McManus from ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

'' called "Adorn" "the perfect

amuse-bouche An ''amuse-bouche'' (; ) or ''amuse-gueule'' (, ; ) is a single, bite-sized'' hors d'œuvre''. Amuse-bouches are different from appetizers in that they are not ordered from a menu by patrons but are served free and according to the chef's selec ...

for the album it kicks off, priming the ears, opening them." At the end of 2012, "Adorn" was named the 33rd best song of the year in ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

''. It was also voted the year's second best single in the nationwide

critics' poll. The song earned Miguel three

nominations for Song of the Year,

and

Best R&B Performance The Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. According to the 54th Grammy Awards description guide it is designed for s ...

at the

55th Grammy Awards The 55th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 10, 2013, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. E ...

, winning his first in the category of

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Radio and release history

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2012 singles Miguel (singer) songs RCA Records singles Songs written by Miguel (singer) Contemporary R&B ballads 2011 songs