"Before I Let Go" is a song performed by American R&B band

Maze A maze is a path or collection of paths, typically from an entrance to a goal. The word is used to refer both to branching tour puzzles through which the solver must find a route, and to simpler non-branching ("unicursal") patterns that lea ...

, issued as the second

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from the band's fifth album and first

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

'' Live in New Orleans''. Although ''Live in New Orleans'' is a live album, "Before I Let Go" appears on the album as a studio recording. Written and produced by lead singer

Frankie Beverly Frankie Beverly (born Howard Beverly, December 6, 1946) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, and producer, known primarily for his recordings with the soul and funk band Maze. Beverly formed Maze, originally called Raw Soul, in his ...

, the song peaked at #13 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' R&B chart in 1981.

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

covered the song for her 2019 film ''

Homecoming Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni or other former members of an organization to celebrate the organization's existence. It is a tradition in many high schools, colleges, and churches in the United States, Canada and Liberia. ...

'', and it's the focus of a 2021 episode of

Jenna Wortham Jenna Wortham is an American journalist. They work as a culture writer for ''The New York Times Magazine'' and co-hosts ''The New York Times'' podcast '' Still Processing'' with Wesley Morris. In 2020, with Kimberly Drew, Wortham published '' Bl ...

and

Wesley Morris Wesley Morris (born 1975) is an American film critic and podcast host. He is currently critic-at-large for ''The New York Times'', as well as co-host, with Jenna Wortham, of the ''New York Times'' podcast '' Still Processing.'' Previously, Mor ...

's ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' podcast, '' Still Processing''.

Chart positions

Beyoncé version

covered the song for her 2019 film ''

'', and included the cover on the accompanying

. It also includes a sample of New Orleans bounce artist,

DJ Jubilee Jerome Temple, professionally known as DJ Jubilee, is an American rapper from New Orleans, Louisiana. Background Valley Music Empire up in the Lamwo in Juba. He graduated from Kampala International University and is a football player an ...

, one of the pioneers of bounce music, recorded on

Take Fo' Records Take Fo' Records is an independent record label from New Orleans and the first to specialize in bounce music. The label is a subsidiary of Positive Black Talk, Inc., was founded in 1992 and operated by creative duo Earl J. Mackie and Henry F. Holde ...

. An interpolation of "

Candy Candy, also called sweets (British English) or lollies (Australian English Australian English (AusE, AusEng, AuE, AuEng, en-AU) is the set of varieties of the English language native to Australia. It is the country's common language an ...

" by Cameo also runs throughout the song. Beverly told ''Billboard'' that the cover was "one of the high points of (his) life... in a class of its own" and made him "feel bigger than ever! I feel like I have a huge smash out there."

Chart positions

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* * 1981 singles Capitol Records singles Maze (band) songs Song recordings produced by Frankie Beverly Songs written by Frankie Beverly 1981 songs {{1980s-R&B-song-stub