"I Won't Hold You Back" is a song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band Toto, written and sung by Steve Lukather for their fourth album, ''

Toto IV ''Toto IV'' is the fourth studio album by American rock band Toto released in the spring of 1982 by Columbia Records. The lead single, " Rosanna", peaked at number 2 for five weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 charts, while the album's third s ...

'', released in 1983 (see 1983 in music). The song features the

Eagles Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, jus ...

' bass player Timothy B. Schmit on backing vocals during the choruses.

Reception

'' Cash Box'' described it as "a soft torch tune about a man letting go of his lover, praising the "somber vocals, light piano and electric guitar flourishes." It was described by '' Billboard'' as a "grandly-orchestrated ballad".

Chart performance

The

power ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romance (love), romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn m ...

peaked at number 10 in the U.S. on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart on May 7, 1983; becoming their fourth and last top ten hit. It also spent three weeks at number one on the U.S.

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

chart. The single only managed to scrape into the top 40 on the UK Singles Chart at No. 37. In Canada, it peaked at number 17 on the ''RPM'' Top Singles chart, as well as reaching No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.RPM Adult Contemporary, May 21, 1983
/ref> It also peaked at number 11 in Ireland.

Personnel

Toto * Steve Lukather – lead and backing vocals, guitars * David Paich – piano, orchestral arrangements * Steve Porcaro – synthesizer * David Hungate – bass *

Jeff Porcaro Jeffrey Thomas Porcaro (; April 1, 1954 – August 5, 1992) was an American drummer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his work with the rock band Toto but is one of the most recorded session musicians in history, working o ...

– drums, percussion Additional musicians *Timothy B. Schmit – backing vocals * James Newton Howard – orchestral arrangements *

Marty Paich Martin Louis Paich (January 23, 1925 – August 12, 1995) was an American pianist, composer, arranger, record producer, music director, and conductor. As a musician and arranger he worked with jazz musicians Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Kento ...

– orchestral arrangements * Michael McDonald - backing vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Sampling

The song was later

sampled Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of so ...

by house DJ

Roger Sanchez Roger Sanchez (born June 1, 1967) is a Dominican-American house music DJ, remixer and producer. He won a Grammy Award for his remix of " Hella Good" by No Doubt in 2003, and is best known for his song " Another Chance", which was an internati ...

in 2001 for his song " Another Chance", reaching number one in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

Release history

References

1982 songs 1982 singles Toto (band) songs Rock ballads Songs written by Steve Lukather Columbia Records singles 1980s ballads {{1980s-rock-song-stub