"I Am Blessed" is a song by British

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...

Eternal Eternal(s) or The Eternal may refer to: * Eternity, an infinite amount of time, or a timeless state * Immortality or eternal life * God, the supreme being, creator deity, and principal object of faith in monotheism Comics, film and television * ...

written by hit songwriter Mark Mueller and Marsha Malamet. It was the second single from the album '' Power of a Woman'' and peaked at number seven on 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 ...

. The pop ballad spent a total of 12 weeks on the UK chart in 1995 and 1996, with three weeks in the top 10 and seven weeks in the top 20. It was certified silver by the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with th ...

(BPI) for shipments over 200,000 copies in the UK. It also reached number seven in Ireland, becoming the group's second top-10 hit in that country. Eternal performed "I Am Blessed" for

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

at the Vatican in 1995.

Critical reception

James Masterton James Masterton (born 2 September 1973) is a music writer and columnist, his work focusing on the UK Singles Chart having been an online fixture on various sites since the 1990s. Masterton is also a producer for talkSPORT, and has worked on air ...

for Dotmusic described the song as one of the group's "softer, slushier records". Pan-European magazine ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later ...

'' wrote, "Another possible chart-buster from the creme of British R&B. The religious undertones are very suitable for the

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

season, just like the extra track Oh Happy Day, a wonderfully updated version of the

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

traditional with a jazzy rhythm guitar and a midtempo beat." A reviewer from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' rated it three out of five, adding that "this silky smooth

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

has hints of

I Will Always Love You "I Will Always Love You" is a song written and originally recorded in 1973 by American singer-songwriter Dolly Parton. Written as a farewell to her business partner and mentor Porter Wagoner, expressing Parton's decision to pursue a solo career, ...

, with Easther living up to

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

's standards. A hit, but not a monster."

Track listings

UK CD1 and Australian CD single # "I Am Blessed" # " Oh Happy Day" # " Stay" (1995 D.A.R.C. R&B remix) # "Faith in Love" UK CD2 # "I Am Blessed" (Spiritual mix) # "Faith in Love" # " Power of a Woman" (Fathers of Sound vocal mix) UK cassette single # "I Am Blessed" # "Faith in Love" European CD single # "I Am Blessed" # "Oh Happy Day" # "Power of a Woman" ( Nightcrawlers mix) # "Faith in Love"

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the '' Power of a Woman'' album booklet. Studio * Mastered at The Master Room (London, England) Personnel * Mark Mueller – writing * Marsha Malamet – writing * Clem Clempson – guitar * Dave Phillips – keyboards * Peter Oxendale – keyboards * Nick Ingman – string arrangements * Ronnie Wilson – production * Dennis Charles – production *

Simon Climie Simon Climie (born 7 April 1957) is an English songwriter/producer and the former lead singer of the UK duo Climie Fisher. Biography Climie was born in London. Beginning his career primarily as a songwriter/session musician, Climie found him ...

– additional production and remix * Nick Hopkins – recording engineer * Andy Bradfield – mix engineer * Ashley Alexander – assistant engineer * Paul Meehan – programming * Sam Noel – technician * Arun Chakraverty – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Eternal 1995 singles Contemporary R&B ballads EMI Records singles Eternal (band) songs First Avenue Records singles Songs written by Mark Mueller