"Right Here Waiting" is a song by American singer and songwriter

Richard Marx Richard Noel Marx (born September 16, 1963) is an American adult contemporary music, adult contemporary and pop rock singer-songwriter. He has sold over 30 million albums worldwide. Marx's Richard Marx (album), self-titled debut album went tri ...

. It was released on June 29, 1989, as the second single from his second album, ''

Repeat Offender Recidivism (; from ''recidive'' and ''ism'', from Latin ''recidīvus'' "recurring", from ''re-'' "back" and ''cadō'' "I fall") is the act of a person repeating an undesirable behavior after they have experienced negative consequences of th ...

''. The song was a global hit, topping charts in many countries around the world, including the U.S. where it reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.Billboard

Allmusic.com AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

(Retrieved September 8, 2008) It reached number two 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 ...

. It was certified platinum 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 ...

. It was the UK's most streamed

love song A love song is a song about romantic love, falling in love, heartbreak after a breakup, and the feelings that these experiences bring. A comprehensive list of even the best known performers and composers of love songs would be a large order. ...

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

ahead of

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...

in 2013. The song has been covered by many artists, including Monica for her album '' The Boy Is Mine''.

Background and writing

The song was originally created to be sung by

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers List ...

but she later refused to sing it. Marx was an aspiring singer/songwriter when Streisand reached out and asked him to write her a hit. Marx sent Streisand "Right Here Waiting", but she turned down the chance to record it. He said in an interview, “I had just recently written "Right Here Waiting" and it was such a personal song to me at the time that I had no intention of recording it,” he told CBS’s The Talk. “I was like, ‘I’ll give Barbra Streisand "Right Here Waiting"; I’m not gonna do anything with it’. “I had to messenger the cassette tape of it to her. The next day she called me – I still have this voicemail… – and it says, ‘Richard, I heard the song; it’s a beautiful song, but I’m gonna need you to rewrite the lyrics because I’m not gonna be right here waiting for anyone. She actually did me a solid, because had she not rejected it I probably would never have recorded it and every once in a while I put my arm around her and I say, ‘Thank you so much for rejecting my song!'” "Right Here Waiting", once it was recorded by Marx, reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the summer of 1989. "Right Here Waiting" was the second single from ''

'', after " Satisfied". Marx wrote the song on the road as a love letter to his wife, the actress

Cynthia Rhodes Cynthia Rhodes (born November 21, 1956) is a retired American actress, singer and dancer. Her film roles include Tina Tech in ''Flashdance'' (1983), Jackie in '' Staying Alive'' (1983), officer Karen Thompson in '' Runaway'' (1984), and Penny i ...

, who was in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

shooting a film. The track was arranged by Marx with Jeffery (C.J.) Vanston to feature none of the heavy drums and synthesizers popular at the time, with Marx's vocal accompanied only by classical guitar (by Bruce Gaitsch) and keyboards (by Vanston). It is one of Marx's most frequently

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

compositions.

Chart performance

"Right Here Waiting" entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart at No. 44 in the week of July 8, 1989, and became Marx's third consecutive number-one single on August 12, 1989. The record spent three consecutive weeks at number one. The song was Marx's first of several to go to number one on the

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. Certified

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

on October 16, 1989, "Right Here Waiting" is Marx's best-selling single. The song also reached number one on the ''

Radio & Records ''Radio & Records'' (''R&R'') was a trade publication providing news and airplay information for the radio and music industries. It started as an independent trade from 1973 to 2006 until VNU Media took over in 2006 and became a relaunched sister ...

'' CHR/Pop Airplay chart on August 4, 1989, remaining on the top of the chart for three weeks. In the United Kingdom, the song was released in August 1989 and peaked at No. 2,"Right Here Waiting", UK Singles Char
Official Charts Company.com
(Retrieved September 8, 2008) behind the Italian house song "

Ride on Time Ride may refer to: People * MC Ride, a member of Death Grips * Sally Ride (1951–2012), American astronaut * William Ride (19262011), Australian zoologist Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Ride'' (1998 film), a 1998 comedy by Millicen ...

" by

Black Box In science, computing, and engineering, a black box is a system which can be viewed in terms of its inputs and outputs (or transfer characteristics), without any knowledge of its internal workings. Its implementation is "opaque" (black). The te ...

Music video

The video for this song was directed by Jim Yukich, and produced by Paul Flattery. It appears to be filmed on the road during Marx's 1989 Repeat Offender Tour, but was all shot in Los Angeles. It features various black-and-white tour footage interspersed with color scenes of Marx playing the song to an empty auditorium with a grand piano at a (staged) soundcheck. Due to Marx's hectic touring schedule, very little time was available to produce a video for this single, so other tour footage was compiled to make an official video for the track.

Track listings

; 7" single # "Right Here Waiting" — 4:28 # "Wait for the Sunrise" — 4:13 ; 3" single # "Right Here Waiting" — 4:28 # "Wait for the Sunrise" — 4:13 # "Hold on to the Nights" (live at the Palace Theatre, Los Angeles, CA) — 4:48 ; CD single # "Right Here Waiting" # "Hold on to the Nights" (live) # "That Was Lulu" (live) # "Wild Life" ; Cassette # "Right Here Waiting" — 4:28 # "Wait for the Sunrise" — 4:13 # "Right Here Waiting" — 4:28 # "Wait for the Sunrise" — 4:13

Charts and sales

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

Credits

* Richard Marx – vocals * C.J. Vanston – keyboards *

Bruce Gaitsch Bruce R. Gaitsch (; born February 7, 1953) is an American guitarist, composer, and producer. He is best known for working with notable bands and musicians such Chicago, Peter Cetera, Madonna, and Agnetha Fältskog as a session musician and songwri ...

– electric guitar,

classical guitar The classical guitar (also known as the nylon-string guitar or Spanish guitar) is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor o ...

solo

Monica version

"Right Here Waiting" was

by American R&B singer Monica. It was released only in the United States in December 1999 as the seventh and final single from her second studio album, '' The Boy Is Mine'', and features the R&B group

112 112 may refer to: *112 (number), the natural number following 111 and preceding 113 *112 (band), an American R&B quartet from Atlanta, Georgia **112 (album), ''112'' (album), album from the band of the same name *112 (emergency telephone number), t ...

. No music video was made for the song.

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1989 songs 1989 singles 1990 singles 1999 singles 1980s ballads 112 (band) songs Arista Records singles Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles EMI Records singles Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Leif Bloms songs Monica (singer) songs Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in New Zealand RPM Top Singles number-one singles Richard Marx songs Rock ballads Songs about loneliness Songs written by Richard Marx