"Rocket 2 U" is a song by the American sibling group, The Jets. It was written and produced by Bobby Nunn. The single, featuring lead vocals by Haini Wolfgramm, received a nomination for

Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals The Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal was awarded between 1970 and 2011. From 1967 to 1969 and in 1971 the award included instrumental performances. The award had several minor name changes: *From 1967 to 1968 the ...

at the

31st Grammy Awards The 31st Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 22, 1989, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Album of the Year went to George Michael for ''Faith'', and Song of the Year we ...

in 1989. Released as the third

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 their album ''

Magic Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...

'' in 1988, the song was the second most successful single released from the album, peaking at number six on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number five on the

R&B chart 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 p ...

. In July 2022 Nunn sued The NFL and NBC for using "Rocket 2U" during football games on NBC without a license. The case was settled in April 2023 for an undisclosed amount.

Background

Nunn originally offered "Rocket 2 U" to

Earth, Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (EW&F or EWF) is an American band whose music spans the genres of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, big band, Latin, and Afro pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million re ...

for inclusion on their 1987 album, '' Touch the World''. During that time, Nunn was talking to

Bobby Brown Robert Barisford Brown (born February 5, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter and dancer. Brown, alongside frequent collaborator Teddy Riley, is noted as one of the pioneers of new jack swing: a fusion of hip hop and R&B. Brown started h ...

, who introduced him to

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...

executive Louil Silas Jr. Nunn played Silas several demos - one of which was "Rocket 2 U". Silas then wanted to give the song to The Jets. Nunn insisted on Earth, Wind & Fire recording the song, but the group was taking too long to start recording it. After the long wait,

Philip Bailey Philip James Bailey (born May 8, 1951) is an American R&B, soul, gospel and funk singer, songwriter and percussionist, best known as an early member and one of the two lead singers (along with group founder Maurice White) of the band Earth, Wi ...

suggested letting The Jets record it, to which Nunn agreed.

Music video

The music video for the song depicts the band performing the song while wearing colorful clothes in front of a grey background, and comedic shots of a woman who has things going wrong all around her house, representing some of the song lyrics.

Chart performance

Year-end charts

References

{{The Jets 1988 singles The Jets (band) songs Dance-pop songs 1987 songs MCA Records singles