"Stay" is a song by German DJ/production team

Sash! Sash! (; stylised as SASH!) is a German DJ/production team, fronted by Sascha Lappessen (born 10 June 1970) who works in the recording studio with Ralf Kappmeier, Karl Xander, and Thomas "Alisson" Lüdke. They have sold over 22 million albums w ...

featuring American singer

La Trec Francine "Frankie" McCoy (born 30 April 1969) is an American singer who lives in Europe. She gained much popularity as the vocalist on Sash!'s number one ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Hot Dance Music/Club Play track from 1997, "Stay (Sash! so ...

. It was released on 26 September 1997 as the fourth and final single from their debut album, ''

It's My Life – The Album ''It's My Life'' (also known as ''It's My Life – The Album'') is the debut album by German DJ/production team Sash!, released on 25 August 1997 via Multiply and Polygram labels. Three singles were released from the album: " Encore Une Fois", " ...

'' (1997). The song topped the dance charts in both Canada and the United States and reached the top 20 in more than 10 European countries, Australia, and New Zealand. On the

Eurochart Hot 100 The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by '' Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately ...

, "Stay" peaked at number six and in the UK, it was Sash!'s third consecutive number-two single.

Critical reception

The song was universally acclaimed across the music press. Scottish newspaper ''

Aberdeen Press and Journal ''The Press and Journal'' is a daily regional newspaper serving northern and highland Scotland including the cities of Aberdeen and Inverness. Established in 1747, it is Scotland's oldest daily newspaper, and one of the longest-running newspap ...

'' viewed it as "Sash’s better effort". Jon O'Brien from

AllMusic 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 ...

noted the "dramatic" spoken word intro, describing the song as "an epic slice of soulful

Hi-NRG Hi-NRG (pronounced "high energy") is a genre of uptempo disco or electronic dance music (EDM) that originated in the United States during the late 1970s and early 1980s. As a music genre, typified by fast tempo, staccato hi-hat rhythms (and the ...

pop".

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the music ...

from ''

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 ...

'' wrote, "The time has come for this internationally acclaimed producer/musician to finally crack the pop charts. By drafting the belting skills of

for this rare vocal track from his fine album, "'' It's My Life''", he offers his most viable mainstream contender to date. The track thumps with

Euro-NRG Euro-Dance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG, Euro-electronica or Euro) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of hip hop, techno, Hi-NRG, house music, and Euro-Disco. Thi ...

intensity, while a swirl of colorful synths fleshes out the song's simple yet wickedly infectious melody. La Trec, a singer to keep a close eye on, struts across the groove with enough force to please clubheads, but with the sweet allure that popsters require." 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 "Stay" four out of five, declaring it "another trancey

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

stomper. Built around 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 ...

-like uplifting vocals of

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

-born La Trec." The magazine's Alan Jones constated that Sash! "are likely to get, their third consecutive smash", complimenting the singer's "gutsy femme vocal".

Chart performance

"Stay" was very successful on the charts on several continents and remains one of Sash!'s biggest hits to date. It made it to number one on both the Canadian ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' Dance/Urban chart and the US ''

Hot Dance Club Play Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...

chart. In Europe, the single climbed into the top 10 in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, and the United Kingdom, as well as on the

. In the UK, "Stay" reached number two during its first week 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 ...

, on October 12, 1997. Additionally, it was a top-20 hit in Germany, Sweden and Switzerland. In Oceania, it peaked at number 12 in New Zealand and number 24 in Australia. The single earned a

gold record Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile meta ...

in Belgium, Norway and the United Kingdom.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for "Stay" was directed by Oliver Sommer. On

MTV Europe MTV Global (formerly as MTV Europe) is the international version of the American TV channel MTV, a 24-hour music and entertainment TV channel that began broadcasting on August 1, 1987, as part of the worldwide MTV network. Initially, MTV serve ...

some scenes in the video was left out from the original music video. Sommer also directed the music video for "

Encore une fois "Encore une fois" (; French for "One More Time") is a song by German DJ group Sash!, released in January 1997 as the second single from their debut album, ''It's My Life – The Album'' (1997). It features French vocals by German vocalist Sabin ...

". "Stay" was uploaded to

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

in October 2016. As of September 2020, the video has got more than 6.9 million views.

Track listings

* German 12-inch single :A1. "Stay" (original 12-inch) – 5:54 :A2. "Stay" (Exit EEE remix) – 5:53 :B1. "Stay" (Magnificent 4 remix) – 6:01 :B2. "Stay" (2 Phunky People remix) – 5:54 * German 12-inch remix single :A1. "Stay" ( Armand van Helden remix 1) – 7:34 :A2. "Stay" (Armand van Helden remix 2) – 7:41 :B1. "Stay" (Exit EEE's Fly So High dub) – 6:15 :B2. "Stay" (Boris & Beck remix) – 7:10 * German maxi-CD single # "Stay" (single edit) – 3:29 # "Stay" (original 12-inch) – 5:54 # "Stay" (Exit-Eee remix) – 5:53 # "Stay" (Magnificent 4 remix) – 6:01 # "Stay" (2 Phunky People remix) – 5:54 * UK CD1 # "Stay" (original single edit) – 3:29 # "Stay" (Armand van Helden Remix) – 7:25 # "Stay" (Exit-EEE remix) – 5:53 # "Stay" (PowerPlant "Suck This" mix) – 7:46 # "Stay" (

Loop Da Loop Nicolas Jean-Pierre Dresti (born 5 March 1975), better known by his stage name Space Cowboy, is a French-British singer-songwriter, DJ, and producer. Born in France and raised in England, Dresti first recorded in 1992 under the names of Vibes ...

's vocal mix) – 7:42 * UK CD2 # "Stay" (original single edit) – 3:29 # "Stay" (Eat Me edit) – 3:52 # "Stay" (The Lisa Marie Vocal Experience) – 8:37 # "Stay" (Magnificent 4 remix) – 6:01 # "Stay" (2 Phunky People remix) – 5:54 # "Stay" (original 12-inch) – 5:55

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1997 singles 1997 songs Multiply Records singles Music videos directed by Oliver Sommer Sash! songs