"Torn" is the first official

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 ...

(second overall) from

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

R&B singer

LeToya LeToya Nicole Luckett (born March 11, 1981) is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer and actress. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as a founding member of the R&B girl group Destiny's Child, one of the world's List of best-selling girl gro ...

's debut album ''

'' which was released in March 2006 and soon became a hit, having a high

airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...

, just missing out the top ten on the U.S.

Hot 100 Airplay The Radio Songs chart (previously named Hot 100 Airplay until 2014 and Top 40 Radio Monitor until 1991) is released weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine and measures the airplay of songs being played on radio stations throughout ...

charts at number eleven. "Torn" became a hit on the U.S.

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs 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 ...

, peaking at number two. It also entered the top twenty on the

Rhythmic Top 40 The Rhythmic chart (also called Rhythmic Airplay, and previously named Rhythmic Songs, Rhythmic Top 40 and CHR/Rhythmic) is an airplay chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on ...

and Adult R&B charts. In September 2006, the song was finally released in other countries all over the world, namely the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and became a moderate worldwide hit. The song is about the protagonist being "torn" between staying with or leaving her lover (played in the music video by

Will Demps William Henry Demps, Jr. (born November 7, 1979) is a former American football safety who was signed by the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2002. He played college football at San Diego State. Demps also played for the New York G ...

). The song contains a musical sample of

The Stylistics The Stylistics are an American, Philadelphia soul group that achieved their greatest chart success in the 1970s. They formed in 1968, with a lineup of singers Russell Thompkins Jr., Herb Murrell, Airrion Love, James Smith and James Dunn. All of ...

's 1971 classic "

You Are Everything "You Are Everything" is a soul song written by Thom Bell and Linda Creed and originally recorded by the Philadelphia soul group The Stylistics. The Stylistics version An R&B ballad, it was the sixth track from their 1971 debut self-titled albu ...

." The official

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

is known as the "

So So Def So So Def Recordings is an American record label based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, and owned by producer Jermaine Dupri, specializing in Southern hip hop, R&B and bass music. So So Def has managed artists such as Bow Wow, Kris Kross, TL ...

Remix" featuring guest appearances from rappers Mike Jones and

Rick Ross William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper. Prior to releasing his debut single, "Hustlin'", in 2006, Ross was the subject of a bidding war, receiving offers from Sean Combs, D ...

and production from

Jermaine Dupri Jermaine Dupri Mauldin (born September 23, 1972) is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, record executive, entrepreneur, and DJ. Early life Jermaine Dupri Mauldin was born on September 23, 1972, the son of Tina (Mosley) and Michael ...

. The album version is also slightly different from the single version and there is also a version with rapper Short Dogg and Dave Young, co-writer of Torn, singing along with LeToya. The UK CD single features the b-side "No More", written by Candice Nelson and Walter Millsap. "Torn" had one of its biggest successes on

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los A ...

's ''

106 & Park ''106 & Park'' is an American hip hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that was broadcast on weekdays at 6:00 pm ET/5:00 pm CT on BET; it aired on a one-day delay on BET International. It was the network's highest- rated ...

''. It reached number one in eleven days and stayed there for twenty-five days straight. It remained on the countdown for sixty-five days.

Music video

The video was directed by Chris Robinson and debuted on

Access Granted ''Access Granted'' is an American television series that features an in depth look at the planning, filming and production of R&B and hip hop music videos. Each week a different artist and their new music video are featured, with the video pre ...

on July 5, 2006. The music clip is featured as an enhanced video on the European edition and the Japanese Special edition of the album

Sample

The song samples "

Everything Everything, every-thing, or every thing is all that exists; the opposite of nothing, or its complement. It is the totality of things relevant to some subject matter. Without expressed or implied limits, it may refer to anything. The universe is ...

" by

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the " Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and " Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Award ...

, which itself samples "

" by

Track listing

#"Torn" (Edit) #"Torn" (Album Version) #"Torn" (A Cappella) #"Torn" (Instrumental) #"

Tear Da Club Up "Tear da Club Up" is a song by American hip hop group Three 6 Mafia. It was released as the lead single from their debut studio album '' Mystic Stylez'' (1995) and was produced by members DJ Paul and Juicy J. A remix of the song titled "Tear da C ...

" (Original Version) #"Tear Da Club Up" (H-Town Version) #"Tear Da Club Up" (Original Instrumental) #"Tear Da Club Up" (H-Town instrumental)

Release history

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{LeToya 2006 debut singles LeToya Luckett songs Music videos directed by Chris Robinson (director) Songs written by LeToya Luckett 2006 songs Capitol Records singles Contemporary R&B ballads es:Torn