"The Best Things in Life Are Free" is a duet between American singers

Luther Vandross Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known for his sweet and soulful vocals, Vandross has sold over 40 million records worldwide. He achieved eleven consecutive P ...

and

Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreog ...

, recorded for the

Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III (born June 6, 1959) and Terry Steven Lewis (born November 24, 1956) are an American R&B/pop songwriting and record production team. They have enjoyed great success since the 1980s with various artists, most ...

-produced soundtrack to the 1992 American film '' Mo' Money'', starring

Damon Wayans Damon Kyle Wayans Sr. (; born September 4, 1960) is an American actor, comedian, producer, and writer. Wayans performed as a comedian and actor throughout the 1980s, including a year long stint on the sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live.' ...

. The song was composed by Jam, Lewis,

Michael Bivins New Edition is an American R&B/Pop group from the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1978 by Bobby Brown. Their name is taken to mean a 'new edition' of the Jackson 5. The group reached its height of popularity in the 1980 ...

and Ronnie DeVoe. Additionally, the song was remixed by

David Morales David Morales (; born August 21, 1962) is an American disc jockey (DJ) and record producer. In addition to his production and DJ work, Morales is also a remixer. David Morales has remixed and produced over 500 releases for artists including ...

Frankie Knuckles Francis Warren Nicholls, Jr. (January 18, 1955 – March 31, 2014), better known as Frankie Knuckles, was an American DJ, record producer and remixer. He played an important role in developing and popularizing house music in Chicago during the ...

, and CJ Mackintosh. The duet became a major hit in several countries, peaking at number two in Australia and the United Kingdom, number six in Ireland and New Zealand, number eight in Canada and Germany, and number 10 in the United States. The song was nominated for the

Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals The Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by ma ...

. The song was later included on Vandross' compilations '' One Night with You: The Best of Love, Volume 2'' and '' Lovesongs'', as well as Jackson's own compilations '' Design of a Decade: 1986–1996'' and '' Number Ones'' respectively. In 1995, the song was re-released as the second single from Jackson's aforementioned ''Design of a Decade 1986–1996'' compilation album, included new remixes by

Roger Sanchez Roger Sanchez (born June 1, 1967) is a Dominican-American house music DJ, remixer and producer. He won a Grammy Award for his remix of " Hella Good" by No Doubt in 2003, and is best known for his song " Another Chance", which was an internati ...

K-Klass K-Klass are a British electronic music group from Wrexham, Wales and Chester, England, who are based in Manchester, England. Its original members were Andy Williams, Carl Thomas, Russ Morgan and Paul Roberts. In 1991, K-Klass signed with the ...

and MK, exclusively in European countries. A further re-release followed as a limited-edition single in 1996. Jackson included the song on her 2011 tour,

Number Ones, Up Close and Personal Number Ones, Up Close and Personal World Tour was the sixth concert tour by American recording artist Janet Jackson. It showcased her sophomore compilation album, '' Number Ones'' and visited Asia, North America, Europe, Australia, and Africa. ...

, and her 2015–2016 Unbreakable World Tour. It is also included in her 2019 Las Vegas Residency Janet Jackson: Metamorphosis.

Background and composition

In March 1991, Jackson signed an unprecedented $32 million contract with

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a world ...

, the largest record deal at the time, although it was quickly exceeded by her brother Michael and his label,

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was founded predominantly as a jazz and classical m ...

. Prior to her first release with Virgin, Jackson was asked by Jam and Lewis to record a song for the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrac ...

to the feature film '' Mo' Money'', released in 1992 by their label

Perspective Records Perspective Records is an American record label, launched in 1991 by the producing team Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, through a joint venture with A&M Records—which Jam & Lewis had had a prosperous working relationship with throughout the 1980s, w ...

. Jon Bream of the ''

Star Tribune The ''Star Tribune'' is the largest newspaper in Minnesota. It originated as the ''Minneapolis Tribune'' in 1867 and the competing ''Minneapolis Daily Star'' in 1920. During the 1930s and 1940s, Minneapolis's competing newspapers were consolida ...

'' reported: "For most movie soundtracks, producers negotiate with record companies, managers and lawyers for the services of big-name singers. Like the Hollywood outsiders that they are, Edina-based Jam and Lewis went directly to such stars as Janet Jackson,

Bell Biv DeVoe Bell Biv DeVoe, also known as BBD, is an American music group from Boston, Massachusetts, formed from members of New Edition, consisting of Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins and Ronnie DeVoe. The band is best known for their debut album, the multi-p ...

Color Me Badd ''Color'' Me Badd is an American contemporary R&B group that was formed in 1985 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma by lead singer Bryan Abrams (born November 16, 1969), tenor Mark Calderon (born September 27, 1970), second tenor Sam Watters (born July 23 ...

and

Johnny Gill Johnny Gill Jr. (born May 22, 1966) is an American singer and actor. He is the sixth and final member of the R&B/pop group New Edition and was also a member of the supergroup called LSG, with Gerald Levert and Keith Sweat. Gill has released e ...

." It was the first all-new song Jackson recorded at the new location of Flyte Tyme Studios in

Edina EDINA is a centre for digital expertise, based at the University of Edinburgh as a division of the Information Services Group. Services EDINA front-end services (those accessed directly by the user) are available free at the point of use fo ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over t ...

, which was completed 2 months after wrapping up recording on her fourth studio album Rhythm Nation 1814 in May 1989 at the original Minneapolis studio. She had done re-recordings and remixes there from 1989 to 1991. "The Best Things in Life Are Free" is an R&B,

dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

and

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 cond ...

song with a "steady beat".Janet Jackson - The Best Things in Life Are Free Sheet Music (Digital Download). Musicnotes.com. It is written in the key of Fm and their vocal ranges span from the low-note of F3 to C6. The song is set in the signature of

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note val ...

and has a moderate tempo of 120 pulsations per minute. It follows the basic

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...

of B7m—C7m—F7.

Critical reception

Larry Flick from '' Billboard'' wrote, "First peek into the hotly anticipated soundtrack to the film "'' Mo' Money''" is a glittery, star-studded pop/

jack Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, ...

affair. Vandross and

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

vocally swerve and weave around each other like they've been singing together for years. Added flavor comes from guest raps by

and Tresvant. The true kudos, however, go to the masterful

, who have crafted a slammin' track that would work no matter what." Amy Linden from ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

'' commented, "While the combo of Janet Jackson and Luther Vandross may be a marketing dream, artistically it blows. The trademark busy groove that defines Janet buries Luther, who doesn’t need a crutch and who, when free of misguided arrangements, eats singers like Janet for lunch." John Martinucci from the '' Gavin Report'' said the duo "sound great together working over this high energy song". Also Alan Jones 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 ...

'' agreed that "it's appeal is in the super-smooth vocal combination of Janet and Luther." Another editor, Andy Beevers stated that the track is "very catchy and funky". Tom Doyle from '' Smash Hits'' described it as "a smooth club number with a dreamy

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

feel and a

rap Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

from the "special guests" in the middle."

Chart performance

In the United States, "The Best Things in Life Are Free" debuted at number 24 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 the week of May 30, 1992. Three weeks later, the song peaked at number 10 for three consecutive weeks and ended at number 41 on the year-end chart. The song also peaked at number one on the

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 ...

. In the United Kingdom the song was released in August 1992 and peaked at 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 ...

, spending 13 weeks in the chart. It became Jackson's first top-ten hit in the UK since " Let's Wait Awhile" reached number three in 1987. The song was remixed in 1995 and re-released, reaching number seven. It was the remixed version that was included on international releases of Janet's compilation album '' Design of a Decade: 1986–1996''. In Australia the single spent five consecutive weeks at number two on the ARIA Singles Chart, spending 18 weeks on the chart, and was ranked at number six on the year-end chart.

Music video

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 promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

was made for the song, although neither Vandross nor Jackson appear in it. Instead, the video features ''Mo' Moneys stars

and

Stacey Dash Stacey Lauretta Dash (born January 20, 1967) is an American actress. Dash played Dionne Marie Davenport in the 1995 feature film '' Clueless'' and its television series of the same name. She has also appeared in the films '' Moving'', '' Mo' Mo ...

, at a carnival, lip-synching to the song; Damon's brother Marlon Wayans, who also appears in ''Mo' Money'', has a cameo appearance in the video. Also included on the track is

and Ronnie DeVoe of

Ralph Tresvant Ralph Edward Tresvant (born May 16, 1968) is an American singer, songwriter, actor and record producer, best known as the lead singer of R&B group New Edition. As a solo artist, Tresvant released the album '' Ralph Tresvant'' (1990). In 2008, he ...

also has a very brief spoken line. He appears solo on the song "Money Can't Buy You Love" from the soundtrack.

Track listings

Original version

"A Little Bit of ''Mo' Money The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack''" consists of three snippets: "Money Can't Buy You Love" by Ralph Tresvant, "Let's Just Run Away" by Johnny Gill, and "Let's Get Together (So Groovy Now)" by Krush. US and Japanese CD single # "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (classic 12-inch mix) – 5:53 # "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (CJ's U.K. 12-inch mix) – 9:58 # "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (Def version) – 8:41 # "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (CJ's FXTC dub) – 6:51 # "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (CJ's Vinyl Zone dub) – 6:49 # "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (album version) – 4:36 US 12-inch single :A1. "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (classic 12-inch mix) – 5:54 :A2. "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (Def version) – 8:41 :A3. "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (album version) – 4:36 :B1. "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (CJ's U.K. 12-inch mix) – 10:01 :B2. "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (CJ's FXTC dub) – 6:51 :B3. "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (CJ's Vinyl Zone dub) – 6:49 US 7-inch single :A. "The Best Things in Life Are Free" – 4:37 :B. "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (no rap) – 4:27 US cassette single # "The Best Things in Life Are Free" – 4:36 # "A Little Bit of ''Mo' Money The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack''" UK CD single # "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (CJ's UK 7-inch with rap) # "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (CJ's UK 12-inch with rap) # "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (classic 7-inch with rap) # "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (classic 12-inch with rap) # "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (Def version) # "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (CJ's UK dub 1) UK 12-inch single :A1. "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (LP version) :A2. "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (CJ's UK 12-inch with rap) :A3. "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (CJ's Mackapella) :B1. "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (CJ's UK 12-inch with rap) :B2. "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (Def version) :B3. "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (CJ's UK dub 1) UK 7-inch and cassette single :A. "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (CJ's UK 7-inch with rap) :B. "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (classic 7-inch with rap) Australian CD and cassette single # "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (classic 7-inch with rap) # "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (classic 7-inch without rap) # "A Little Bit of ''Mo' Money The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack''"

1995 remixes

"Megamix" consists of seven songs by Janet Jackson: "

What Have You Done for Me Lately "What Have You Done for Me Lately" is a song by American singer Janet Jackson from her third studio album, ''Control'' (1986). Jackson co-wrote the song with its producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. It was released on January 13, 1986, by A&M Re ...

", "

When I Think of You "When I Think of You" is a song by American singer Janet Jackson from her third studio album, ''Control'' (1986). It was released on July 28, 1986, as the album's third single. Composed by songwriters and record producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Le ...

", " Escapade", "

Miss You Much "Miss You Much" is a song by American singer Janet Jackson. Composed by songwriters and record producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, it was recorded for the singer's fourth studio album, '' Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814'' (1989). As with all ...

", "

Alright Alright, All Right or Allwright may refer to: Music Albums * ''Alright!'' (album), a 2007 album by Bogdan Raczynski * ''Alright'', a 2011 album by Jerry Williams * ''All Right'', a 1982 album by Himiko Kikuchi Songs * "Alright" (Cast song) * ...

", " The Pleasure Principle", and " Runaway". UK CD1 and cassette single # "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (K-Klass 7-inch) # "Runaway" (G Man's hip hop mix featuring Coolio) # "Megamix" UK CD2 # "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (K-Klass 7-inch) # "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (K-Klass 12-inch) # "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (MK 12-inch) # "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (S-Man Salsoul Vibe) # "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (C.J. Mackintosh original remix) French CD single # "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (K-Klass 7-inch) # "Megamix" German CD single # "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (K-Klass 7-inch) – 4:22 # "Runaway" (Kelly's Bump & Run mix) – 8:08 European maxi-CD single # "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (K-Klass 7-inch edit) – 4:22 # "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (S-Man Salsoul Vibe) – 11:40 # "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (K-Klass 12-inch mix) – 8:54

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

luthervandross.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Best Things In Life Are Free, The 1992 singles 1992 songs 1995 singles A&M Records singles American house music songs Janet Jackson songs Luther Vandross songs New jack swing songs Dance-pop songs Male–female vocal duets Songs written by Harry Wayne Casey Songs written by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis Songs written by Michael Bivins Songs written by Richard Finch (musician) Songs written by Ronnie DeVoe Songs written for films