"All of You" is a 1984

vocal duet The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production in ...

between Spanish singer and songwriter

Julio Iglesias Julio José Iglesias de la Cueva (; born 23 September 1943) is a Spanish singer, songwriter and former professional footballer. Iglesias is recognized as the most commercially successful Spanish singer in the world and one of the top record ...

and American singer

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups o ...

, which was released on June 12 as the lead single from both Iglesias's album ''

1100 Bel Air Place ''1100 Bel Air Place'' is an album of love songs performed by Spanish singer Julio Iglesias, released on 10 August 1984 by CBS Records internationally and by Columbia Records in the United States. It was the first of Iglesias' albums to be perf ...

,'' released on the

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

label, and Ross's fifteenth album, '' Swept Away'' (1984), released on the

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

label, for which Ross was then recording. It was written by

Cynthia Weil Cynthia Weil (born October 18, 1940) is an American songwriter who wrote many songs together with her husband Barry Mann. Life and career Weil was born in New York City, and was raised in a Conservative Jewish family. Her father was Morris Wei ...

, Iglesias and Tony Renis, and produced by Richard Perry.

Background to the partnership

In the middle 1980s, having already achieved a high level of international prominence, Spanish singer

was seeking to gain a foothold in American music; to this end, he had learned English. On his album ''

,'' he had already recorded a cover version of "

The Air That I Breathe "The Air That I Breathe" is a ballad written by British-Gibraltarian singer-songwriter Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood, initially recorded by Hammond on his debut album, ''It Never Rains in Southern California'' (1972). It was a major hit for t ...

" in duet partnership with the Beach Boys and an original selection, "

To All The Girls I've Loved Before "To All the Girls I've Loved Before" is a song written by Hal David (words) and Albert Hammond (music). It was originally recorded by Hammond in 1975 on his album ''99 Miles From L.A.'', but is more famous for a 1984 recording by Julio Iglesias ...

," in duet partnership with

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...

. Richard Perry, the album's music producer, suggested the idea of Iglesias having

as yet another duet partner, and Iglesias agreed. To the extent which became public knowledge, Iglesias and Ross had never met each other, least of all performed together, before becoming duet partners on the selection; Iglesias's and Ross's meeting when the

video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...

was being produced is believed to have been their first. That would soon change as Ross reportedly ended up spending the Christmas holiday season at Iglesias's Miami estate. They there celebrated the success of their global duet that hit #1 in Spain, #3 in Italy, and #8 in Canada for example. In the United States, it reached #12 in

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

and #19 in ''

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 ...

.'' Additionally, "All of You" reached #2 on

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 ...

radio. Because it was the second single from ''

'' and the first single from Diana's successful '' Swept Away'' album, it helped sell both artists's albums. It also boasted a hugely popular and sensual music video. Ross was having some career difficulties at the time she agreed to the duet partnership with Iglesias; she had left

Motown Records Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmant ...

over a dispute with Berry Gordy which would not be resolved for years, and was recording for

(

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

in the UK and the rest of the world) at the time. Though her debut album for the label, '' Why Do Fools Fall In Love,'' had been successful three years before, her most recently released album, ''

Ross Ross or ROSS may refer to: People * Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan * Ross (name), including a list of people with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning * Earl of Ross, a peerage of Scotland Places * RoSS, the Republic of Sou ...

,'' was not performing as well. Iglesias collaborated with one of his "amigos", Tony Renis, on the composition of the music; veteran songwriter

, better known for her partnership with

Barry Mann Barry Mann (born Barry Imberman; February 9, 1939) is an American songwriter and musician, and part of a successful songwriting partnership with his wife, Cynthia Weil. He has written or co-written 53 hits in the UK and 98 in the US. Early li ...

, wrote the lyrics, which were in English—a language Iglesias could barely speak at the time. Richard Perry served as

music producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

Charts

Weekly charts

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Year-end charts

References

1984 songs 1984 singles 1980s ballads Diana Ross songs Julio Iglesias songs Pop ballads Songs with lyrics by Cynthia Weil Song recordings produced by Richard Perry Male–female vocal duets Number-one singles in Spain CBS Records singles RCA Records singles Songs with music by Tony Renis {{1980s-single-stub