"I Wanna Be the Only One" is a song by British R&B girl group

Eternal Eternal(s) or The Eternal may refer to: * Eternity, an infinite amount of time, or a timeless state * Immortality or eternal life * God, the supreme being, creator deity, and principal object of faith in monotheism Comics, film and television * ...

and American R&B/

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 ...

singer

BeBe Winans Benjamin "BeBe" Winans (born September 17, 1962) is an American gospel and R&B singer. He is a member of the noted Winans family, most members of which are also gospel artists. Winans has released nine albums, seven with his sister CeCe Winans, C ...

, released in May 1997 as the third single from the group's third album, '' Before the Rain'' (1997). Topping 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 ...

, the release also became the group's third collaboration with Winans, who produced 1994's "

Crazy Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors performed by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can be manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or t ...

" (from '' Always & Forever'') and 1995's "It Will Never End" (from ''

Power of a Woman ''Power of a Woman'' is the second studio album by the British R&B vocal group Eternal, released in October 1995. It was the band's first album without former member Louise who left the group to pursue a solo career. According to ''Billboard'' ...

''). The single is the group's 11th non-consecutive top-10 entry on the UK Singles Chart. "I Wanna Be the Only One" became Eternal's biggest hit to date; it was the third most-played song on British radio and the most-played song on European radio by a British act in 1997. It earned Eternal a

MOBO Award The MOBO Awards (Music of Black Origin, also known as the MOBOs) are an annual British music award presentation honouring achievements in " music of black origin", including hip hop, grime, UK Drill, R&B, soul, reggae, jazz, gospel, and Af ...

and Capital FM Award for Best Single. It was also nominated for Best Single at the

BRIT Awards The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

. As of May 2019, the song has sold 728,000 copies in the UK. In June 2019, "I Wanna Be the Only One" was ranked at number 28 on the

Official Charts Company The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. In the United Kingdom, its charts inc ...

's "Top 100 Girl Band Singles of the Last 25 Years".

Critical reception

Scottish '' Daily Record'' named "I Wanna Be the Only One" Single of the Week, viewing it as a "classy" number. 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 it four out of five, describing it as "a gloriously commercial, uptempo tune. The result is superb and another top five hit." The magazine's Alan Jones called it "another surefire winner", "wherein the girls have a foil in the form of

. Bebe's rich

tones perfectly complement Eternal's on a smooth, perky, maddeningly commercial pop nugget which makes fine use of brass over a funky groove which moves at quite a pace." Claudia Connell from ''

News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling En ...

'' felt it is "a perfect summer song with a gentle gospel sound that shows off four lots of fine vocals." Ian Hyland from ''

Sunday Mirror The ''Sunday Mirror'' is the Sunday sister paper of the ''Daily Mirror''. It began life in 1915 as the ''Sunday Pictorial'' and was renamed the ''Sunday Mirror'' in 1963. In 2016 it had an average weekly circulation of 620,861, dropping marke ...

'' gave it eight out of ten, noting that "Eternal go seriously gospel with the

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 attes ...

legend that is BeBe Winans. The girls can do no wrong at the moment and if they don't crack America with the new stuff then they may as well give up. Top dance remixes as well."

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 promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

was produced to promote the single, directed by Randee St. Nicholas. It features the group performing in a basement, with a group of females surrounding them. Winans are surrounded by a group of men. These are battling each other. In the end, they all stand together, laughing into the camera. The video was filmed in

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

, London.

Track listings

* UK 7-inch jukebox single :A. "I Wanna Be the Only One" (radio edit) :B. " Don't You Love Me" (French remix) * UK CD1 # "I Wanna Be the Only One" # "A Friend Is a Friend" # "Show Me" # "Don't You Love Me" (French remix) * UK CD2 – The Mixes # "I Wanna Be the Only One" # "I Wanna Be the Only One" (Black Box Lelewel 'Til the End mix) # "I Wanna Be the Only One" (Paul Gotel Dark Skies mix) # "I Wanna Be the Only One" (SPS Cained mix) # "I Wanna Be the Only One" (

Blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

"Eternal's Mix Tape")

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1997 singles 1997 songs EMI Records singles Eternal (band) songs First Avenue Records singles Music videos directed by Randee St. Nicholas Number-one singles in Scotland Songs written by BeBe Winans Songs written by Rhett Lawrence UK Singles Chart number-one singles Male–female vocal duets