"Missing You" is a song performed by 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 ...

, recorded for her 1984 album '' Swept Away''. The song was written, composed, and produced by

Lionel Richie Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of funk band the Commodores; writing and recordi ...

as a tribute to

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

, who was murdered by his father earlier that year. The memorial song was released as the album's fourth single on November 13, 1984, by

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

. Richie also provided background vocals on the song.

Content and reception

The song was built during conversations about Gaye shared by Ross and Richie, who came up with a song shortly after the conversations. Released in late 1984, the song became Ross' last major hit on the U.S. pop singles chart, hitting the top ten in the spring of 1985. In Billboard Hot 100 singles sales, it was particularly strong, hitting #5. It was her last song to reach number one on the

R&B singles chart 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 p ...

, and was so popular and enduring that it ranked as the 3rd biggest hit of 1985 on that chart, fueling her nomination as Female R&B Vocalist of the Year at the American Music Awards (alongside Whitney Houston and Aretha Franklin). The video for the song was the first to be played on VH1, following a clip of "

The Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the b ...

" as performed by

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

* 1980s ballads 1984 singles 1984 songs Diana Ross songs Commemoration songs Songs about Marvin Gaye Songs written by Lionel Richie Song recordings produced by James Anthony Carmichael RCA Records singles {{1980s-pop-song-stub