"Don't Wanna Lose You" is a song written and recorded by Cuban-American singer-songwriter

Gloria Estefan Gloria María Milagrosa Estefan (; ; born September 1, 1957) is an American singer, actress, and businesswoman. Estefan is an eight-time Grammy Awards, Grammy Award winner, a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, and has been named one of t ...

. It was released on June 21, 1989, via

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

, as the

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

to her solo debut studio album ''Cuts Both Ways'' (1989). It was her first single released without the

Miami Sound Machine Miami Sound Machine was an American Latin pop band of Latin-influenced music that featured the vocals of Cuban-born recording artist Gloria Estefan (née Fajardo). Established in 1975 by Emilio Estefan, the band was originally known as the Mia ...

. It was produced by Estefan's husband

Emilio Estefan Emilio Estefan Gómez (born March 4, 1953) is a Cuban-American musician and producer. Estefan has won 19 Grammy Awards. He first came to prominence as a member of the Miami Sound Machine. He is the husband of singer Gloria Estefan, father of s ...

, Jorge Casas, and Clay Ostwald. The

pop ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner. Ballads ...

became a major success for the singer, becoming her second number one hit on both the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and ''Cash Box'' Top 100, and reached top ten status in Belgium, Canada, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

International versions

Estefan also recorded "Si Voy a Perderte," which is the Spanish version of this song, (translated as "If I Am Going to Lose You.") "Si Voy a Perderte," also included on ''

Cuts Both Ways ''Cuts Both Ways'' (also released as ''Doblemente Herida'') is the debut solo album by American recording artist Gloria Estefan. Though the release marked the first time Estefan was billed as a solo artist, Miami Sound Machine still performed ...

,'' hit number one on Billboard's

Hot Latin Tracks The ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Songs (formerly Hot Latin Tracks and Hot Latin 50) is a record chart in the United States for Latin songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Since October 2012, chart rankings are based on digital sales, ...

chart. "Se tenho que te perder", (also translated as "If I've Got to Lose You") is the Portuguese version of this song, and was released as a single in Brazil, and as a bonus track on international editions of Estefan's '' Into the Light'' album. The Portuguese version was less successful than the English original, which ended being the fourth more heard song in Brazilian radio in 1989. A rerecorded version of "Don't Wanna Lose You" was included in Estefan's 2020 album '' Brazil305''.

Critical reception

Bill Coleman from ''

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 advertis ...

'' wrote that the "emotive slow number" "I Don't Wanna Lose You" showcases the singer's "sensitive vocal." A reviewer from ''

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

'' felt that it "croon along smoothly". Pan-European magazine ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later m ...

'' complimented the song as "a strong, melodic and well put together ballad that will undoubtedly do well." Jerry Smith 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 We ...

'' declared it as "another epic ballad, superbly sung and sure to see the Miami sound gain prominence this side of the Atlantic." Pat Thomas from '' Number One'' called it a "big ballad". William Shaw from ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...

'' viewed it as a "scarf-swaying ballad of gargantuan soppiness." He added, "It's rather simple, not over the top, and Gloria — who wrote the song — doesn't wreck it by going too excessively mad on the vocal front. Poignant, I think the word is."

Retrospective response

In a 2019 retrospective review, Matthew Hocter from Albumism wrote, "If ever a solo debut was to make its mark, this one well and truly did and this was never more evident than on the album’s lead single 'Don’t Wanna Lose You'".

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

editor Jason Birchmeier praised the song as "super". Another editor, Jon O'Brien, complimented it as "beautiful". In 2014, Maryann Scheufele from AXS ranked it among Gloria Estefan's 10 Best Songs, adding that Estefan "inspires women to stand their ground and keep their love." In 2013, Pip Ellwood-Hughes from Entertainment Focus featured the song in their list of "Our Top 10 Gloria Estefan Singles", describing it as a "power ballad". In a 2016 review of the album, Pop Rescue found that "I Don't Wanna Lose You" sees Estefan "pitched against a wonderful synthscape and simple pop-rock beat. Occasional electric guitar chips in, but this is a song about giving Gloria enough space to sing her heartfelt lyrics over a somewhat minimal track."

Song nominations

The song earned a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

nomination for

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance was a Grammy Award recognizing superior vocal performance by a female in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. It was discontinued after the 2011 Grammy season. The awar ...

but lost against

Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. In 1971, Raitt released her Bonnie Raitt (album), self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed Americana (mu ...

's "Nick of Time." Her live performance of the song at the 1990 Grammy Awards was released on the 1994 album ''Grammy's Greatest Moments Volume I''. It also received an

American Music Award The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show produced by Dick Clark Productions since 1974. Nominees are selected on commercial performance such as sales and airplay. Winners are determined by a poll of the public and ...

for Favorite Pop/Rock Single but lost to

Milli Vanilli Milli Vanilli ( ) was a German duo R&B music act from Munich. The act was created in 1988 by Frank Farian, founder of Boney M., and consisted of Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus as the lip-syncing performers, with the two actual main studio sing ...

's " Girl I'm Gonna Miss You."

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Formats and track listings

Release history

Cover versions

It was covered by ''Glee's''

Amber Riley Amber Patrice Riley (born February 15, 1986) sometimes known mononymously as Riley (stylized in all caps), is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her portrayal of Mercedes Jones on the Fox comedy-drama series ''Glee'' (2009 ...

in " The Spanish Teacher" episode using some of the lyrics from the Spanish version of the song.

Il Divo Il Divo (; ) are a multinational classical crossover vocal group. Formed in the United Kingdom in 2003, it is a male quartet that was created and then promoted by British media magnate Simon Cowell for Syco Music, a record label that he had ...

, the vocal quartet of male singers; Swiss tenor

Urs Buhler Urs (from ''‘Urs'') or Urus (literal meaning wedding), is the death anniversary of a Sufi saint, usually held at the saint's dargah (shrine or tomb). In most Sufi orders such as Naqshbandiyyah, Suhrawardiyya, Chishtiyya, Qadiriyya, etc. the ...

, Spanish baritone Carlos Marin, American tenor David Miller and French pop singer Sébastien Izambard, along with Colombian producer winner of multiple Grammy Latino

Julio Reyes Copello Julio Reyes Copello (born April 26, 1969) is a Colombian producer, composer, songwriter and record engineer. Throughout his career he has worked with various artists such as Jennifer López, Marc Anthony, Thalía, Chayanne, Kany García, Ale ...

, recorded the song for the album '' Amor & Pasión'' from ''Il Divo'' (2015).

References

External links

Web.archive.orgRomantic-lyrics.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Don'T Wanna Lose You 1980s ballads 1989 songs 1989 debut singles Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Gloria Estefan songs Pop ballads Songs written by Gloria Estefan Song recordings produced by Emilio Estefan Epic Records singles