"I'll Be There" is the first single released from '' Third Album'' by

The Jackson 5 The Jackson 5, later known as the Jacksons, are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was formed in Gary, Indiana in 1964, and originally consisted of brothers Jackie, Ti ...

. It was written by

Berry Gordy Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929), also known as Berry Gordy Jr., is an American retired record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record label and i ...

, Hal Davis, Bob West, and Willie Hutch. The song was recorded by The Jackson 5 and released by

Motown Records Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

on August 28, 1970, as the first single from their '' Third Album'' on the same date. Produced by the songwriters, "I'll Be There" was The Jackson 5's fourth number-one hit in a row (after " I Want You Back" in 1969, " ABC" and " The Love You Save" earlier in 1970), making them the first group to have their first four singles reach number one and the first black male group with four consecutive number-one pop hits in the same year. "I'll Be There" is also notable as the most successful single released by Motown during its "Detroit era" (1959–72). In 2011, the song was inducted into the

Grammy Hall of Fame The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...

. The duet version by

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey ( ; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Songbird Supreme" by ''Guinness World Records'', Carey is known for her five-octave voc ...

and Trey Lorenz was recorded during Carey's appearance on ''

MTV Unplugged ''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV. It showcases recorded live performances of popular music artists playing acoustic instrument, acoustic or "unplugged" variations of songs. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999. F ...

'' in 1992, and released as the first single from her EP ''

'' in the second quarter of 1992. Co-produced by Carey and Walter Afanasieff, "I'll Be There" became Carey's sixth number-one single in the US, and her biggest hit elsewhere at the time.

The Jackson 5 version

Release and reaction

In his 1988 autobiography '' Moonwalk'',

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

noted that "I'll Be There" was the song that solidified The Jackson 5's careers and showed audiences that the group had potential beyond bubblegum pop. Said

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 ...

about the song, "Rarely, if ever, had one so young sung with so much authority and grace, investing this achingly tender ballad with wisdom and understanding far beyond his years". Michael turned 12 one day after the song was released. ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' said that the "change of pace n using a slower tempo song than usualshowcases the group's versatility." The most successful single ever released by the Jackson 5, "I'll Be There" sold 4.2 million copies in the United States, and 6.1 million copies worldwide. It replaced

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...

's "

I Heard It Through the Grapevine "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" is a song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for Motown Records in 1966. The first recording of the song to be released was produced by Whitfield for Gladys Knight & the Pips and released as a ...

" as the most successful single released on Motown in the US, a record it held until the release of

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 the Motown group Commodores; writing and recor ...

's duet with

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Known as the "Queen of Motown Records", she was the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown#Major divisions, Motown's most suc ...

, " Endless Love" (1981). Outside the US, "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" remained Motown's biggest-selling record with worldwide sales of over seven million copies. The song held the number-one position on the ''Billboard'' Pop Singles Chart for five weeks from October 17 to November 14, replacing " Cracklin' Rosie" by

Neil Diamond Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling musicians of all time. He has written and ...

; it was succeeded by " I Think I Love You" by

The Partridge Family ''The Partridge Family'' is an American musical sitcom created by Bernard Slade, which was broadcast in the United States from September 1970 to March 1974 on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. After the final first-run telecast on ABC in March ...

. "I'll Be There" was also a number-one hit on the ''Billboard'' Best Selling Soul Singles Chart for six weeks, and a number 4 hit in the United Kingdom. The single's B-side was "One More Chance", a song from their second album. "I'll Be There" was the Jackson 5's final number-one Hot 100 hit as a group. For the rest of their career as a major-label act, Jackson 5 singles would climb no higher than number 2. Michael Jackson scored numerous number-one hits as a solo artist, beginning with "

Ben Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett, Benson or Ebenezer, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben meaning "son of" is also found in Arabic as ''Ben'' (dialectal Arabic) or ''bin ...

" in 1972. In 2020,

Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after National Football League, NFL and Canadian Football Lea ...

released a song titled “Look Over Your Shoulders” featuring vocals from

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, he was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, becoming the first music ...

, sampling “I’ll Be There”. The song was remixed by Wayne Wilkins for the 2009 release '' The Remix Suite''. In 2011, this version of the song by

was inducted into the

Personnel

– lead and background vocals *

Jermaine Jackson Jermaine LaJuane Jacksun (né Jackson; born December 11, 1954) is an American singer, songwriter and bassist. He is known for being a member of the Jackson family. From 1964 to 1975, Jermaine was second vocalist after his brother Michael of the ...

– lead and background vocals * Tito Jackson – background vocals *

Marlon Jackson Marlon David Jackson (born March 12, 1957) is an American singer and dancer best known as a member of the Jackson 5. He is the sixth child of the Jackson family. Marlon now runs Study Peace Foundation to promote peace and unity worldwide. Earl ...

– background vocals * Jackie Jackson – background vocals, tambourine * Los Angeles area studio musicians – instrumentation ** David T. Walker – guitar ** Louis Shelton – guitar ** Arthur Wright – guitar **Bob West – bass **Gene Pello – drums ** Joe Sample – keyboards *Produced by Hal Davis *Arranged by Bob West

Charts

Weekly singles charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

Mariah Carey version

American singer-songwriter

had included "I'll Be There" as a last-minute addition to her ''MTV Unplugged'' setlist, after she had been informed that most acts on the show commonly perform at least one cover. "I'll Be There" was the sixth track on Carey's ''MTV Unplugged'' special, taped on March 16, 1992. It was performed as a romantic duet, with Carey singing

's lines and R&B singer Trey Lorenz singing

's lines. The program and resulting ''

'' album were produced by Carey and Walter Afanasieff, who played the piano for the performance.

Boyz II Men Boyz II Men ( ) is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. Formed in 1985, they have been a trio composed of baritone Nathan Morris, tenor Wanya Morris, Wanyá Mo ...

Wanya Morris Wanyá Jermaine Morris ( ) (born July 29, 1973) is an American singer, best known as a member of the Contemporary R&B, R&B group Boyz II Men. He competed on the Dancing with the Stars (American season 22), twenty-second season of ''Dancing wit ...

sang the song with Carey in the concert home video, '' Fantasy: Mariah Carey at Madison Square Garden''. The song is composed in

common time A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates the ...

and has a moderate

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

of 84 beats per minute. Carey's

vocal range Vocal range is the range of pitches that a human voice can phonate. A common application is within the context of singing, where it is used as a defining characteristic for classifying singing voices into voice types. It is also a topic of stud ...

spans two

octave In music, an octave (: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is an interval between two notes, one having twice the frequency of vibration of the other. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referr ...

s and three

semitone A semitone, also called a minor second, half step, or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically. It is defined as the interval between ...

s from the low note of D₃ to the high note of F₅. The ''MTV Unplugged'' special aired on May 20, 1992, and was a notable success. Carey's label, Columbia Records, received many requests to release "I'll Be There" as a single, which had not been planned. A radio edit of the song was created which removed dialogue portions of the performance, and "I'll Be There" was released as a single. In the US, the song was issued with "So Blessed" as a B-side; in the United Kingdom, the "I'll Be There" single included the live version of "

Vision of Love "Vision of Love" is the debut single by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey, recorded for her eponymous debut studio album (1990). It was written by Carey and Ben Margulies. After being featured on Carey's demo tape for Columbia Records, t ...

", and the album versions of " If It's Over" and "All in Your Mind". "I'll Be There" was nominated for the 1993

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 ...

for

Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals The 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 th ...

and Best R&B Song, losing both categories to

's " End of the Road". The "I'll Be There" music video, directed by Larry Jordan, was compiled from footage of Carey's ''MTV Unplugged'' appearance. During Michael Jackson's memorial service on July 7, 2009, Carey and Lorenz sang their rendition of the song in tribute to Jackson 17 years after their first performance together. Regularly, "I'll Be There" has been featured on Carey's catalog albums included on '' #1's'' (1998), ''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

'' (2001), '' The Ballads'' (2008), '' The Essential Mariah Carey'' (2011), and '' #1 to Infinity'' (2015).

Critical reception

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 Shawn M. Haney highlighted it and wrote, "...the power and esteem of these tales lift to new heights and remain at a peak with the breathtaking, moment-making performance of "I'll Be There"."

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the musi ...

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 ...

'' stated that Carey "delivers an astonishingly restrained and soulful rendition". He added, "She is complemented by rich vocal support from Epic newcomer Trey Lorenz." An editor 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, ...

'' wrote that Mariah turned this song into a "killer duet." In 2018, the magazine called it a "revelation", noting that she "made it utterly her own."

Track listing

* Worldwide CD single # "I'll Be There" # "So Blessed" * European CD maxi-single # "I'll Be There" # "So Blessed" # "Vanishing" * UK CD maxi-single # "I'll Be There" # "

" # " If It's Over" # "All in Your Mind"

Chart performance

After the underperformance of " Make It Happen" compared to her previous singles, "I'll Be There" was a return to form for Carey: it became her sixth number-one on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and allayed any concerns her record label had about her career in decline. "I'll Be There" was the number-one song on the Hot 100 for two weeks, from June 13, 1992, to June 27. It replaced " Jump" by Kris Kross, and was itself replaced by " Baby Got Back" by

Sir Mix-a-Lot Anthony L. Ray (born August 12, 1963), better known by his stage name Sir Mix-a-Lot or his CB handle Prime Minista, is an American rapper. He is best known for his 1992 hit song " Baby Got Back", which peaked at number one on the ''Billboard'' ...

. It became number-one on the US

Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on airplay data submitted to ''Billboard'' by stat ...

. In fact, it is the only single released from the ''

'' series that hit number-one. As of 2025, it is also Carey's only single from her nineteen chart-toppers not to be written by herself. "I'll Be There" was Carey's breakthrough hit outside North America, becoming her most successful single in numerous markets. It topped the

Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian music charts are a collection of record charts reflecting the music consumption of people in Canada. '' RPM'' and '' Billboard'' are the biggest publications to have published Canada's official charts for decades. However, the first ...

for two weeks, and became her first number-one single in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

for three weeks, and her second in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

for five weeks. It also became her biggest hit at the time in the United Kingdom (where it hit number 2) and Australia (where it reached number 9). It peaked inside the top 20 in most markets across Europe, where Carey's success had previously been limited. The song has sold a total of 345,000 copies in the UK.Mariah Carey official top 20 biggest-selling songs in the UK

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

. retrieved: May 3, 2010.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications and sales

Arthur Hanlon version

In 2013, American pianist Arthur Hanlon covered the song in bachata with Dominican guest singer Karlos Rosé as the lead vocalist. Their cover was recorded in

Spanglish Spanglish (a blend of the words "Spanish" and "English") is any language variety (such as a contact dialect, hybrid language, pidgin, or creole language) that results from conversationally combining Spanish and English. The term is mostly u ...

and will be included on Hanlon's ''Encanto del Caribe'' tour. The song was produced by Hanlon and David Cabera.

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:I'll Be There (The Jackson 5 song) 1970 songs 1970 singles 1970s ballads 1992 singles 2013 singles Songs written by Berry Gordy Songs written by Hal Davis The Jackson 5 songs Mariah Carey songs Trey Lorenz songs Andy Williams songs Song recordings produced by Walter Afanasieff Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Number-one singles in New Zealand RPM Top Singles number-one singles Motown singles Columbia Records singles Pop ballads Rhythm and blues ballads Male–female vocal duets Live singles Song recordings produced by Hal Davis Sony Music singles Universal Music Latin Entertainment singles Songs written by Willie Hutch Soul ballads

The Jackson 5 version

Release and reaction

Personnel

Charts

Weekly singles charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

Mariah Carey version

Critical reception

Track listing

Chart performance

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications and sales

Arthur Hanlon version

Charts

See also

References