I'll Never Break Your Heart
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"I'll Never Break Your Heart" is a song by American
boy band A boy band is a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their Teenage, teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Many boy bands ...
Backstreet Boys Backstreet Boys (often abbreviated as BSB) are an American vocal group consisting of Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, and cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson (musician), Kevin Richardson. The band formed in 1993 in Orlando, Flori ...
. The song was written by singer-songwriters Eugene Wilde and Albert Manno and produced by Veit Renn and Timmy Allen. It was released in the United Kingdom on December 4, 1995, by
Jive Records Jive Records (later stylized as JIVE Records) was a British-American independent record label founded by Clive Calder in 1981 as a subsidiary of the Zomba Group of Companies, Zomba Group. In the US, the label had offices in New York City and Chic ...
, as the second single from their self-titled debut album and was issued across the rest of Europe later the same month. It was later included on their US debut album and was released as their fourth US single in June 1998. Two different music videos were released for the song, in 1995 and 1998.


Background

The song "I'll Never Break Your Heart" replaced "I'll Never Find Someone Like You" on the Backstreet Boys' first self-titled international album, which was to be the group's first single. The group's label,
Jive Records Jive Records (later stylized as JIVE Records) was a British-American independent record label founded by Clive Calder in 1981 as a subsidiary of the Zomba Group of Companies, Zomba Group. In the US, the label had offices in New York City and Chic ...
, had not committed to using the song for the group, and as a result, it was offered to singer Keith Martin, who accepted it and released it as a single on the 1995 ''Bad Boys''
soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...
, and his album '' It's Long Overdue'' from the same year. Brian Littrell discovered this when he heard Martin's song play on the radio one day.Interview with Backstreet Boys, management, and others 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, ...
'' 10th Anniversary Issue.
"I'll Never Break Your Heart" was supposedly recorded over two weeks because Littrell and
AJ McLean Alexander James McLean (born January 9, 1978) is an American singer. He is a founding member of the pop vocal group Backstreet Boys. Early life McLean was born on January 9, 1978, in West Palm Beach, Florida, to Denise (née Fernandez, now ...
, the two lead vocalists on the song, had colds. In an interview with ''
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 ...
'', McLean stated that the song "was the longest recording for any single BSB record in Backstreet history", as they had to manually rewind the tape to add brand new vocals in the track while they were sick. In October 2014, the group took ownership of the master recording of the song as part of a settlement agreement with their ex-manager,
Lou Pearlman Louis Jay Pearlman (June 19, 1954 – August 19, 2016) was an American music manager and scam artist. He was the person behind many successful 1990s boy bands, having formed and funded the Backstreet Boys. After their massive success, he then dev ...
's bankruptcy estate.


Critical reception

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 ...
'' wrote, "With the up-tempo, infectious ' We've Got It Goin' On' still in the Benelux, German and Swiss top 10, the Backstreet Boys slowed their crystal clear vocals down to make one of those smooth R&B
ballads A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...
which are typically aimed for the US market." 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 We ...
'' gave it four out of five, adding, "The soppiness factor is into full effect on this romantic ballad, which displays the boys' vocal excellence. A November tour will help this become another top-five hit." Chuck Arnold from ''
People Magazine ''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC (company), IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''Peopl ...
'' said that Backstreet Boys gave their "smoothest
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 ...
impression" on this R&B ballad, adding that "they make you believe every word of their vow to do no harm." Also Jordan Paramor 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 ...
'' gave it four out of five, writing, "The Backstreet Boys go all Boys II Men-ish on us, with lyrics soppier than a room full of
Labrador Labrador () is a geographic and cultural region within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the primarily continental portion of the province and constitutes 71% of the province's area but is home to only 6% of its populatio ...
puppies wearing frilly pink dresses. ''I'll never make you cry/I'd rather die than live without you'' they wibble harmoniously, displaying voices that would make an earthquake shake with pride."


Commercial performance

The song was first released in the United Kingdom and Europe in December 1995, then in 1996 for a few other markets, including a UK re-issue in November. It was subsequently serviced to US radio in June 1998. Following a physical released on July 21, 1998, the song peaked at number 35 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It fared better on the
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 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...
chart, where it became the group's first number-one song on this ranking. Outside the US, the song peaked at number eight on the UK Singles Chart and also reached the top 10 in Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland.


Music videos

Two music videos were released for "I'll Never Break Your Heart." The first music video aired in December 1995, for Germany, France, and other nations in Western Europe. The video follows a group of girls, one of whom has recently broken up with her boyfriend, as stated in the introduction. The band members are on a ski vacation, and each partners up with one of the girls. Brian Littrell gets together with the girl who had just broken up with her boyfriend. The girl Kevin Richardson is matched with was his then-girlfriend and now-wife Kristin Willits, as she was asked by the director Lionel C. Martin to be featured in the video as an extra. The group had not skied before or seen snow and would constantly fall off after the cameras stopped rolling. This original video was filmed in November 1995 in
Snowbird, Utah Snowbird is an unincorporated community in Little Cottonwood Canyon in the Wasatch Range of the Rocky Mountains near Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It is most famous for Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort, an alpine skiing and snowboarding ar ...
. The second video, directed by
Bille Woodruff Bille Woodruff is a director of film, television and music videos, noted for directing many videos for a number of R&B and hip-hop artists since the mid-1990s. These artists include Joe, for whom Woodruff has directed 9 music videos since 1994, ...
, was released to
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 ...
in June 1998 for the US market. It has amassed more than 59 million views on
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
as of September 2021. A video version of the song was also released for the
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
version. The video features each band member singing in their own uniquely styled apartment which is stacked atop one another in a tall building. Late in the video, each member is shown to have a girl in their apartment. The group is also shown singing together in a cylindrical tunnel with a rotating round porthole near the end, through which the camera observes. The dog in Littrell's apartment was his dog, and the girl in his apartment was his then-girlfriend, now-wife Leighanne Wallace.


Other versions

The Spanish version of the song, titled "Nunca Te Haré Llorar," was later recorded in
Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
along with a Spanish version of " Anywhere for You." The idea came after they had started gaining success in Spanish countries such as
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
and
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
. The
label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affix ...
suggested they created Spanish versions to dedicate to those countries.
Andy Williams Howard Andrew Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold certified and three platinum certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hos ...
released a version in 2007 on his album, '' I Don't Remember Ever Growing Up''. The video for the Spanish version was shot directly after the English video for the US market.


Track listings


United Kingdom

* Original # "I'll Never Break Your Heart" (Radio Edit) - 4:25 # "I'll Never Break Your Heart" (LP Version) - 4:49 # "Roll with It" lternate version- 4:43 * Re-release CD1 # "I'll Never Break Your Heart" (Radio Edit) - 4:25 # " We've Got It Goin' On" (Amadin's Club Mix) - 6:33 # "Mark Goodier Interview" (Part 1) * Re-release CD2 # "I'll Never Break Your Heart" (Radio Edit) - 4:25 # "Roll with It" - 4:43 # "Mark Goodier Interview" (Part 2) * Cassette # "I'll Never Break Your Heart" (Radio Edit) - 4:25 # "Roll with It" - 4:43


United States

* CD # "I'll Never Break Your Heart" (radio edit) - 4:25 # "I'll Never Break Your Heart" (LP version) - 4:49 # "I'll Never Break Your Heart" (Spanglish version) - 4:48 # "Nunca Te Hare Llorar (I'll Never Break Your Heart)" (Spanish version) - 4:44 # "I'll Never Break Your Heart" (instrumental) - 4:25


Credits and personnel

* Produced by Veit Renn and Timmy Allen * All Instruments by Veit Renn and Timmy Allen * Mixed by Chris Trevett at
Battery Studios Battery Studios is an independent recording studio complex in Willesden in northwest London originally established in 1980 when Zomba Group acquired Morgan Studios 3 and 4. The studios were later purchased by Flood (producer) and Alan Moulder an ...
* Recorded by Joe Smith at Parc Studios and Platinum Post Studios, Orlando


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


Release history


References

{{Authority control 1995 songs 1995 singles 1996 singles Andy Williams songs Backstreet Boys songs Contemporary R&B ballads Jive Records singles Music videos directed by Bille Woodruff Songs written by Eugene Wilde 1990s ballads UK Independent Singles Chart number-one singles