"I'll Never Break Your Heart" is a song by American boy bandBackstreet Boys. 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,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.
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,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 Boyssoundtrack,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.[3]
"I'll Never Break Your Heart" was supposedly recorded over two weeks because Littrell and AJ McLean,the two lead vocalists on the song,had colds.[3][4] In an interview with Billboard,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.[4]
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's bankruptcy estate.[5]
Critical reception
Pan-European magazine Music &Media 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&Bballads which are typically aimed for the US market."[6] A reviewer from Music Week 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."[7] Chuck Arnold from People Magazine said that Backstreet Boys gave their "smoothest Boyz II Men impression" on this R&B ballad,adding that "they make you believe every word of their vow to do no harm."[8] Also Jordan Paramor from Smash Hits 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 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."[9]
Commercial performance
The song was first released in the United Kingdom and Europe in December 1995,[1][10] then in 1996 for a few other markets,including a UK re-issue in November.[10][11] It was subsequently serviced to US radio in June 1998.[12] Following a physical released on July 21,1998,the song peaked at number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100.[13][14] It fared better on the Adult Contemporary chart,where it became the group's first number-one song on this ranking.[15] 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.[16][17][10]
Music videos
Two music videos were released for "I'll Never Break Your Heart."[4]
Original version
The accompanying music 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.[4] The group had not skied before or seen snow and would constantly fall off after the cameras stopped rolling.[4] This original video was filmed in November 1995 in Snowbird,Utah.[4][18] It first aired in December 1995 in Germany,France,and other nations in Western Europe.
Alternate version
The second video,directed by Bille Woodruff,was released to MTV in June 1998 for the US market. It has amassed more than 59 million views on YouTube as of September 2021.[19] 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. A video version of the song was also released for the Spanish version. The dog in Littrell's apartment was his dog,and the girl in his apartment was his then-girlfriend,now-wife Leighanne Wallace.[20]
Other versions
The Spanish version of the song,titled "Nunca Te HaréLlorar," was later recorded in Zürich along with a Spanish version of "Anywhere for You."[3] The idea came after they had started gaining success in Spanish countries such as Mexico and Spain. The label suggested they created Spanish versions to dedicate to those countries. Andy Williams 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.
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