"It Isn't, It Wasn't, It Ain't Never Gonna Be" is a

duet A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a sol ...

recorded between

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in '' Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". Wit ...

and

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Voice", she is Whitney Houston albums discography, one of the bestselling music artists ...

, and appeared on Franklin's 1989 album '' Through the Storm''. The song was released on June 10, 1989, as the second single from the album by

Arista Records Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertain ...

. The original album version was written by

Albert Hammond Albert Louis Hammond OBE (born 18 May 1944) is a British-Gibraltarian singer, songwriter, and record producer. A prolific songwriter, he also collaborated with other songwriters such as Mike Hazlewood, John Bettis, Diane Warren, Holly Knight ...

and

Diane Warren Diane Eve Warren (born September 7, 1956) is an American songwriter. She has received several awards including a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three ''Billboard'' Music Awards and an Honorary Academy Award. Wa ...

and produced by

Narada Michael Walden Narada Michael Walden ( ; Michael Walden; born April 23, 1952) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He acquired the nickname Narada from Sri Chinmoy. He began his career as a drummer, working primarily in the jaz ...

, and the re-mixed version was produced by

Teddy Riley Edward Theodore Riley (born October 8, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer credited with the creation of the New Jack Swing genre. Riley credits Barry Michael Cooper with giving the genre its name.Hogan, Paul. "Tedd ...

. In the US, the single reached No. 41 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 5 on the

R&B Singles 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 ...

chart. On the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, it peaked at No. 29.

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 Music ...

editor William Ruhlmann retrospectively panned "It Isn't, It Wasn't, It Ain't Never Gonna Be," calling it, "an embarrassing failure for both Franklin and the previously pop-perfect Whitney Houston."

Track listings

*Album Version - 5:37 *Single Edit - 4:49 *Single Remix/Teddy Riley Mix - 4:02 *Extended Remix - 6:12 *Hip Hop Remix - 4:57 *House Radio Mix - 5:05 *New Jack Swing Dub Mix - 6:20 *After Hours Club Mix - 7:35 *1989 Vogue Dub Mix

Personnel

– lead vocals, vocal engineer *

– lead vocals * Walter "Baby Love" Afanasieff – co-producer, keyboards, synth bass, drum programming *

– producer, arrangements *

Ren Klyce Ren Klyce is a Japanese-American sound designer and sound mixer. He has been nominated for nine Academy Awards; six for Best Sound and three for Best Sound Editing. He is best known for his frequent collaborations with director David Fincher, ...

–

Fairlight CMI The Fairlight CMI (short for Computer Musical Instrument) is a digital synthesizer, sampler, and digital audio workstation introduced in 1979 by Fairlight. — with links to some Fairlight history and photos It was based on a commercial lic ...

programming * Karen "Kitty Beethoven" Brewington, Melisa Kary – backing vocals * Lincoln Clapp – engineer * David Frazer – engineer, mixing engineer * Dana Jon Chappelle - additional engineer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control 1989 singles 1989 songs Whitney Houston songs Aretha Franklin songs Song recordings produced by Narada Michael Walden Song recordings produced by Teddy Riley Songs written by Diane Warren Songs written by Albert Hammond Arista Records singles Female vocal duets New jack swing songs