"Yearning for Your Love" is a 1980

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

recorded and released by

The Gap Band The Gap Band was an American R&B and funk band that rose to fame during the 1970s and 1980s. The band consisted of three brothers: Charlie, Ronnie, and Robert Wilson, along with other members; it was named after streets (Greenwood, Archer, and ...

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it i ...

. The single was the third release off the band's fifth album, '' The Gap Band III'' (1980). Four different singles, each with a different B-side, were released in 1981. The song became a modest hit on the US and UK charts when it was released; it arose to number five on the

Hot Soul 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 and number sixty on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Written by Gap Band backing member/keyboardist Oliver Scott and keyboardist Ronnie Wilson, it was a romantic love song dedicated to Wilson's wife at the time and was performed by Ronnie's brother Charlie Wilson.

Structure

The song was markedly different in style from the past few hits, with less emphasis on synthesizers, instead on "light slices of guitar, smooth keyboard pads and soft percussion". It is said, Charlie Wilson's smooth baritone take on the song helped the song become influential to

contemporary R&B Contemporary R&B (or simply R&B) is a popular music genre that combines rhythm and blues with elements of pop, soul, funk, hip hop, and electronic music. The genre features a distinctive record production style, drum machine-backed rhy ...

singers, such as Keith Sweat,

Johnny Gill Johnny Gill Jr. (born May 22, 1966) is an American singer and actor. He is the sixth and final member of the R&B/pop group New Edition and was also a member of the supergroup called LSG, with Gerald Levert and Keith Sweat. Gill has released e ...

and

Gerald Levert Gerald Edward Levert (July 13, 1966 – November 10, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter and producer. Levert was best known for singing with his brother, Sean Levert, and friend Marc Gordon of the vocal group LeVert. Levert was also a ...

Charts

Track listing

Releases

#Yearning For Your Love/Burn Rubber #Yearning For Your Love/Humpin' #Yearning For Your Love/When I Look In Your Eyes #Yearning for Your Love/Oops Upside Your Head

Credits

*Lead vocals by Charlie Wilson *Background vocals by Oliver Scott, Ronnie Wilson and Robert Wilson *Drums by Ronnie Kaufman *Guitars by Fred Jenkins, Glenn Nightingale *Bass by Robert Wilson *Synthesizers by Ronnie Wilson *Keyboards by Oliver Scott

Cover versions

In 1989, French pianist Alex Bugnon covered the song for his album, ''Love Season''. In 1990, Guy also covered the song on their 1990 album, '' The Future''. In 2001, keyboardist Kevin Toney covered the song on his album ''Strut''. The song featured

Evelyn "Champagne" King Evelyn "Champagne" King (born July 1, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. She is best known for her hit disco single "Shame", which was released in 1977 during the height of disco's popularity. King had other hits from ...

on vocals. In 2019, singer

PJ Morton P.J. Morton (born Paul Morton Jr.; March 29, 1981) is an American Grammy winning musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Since 2012, he has been one of the keyboardists, alongside Jesse Carmichael, for the pop rock band Maroon 5. Mor ...

covered the song from his album ''

Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

''.

Sampling

The song has been sampled several times including some of the following: *"Gank Move" by

Big Mello Curtis Donnell Davis (August 7, 1968 – June 15, 2002), better known by his stage name Big Mello, was an American rapper from Houston, Texas. Mello graduated from Madison High School, and in the early 1980s, he attended Texas Southern Uni ...

(1992) *"Always On My Mind" by

SWV SWV (Sisters with Voices) is an American R&B vocal trio from New York City whose members are Cheryl (Coko) Gamble, Tamara (Taj) Johnson, and Leanne (Lelee) Lyons. Formed in 1988 as a gospel group, SWV became one of the most successful R&B g ...

(1993) *" Life's a Bitch" by Nas feat. AZ and

Olu Dara Olu Dara Jones (born Charles Jones III, January 12, 1941) is an American cornetist, guitarist, and singer. He is the father of rapper Nas. Early life Olu Dara was born Charles Jones III on January 12, 1941 in Natchez, Mississippi. His mother, E ...

(1994) *"Outta My Life" by

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

(1994) *"My Woman" by Coop MC (1995) *"Sacramento Summertime" by Gangsta Dre (1996) *"Keep Hustlin" by WC feat.

E-40 Earl Tywone Stevens Sr. (born November 15, 1967), better known by his stage name E-40, is an American rapper. He is a founding member of the rap group The Click, and the founder of Sick Wid It Records. He has released 26 studio albums to date, ...

and

Too Short Todd Anthony Shaw (born April 28, 1966), better known by the stage name Too Short (stylized as Too $hort), is an American rapper and record producer. He became famous in the West Coast hip hop scene in the late 1980s, with lyrics often based on ...

(1998) *"Pad & Pen" by A Tribe Called Quest (1998) *"Keep It Comin'" by

Heavy D Dwight Arrington MyersCuda, Heidi Sigmund Keeping it reel. '' Vibe'' ("born Dwight Arrington Myers")Samuels, Anita M. (January 12' 1996)Heavy D, the C.E.O. ''New York Times'' (May 24, 1967 – November 8, 2011), known professionally as Hea ...

(1997) *"Watcha Wanna Do" by

Mia X Mia Young (born January 9, 1970), better known by her stage name Mia X, is an American rapper and songwriter. She was the first female emcee to get a contract with rapper and entertainment magnate, Master P on his successful record label N ...

feat. Charlie Wilson (1998) *"It's Going Down by Parle (2000) *"I-95" by

Styles P David R. Styles (born November 28, 1974), better known by his stage name Styles P (also known mononymously as Styles), is an American rapper, best known as a member of hip hop group the Lox, alongside childhood friends Sheek Louch and Jadakiss ...

feat. Tre Williams (2007) *" Touch My Body" by Mariah Carey (2007) *"Love Like This" by

Natasha Bedingfield Natasha Anne Bedingfield (born 26 November 1981) is a British singer and songwriter. Bedingfield released her debut album, '' Unwritten'', in 2004, which contained primarily up-tempo pop songs and was influenced by R&B music. It enjoyed intern ...

feat. Sean Kingston (2008) *"Lifes a Bitch" by

Elzhi Jason Powers (born May 12, 1978), better known by his stage name Elzhi (stylized as eLZhi), is an American rapper from Detroit, Michigan. He is a former member of Slum Village and now records as a solo artist. In his youth, he made numerous vis ...

feat.

Royce da 5'9 Markus Bennett is an American hip-hop recording artist. People Surname * Ed Royce (born 1951), American politician * Elwyn E. Royce (1868–1960), American politician * Henry Royce (1863–1933), cofounder of the Rolls-Royce automobile company * H ...

Stokley Williams Stokley Williams (born July 15, 1967) also known simply as Stokley, is an American singer, record producer, and percussionist. Williams is best known as the lead singer and studio drummer of the band Mint Condition. Career In 2011, he was feat ...

(2011) *"Real" by Common feat. Elijah Blake (2014) *"Yernin" by

Sevyn Streeter Amber Denise "Sevyn" Streeter (born July 7, 1986)S ...

(2018) *"Only God Knows" by D-Flexx (1997)

References

{{Authority control 1980 songs 1981 singles The Gap Band songs Funk ballads MCA Records singles Rhythm and blues ballads 1980s ballads