"All of You" is a 1984 vocal duet between Spanish singer and songwriter

Julio Iglesias Julio José Iglesias de la Cueva (; born 23 September 1943) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. Iglesias is recognized as the most commercially successful Spanish singer in the world and one of the top List of best-selling music artists, reco ...

and American singer

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 ...

, which was released on June 12 as the lead single from both Iglesias's album '' 1100 Bel Air Place'', released on the

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

label, and Ross's fifteenth album, '' Swept Away'' (1984), released on the

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

label. It was written by

Cynthia Weil Cynthia Weil (October 18, 1940 – June 1, 2023) was an American songwriter who wrote many songs together with her husband Barry Mann. Weil and Mann were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987, and in 2011, they jointly received the ...

, Iglesias and

Tony Renis Elio Cesari (born 13 May 1938), known by his stage name Tony Renis, is an Italian singer, composer, music producer, and film actor. Life and career Renis was born in Milan. In the mid-1950s he met with Adriano Celentano, and the two started pe ...

, and produced by

Richard Perry Richard Van Perry (June 18, 1942 – December 24, 2024) was an American record producer. He began his musical career as a performer while attending Poly Prep, his high school in Brooklyn. After graduating from college he rose through the late ...

Background to the partnership

In the middle 1980s, having already achieved a high level of international prominence, Spanish singer

was seeking to gain a foothold in American music; to this end, he had learned English. On his album '' 1100 Bel Air Place,'' he had already recorded a cover version of "

The Air That I Breathe "The Air That I Breathe" is a ballad written by the British-Gibraltarian singer-songwriter Albert Hammond and the English songwriter Mike Hazlewood. It was initially recorded by Hammond on his debut album, '' It Never Rains in Southern Californi ...

" in duet partnership with the

Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by thei ...

and an original selection, "

To All The Girls I've Loved Before "To All the Girls I've Loved Before" is a song written by Hal David (words) and Albert Hammond (music). It was originally recorded by Hammond in 1975 on his album ''99 Miles From L.A.'', but is more famous for a 1984 recording by Julio Iglesi ...

," in duet partnership with

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

, the album's music producer, suggested the idea of Iglesias having

as yet another duet partner, and Iglesias agreed. To the extent which became public knowledge, Iglesias and Ross had never met each other, least of all performed together, before becoming duet partners on the selection; Iglesias's and Ross's meeting when the

video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...

was being produced is believed to have been their first. That would soon change as Ross reportedly ended up spending the Christmas holiday season at Iglesias's Miami estate. They there celebrated the success of their global duet that hit #1 in Spain, #3 in Italy, and #8 in Canada for example. In the United States, it reached #12 in

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

and #19 in ''

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 ...

.'' Additionally, "All of You" reached #2 on

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 ...

radio. Because it was the second single from '' 1100 Bel Air Place'' and the first single from Diana's successful '' Swept Away'' album, it helped sell both artists's albums. It also boasted a hugely popular and sensual music video. Ross was having some career difficulties at the time she agreed to the duet partnership with Iglesias; she had left

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 ...

over a dispute with

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 ...

which would not be resolved for years, and was recording for

(

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

in the UK and the rest of the world) at the time. Though her debut album for the label, '' Why Do Fools Fall In Love,'' had been successful three years before, her most recently released album, '' Ross,'' was not performing as well. Iglesias collaborated with one of his "amigos", Tony Renis, on the composition of the music; veteran songwriter

, better known for her partnership with

Barry Mann Barry Mann (born Barry Imberman; February 9, 1939) is an American songwriter and musician, and was part of a successful songwriting partnership with his wife, Cynthia Weil. He has written or co-written 53 hits in the UK and 98 in the US. Early ...

, wrote the lyrics, which were in English—a language Iglesias could barely speak at the time.

served as

music producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 1984 songs 1984 singles 1980s ballads Diana Ross songs Julio Iglesias songs Songs with lyrics by Cynthia Weil Songs with music by Tony Renis Song recordings produced by Richard Perry Male–female vocal duets Number-one singles in Spain Pop ballads CBS Records singles RCA Records singles