"Every Time I Close My Eyes" is a song written, produced and performed by American musician

Babyface Babyface or Baby Face can refer to: Nicknames * Lester Joseph Gillis a.k.a. Baby Face Nelson, an infamous 1930s bank robber * Roosevelt "Baby Face" Willette (1933–1971), an American hard bop and soul-jazz musician * "Baby Face", Jimmy McLarnin ...

. It was released as the second single from his fourth album, '' The Day'' (1996).

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey ( ; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Songbird Supreme" by ''Guinness World Records'', Carey is known for her five-octave voc ...

performs the backing vocals, after Babyface did the same for her on "Melt Away", a track written by both, included on her 1995 album ''

Daydream Daydreaming is a stream of consciousness that detaches from current external tasks when one's attention becomes focused on a more personal and internal direction. Various names of this phenomenon exist, including mind-wandering, fantasies, a ...

''. It also has a participation by

Kenny Kenny is a surname, a given name, and a diminutive of several different given names. In Ireland, the surname is an Anglicisation of the Irish ''Ó Cionnaith'', also spelt ''Ó Cionnaoith'' and ''Ó Cionaodha'', meaning "descendant of Cionnaith". ...

G playing

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

. An alternate version without Carey's vocals and additional sax elements is included on Kenny G's '' The Moment'' (1996). The song was met with commercial and critical acclaim, peaking at number six in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in United States and at number 13 in the United Kingdom. At the

40th Grammy Awards The 40th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 25, 1998, at Radio City Music Hall, New York City. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Performers * Will Smith – Men In Black/ Gettin' Jiggy Wit It * R. K ...

this song received a nomination for

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance was a Grammy Award recognizing superior vocal performance by a male in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. It was discontinued after the 2011 Grammy season. The award wen ...

, which it lost to "

Candle in the Wind "Candle in the Wind" is a threnody-style ballad written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, and performed by John. It was originally written in 1973, in honour of Marilyn Monroe, who had died 11 years earlier. In 199 ...

" by

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

. For the

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

of this single, Babyface received a MTV Video Music Award nomination for Best Male Video, losing to " Devil's Haircut" by

Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970), known mononymously as Beck, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi mus ...

. On

Shawn Stockman Shawn Patrick Stockman (born September 26, 1972) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as a member of the vocal group Boyz II Men. In addition to Boyz II Men, Stockman was a member of the group Black Men Unit ...

’s On The Note podcast. Babyface admitted that the song was originally written for

Luther Vandross Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American Soul music, soul and Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer. Over his career, he achieved eleven consecutive RIAA certification, RIAA-certified ...

, who subsequently turned it down.

Critical reception

On the

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 Mus ...

review, "Every Time I Close My Eyes" was awarded with three stars out of five.

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the musi ...

from ''

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 ...

'' praised the song, writing that it shows Babyface "at his all-around best." He added, "Complemented by harmonies from

, he weaves a sweetly romantic tale on top of a quietly shuffling

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

/ R&B groove. His performance has an engaging, soulful flexibility that never flies over the top into over-compensation. He's wise enough to let the song properly unfold and work its magic. There is no doubt that listeners of every imaginable format will be humming this gem within seconds—and then for months to come." 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 ...

'' rated it four out of five, stating that "multi-talented Babyface shows why he is worth 12

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

nominations on this classy, sultry

ballad 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 ...

on which he is joined by Mariah Carey and

Kenny G Kenneth Bruce Gorelick (born June 5, 1956) is an American smooth jazz saxophonist, composer, and record producer. His 1986 album ''Duotones'' brought him commercial success. Kenny G is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selli ...

." The magazine's Alan Jones complimented it as "one of the cutest little Babyface records yet—a pretty, easy-paced ballad impeccably played and sung with sweetly cooed verses and a chorus which sticks in the brain."

Chart performance

The track debuted at number 19 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 dated February 1, 1997 and climb to its peak at number six seven weeks later, spending 26 weeks in the chart. On the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs 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 ...

chart, peaked at number 5. Overseas, the single reached number 13 on the UK Singles Chart. At the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Year-End charts of 1997, this song ranked at number 26. "Every Time I Close My Eyes" was

certified gold Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

and sold 700,000 copies.

Track listing

* CD single #"Every Time I Close My Eyes" (Radio edit) – 4:11 #"Lady, Lady" – 4:23 * Digital download #"Every Time I Close My Eyes" (Timbaland remix) – 4:51 * UK CD maxi single (6642492) #"Every Time I Close My Eyes" (Radio edit) – 4:12 #"Every Time I Close My Eyes" (Linslee Campbell remix) – 5:53 #"Every Time I Close My Eyes" (Every Time I Feel the Groove remix) – 4:43 #"Every Time I Close My Eyes" (Every Time I Feel The Funk remix) – 4:44 #"Every Time I Close My Eyes" (House of Music remix) – 5:13

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Personnel

The following people contributed to "Every Time I Close My Eyes": * Babyface – vocals, keyboards, drum programming *

– vocals *

– soprano saxophone *

Greg Phillinganes Gregory Arthur Phillinganes (born May 12, 1956) is an American keyboardist, vocalist, and arranger. A session musician, Phillinganes has contributed to numerous albums over a broad array of artists and genres. He has toured with artists includin ...

– acoustic piano * Michael Thompson – guitars *

Nathan East Nathan Harrell East (born December 8, 1955) is an American jazz, R&B, and rock bass guitarist and vocalist. With more than 2,000 recordings, East is one of the most recorded bass players in the history of music. East holds a Bachelor of Arts ...

– bass *

Sheila E Sheila Cecilia Escovedo (born December 12, 1957), known under the stage name Sheila E., is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Regarded as one of the greatest musicians of her generation; she is known for skills as a multi-instrumental ...

– percussion

Production

* Babyface – producer *

L.A. Reid Antonio Marquis "L.A." Reid (born June 7, 1956) is an American record executive, A&R representative, and record producer who served as president and CEO of Arista Records from 2000 to 2004, as well as chairman and CEO of the Island Def Jam Mus ...

– producer *

Daryl Simmons Daryl L. Simmons is an American R&B record producer and songwriter. Best known for his production work with L.A. Reid and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Simmons was credited on the majority of albums by their label LaFace Records, as well as sev ...

– producer * Brad Gilderman – engineer *

Thom Russo Thomas Russo is an American record producer, composer, mixer and songwriter.Thom Russo ...

– engineer *

Mick Guzauski Nathan "Mick" Guzauski is an American multi-platinum mixing engineer and sound engineer. He has nine Grammy Awards and eleven nominations. His work spans a wide range of styles, including jazz, R&B, Latin, rock, pop, easy listening, funk and ...

– mixing *

Dave Way Dave Way is a Grammy Award winning American producer, mixer and audio engineer based in Los Angeles, California, United States. He has worked with Fiona Apple, Sheryl Crow, Kesha, Pink, Iron And Wine, Fall Out Boy, Al Green, 21 Pilots, Yebba, Vic ...

– mixing

References

{{authority control 1997 singles Babyface (musician) songs Kenny G songs Music videos directed by Liz Friedlander Songs written by Babyface (musician) Contemporary R&B ballads Pop ballads Song recordings produced by Babyface (musician) 1996 songs Epic Records singles Sony Music singles