"Stay" is a song by German DJ/production team

Sash! Sash! (; stylised as SASH!) is a German DJ/ production team, fronted by Sascha Lappessen (born 10 June 1970) who works in the recording studio with Ralf Kappmeier, Karl Xander, and Thomas "Alisson" Lüdke. They have sold over 22 million albums ...

featuring American singer La Trec. It was released on 26 September 1997 by Mighty and

Multiply Multiplication is one of the four elementary mathematical operations of arithmetic, with the other ones being addition, subtraction, and division. The result of a multiplication operation is called a '' product''. Multiplication is often de ...

as the fourth and final single from their debut album, ''

It's My Life – The Album ''It's My Life'' (also known as ''It's My Life – The Album'') is the debut album by German DJ/production team Sash!, released in June 1997 via the Multiply and PolyGram labels. Four singles were released from the album: " It's My Life", " Enco ...

'' (1997). The song was written by Franky McCoy, Ralf Kappmeier, Sascha Lappessen and Thomas Allison, and topped the dance charts in both Canada and the United States. It also reached the top 20 in more than 10 European countries, Australia, and New Zealand. On the

Eurochart Hot 100 The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by ''Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately f ...

, "Stay" peaked at number six and in the UK, it was Sash!'s third consecutive number-two single. The music video for the song was directed by Oliver Sommer. In 1998, ''

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'' included "Stay" in their list of "Top 100 Club Tunes".

Critical reception

The song was universally acclaimed across the music press. Scottish ''

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'' viewed it as "Sash’s better effort". Jon O'Brien from

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 ...

noted the "dramatic" spoken word intro, describing the song as "an epic slice of soulful

Hi-NRG Hi-NRG (pronounced "high energy") is a genre of uptempo disco or electronic dance music (EDM) that originated during the late 1970s and early 1980s. As a music genre, typified by its fast tempo, staccato hi-hat rhythms (and the four-on-the-flo ...

pop".

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 ''

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'' wrote, "The time has come for this internationally acclaimed producer/musician to finally crack the pop charts. By drafting the belting skills of La Trec for this rare vocal track from his fine album, '' It's My Life'', he offers his most viable mainstream contender to date. The track thumps with Euro-NRG intensity, while a swirl of colorful synths fleshes out the song's simple yet wickedly infectious melody. La Trec, a singer to keep a close eye on, struts across the groove with enough force to please clubheads, but with the sweet allure that popsters require." 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 "Stay" four out of five, declaring it "another trancey

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stomper. Built around the

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-like uplifting vocals of

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-born La Trec." Another ''Music Week'' editor, Alan Jones, constated that Sash! "are likely to get, their third consecutive smash", complimenting the singer's "gutsy femme vocal".

Chart performance

"Stay" climbed to number one on both the Canadian ''

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'' Dance chart and the US ''

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chart. In Europe, the single entered the top 10 in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, and the United Kingdom, as well as on the

. In the UK, "Stay" reached number two during its first week on the UK Singles Chart, on October 12, 1997. Additionally, it was a top-20 hit in Germany, Sweden and Switzerland (19). In Oceania, it peaked at numbers 12 and 24 in New Zealand and Australia, respectively. The single earned a

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in Belgium, Norway and the United Kingdom.

Music video

The accompanying music video for "Stay" was directed by Oliver Sommer. It depicts Sascha Lappessen and La Trec in a dream, where he is being chased by female agents. On

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, some scenes in the video was left out from the original music video. Sommer had previously directed the video for " Encore une fois" and would also be directing the video for the team's next single, " La Primavera". "Stay" was later made available by Altra Moda Music on

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in 2016 and had generated more than 22 million views as of February 2024.

Track listings

* German 12-inch single :A1. "Stay" (original 12-inch) – 5:54 :A2. "Stay" (Exit EEE remix) – 5:53 :B1. "Stay" (Magnificent 4 remix) – 6:01 :B2. "Stay" (2 Phunky People remix) – 5:54 * German 12-inch remix single :A1. "Stay" ( Armand van Helden "Kano" Remix) – 7:34 :A2. "Stay" (Armand van Helden "Soul Solution" Remix) – 7:41 :B1. "Stay" (Exit EEE's Fly So High dub) – 6:15 :B2. "Stay" (Boris & Beck remix) – 7:10 * German maxi-CD single # "Stay" (single edit) – 3:29 # "Stay" (original 12-inch) – 5:54 # "Stay" (Exit-Eee remix) – 5:53 # "Stay" (Magnificent 4 remix) – 6:01 # "Stay" (2 Phunky People remix) – 5:54 * UK CD1 # "Stay" (original single edit) – 3:29 # "Stay" (Armand van Helden "Kano" Remix) – 7:25 # "Stay" (Exit-EEE remix) – 5:53 # "Stay" (PowerPlant "Suck This" mix) – 7:46 # "Stay" ( Loop Da Loop's vocal mix) – 7:42 * UK CD2 # "Stay" (original single edit) – 3:29 # "Stay" (Eat Me edit) – 3:52 # "Stay" (The Lisa Marie Vocal Experience) – 8:37 # "Stay" (Magnificent 4 remix) – 6:01 # "Stay" (2 Phunky People remix) – 5:54 # "Stay" (original 12-inch) – 5:55

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1997 songs 1997 singles Multiply Records singles Music videos directed by Oliver Sommer Sash! songs