"Yearning for Your Love" is a 1980

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 ...

recorded and released by

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

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. Mercury Records released ...

. The single was the third release off the band's fifth album, ''

The Gap Band III ''The Gap Band III'' is the fifth studio album (contrary to the title) by American R&B band the Gap Band, released in 1980 on Mercury Records. It was produced by Lonnie Simmons. It was their first album to achieve platinum status. The album was ...

'' (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 po ...

chart and number sixty on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Written by Gap Band 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 A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

take on the song helped the song become influential to

contemporary R&B Contemporary R&B (or simply R&B) is a popular music Music genre, genre, originating from African Americans, African-American musicians in the 1980s that combines rhythm and blues with elements of Pop music, pop, Soul music, soul, funk, Hip-hop, ...

singers, such as

Keith Sweat Keith Sweat (born July 22, 1961) is an American singer, producer and songwriter. An early figure in the new jack swing musical movement, he is known for his collection of hits including "I Want Her," "Make It Last Forever (song), Make It Last For ...

Johnny Gill Johnny Gill Jr. (born May 22, 1966) is an American singer and songwriter. 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 rel ...

and

Gerald Levert Gerald Edward Levert (July 13, 1966 – November 10, 2006) was an Americans, American singer-songwriter and Music Producer, producer. Levert performed with his brother, Sean Levert, and friend Marc Gordon with the R&B vocal group, LeVert. Le ...

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"

Personnel

*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

Charts

Cover versions

In 1989, Swiss 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. Her first hit was disco single "Shame", which was released in 1977 during the height of disco's popularity. King had other hits from the early t ...

on vocals. In 2019, singer

PJ Morton P.J. Morton (born Paul Sylvester Morton Jr.; March 29, 1981) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Since 2012, he has been the keyboardist for the pop band Maroon 5. Morton originally joined the band as a touring mem ...

covered the song from his album ''

Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

''.

Sampling

The song has been sampled several times including some of the following: *"Giants vs. Giants" by Askari X (1991) *"Gank Move" by Big Mello (1992) *"Always On My Mind" by SWV (1993) *" Life's a Bitch" by

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air (S ...

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, Natchez, Mis ...

(1994) *"Outta My Life" by

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

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

E-40 Earl Tywone Stevens (born November 15, 1967), better known by his stage name E-40, is an American rapper. Stevens is a founding member of the rap group The Click (band), The Click and the founder of Sick Wid It Records. He has released 27 stud ...

and

Too Short Todd Anthony Shaw (born April 28, 1966), better known by his stage name Too Short (stylized as Too $hort), is an American rapper. A pioneer of West Coast hip-hop, Shaw was among the first acts to receive recognition in the genre during the late ...

(1998) *"Pad & Pen" by

A Tribe Called Quest A Tribe Called Quest was an American Hip hop music, hip hop group formed in Queens, New York City, in 1985,Q-Tip< ...

(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 from New Orleans. She enjoyed success in the local " bounce" scene of the early 1990s. She was the first female emcee to get a contr ...

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 Mononymous person, mononymously as Styles), is an American rapper, best known as a member of East Coast hip hop group the Lox. Formed with fellow rappe ...

feat.

Tre Williams Tre Williams is an American singer, formerly affiliated with Nas' label, Ill Will Records. Biography Williams was born October 1971 and raised in the projects of Daytona Beach, Florida. He enrolled in Bethune-Cookman College, but dropped ou ...

(2007) *" Touch My Body" by

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 ...

(2007) *"Love Like This" by

Natasha Bedingfield Natasha Anne Bedingfield (born 26 November 1981) is a British and New Zealand singer, songwriter and record producer. She released her debut album, '' Unwritten'', in 2004, which contained primarily up-tempo pop songs and was influenced by R& ...

feat.

Sean Kingston Kisean Paul Anderson (born February 3, 1990), known professionally as Sean Kingston, is an American former singer and rapper. Born in Miami, Florida, and raised in Jamaica, he signed with J. R. Rotem's record label Beluga Heights Records ...

(2008) *"Lifes a Bitch" by Elzhi feat.

Royce da 5'9 Royce may refer to: Places Physical geography * Royce Brook, a creek in New Jersey, USA * Royce Peak, a mountain in California, USA Settlements * Royce, Alberta, Canada; an inhabited locality Facilities and structures * Royce Hall, on the ca ...

Stokley Williams Stokley Williams (born July 15, 1967), also known simply as Stokley, is an American musician from St. Paul, Minnesota, best known as the lead singer and studio drummer of the R&B band Mint Condition. Career In 2011, Williams was featured on ...

(2011) *"Real" by

Common Common may refer to: As an Irish surname, it is anglicised from Irish Gaelic surname Ó Comáin. Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Com ...

feat.

Elijah Blake Sean Fenton (born June 4, 1992), better known by the stage name Elijah Blake, is a Haitian and Dominican-American singer, songwriter and record producer. He wrote songs for Keyshia Cole, Rick Ross, Rihanna, and co-wrote Usher's number-one R&B hi ...

(2014) *"Yernin" by

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

(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 Soul ballads 1980s ballads