Released March 3, 1999 Recorded 1998 Label Columbia, Rockland | Format CD single, cassette Length 4:59 | |
Genre R&B
neo soul
quiet storm | ||
"Fortunate" is a neo soul song from the 1999 motion picture Life and was released on the film's soundtrack. The song was written, composed, produced and arranged by R. Kelly and recorded by Maxwell. "Fortunate" was awarded Best R&B Single of the Year at the Billboard Music Awards and Best R&B/Soul Single (Male) at Soul Train Awards. Maxwell was nominated for a Grammy for Best R&B Male Vocalist and also nominated for a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Song of the Year.
The song, Maxwell's biggest hit to date, spent eight weeks at number one on the US R&B chart and peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100. It is his first number-one R&B hit, eventually followed by "Pretty Wings" in 2009.
According to R. Kelly, Maxwell didn't want to sing "Fortunate". Instead, he wanted to sing the song "Life" - which Kelly gave to K-Ci & JoJo. Kelly rejected Maxwell's idea because he felt that neo-soul singer wouldn't have been believable singing a song from the perspective of a prison inmate.