Kalpana Kalpana (Editor)

I'll Make Love to You

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Format
  
CD

Length
  
4:04

Writer(s)
  
Babyface

Genre
  
R&B

Label
  
Motown

Released
  
July 26, 1994 (1994-07-26)

"I'll Make Love to You" is a 1994 number-one hit single by R&B group Boyz II Men for the Motown label. The song, which was written by Babyface, was the lead single from their second album II.

Contents

Reception

The single was a massive commercial success. It held the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 for 14 weeks, from August 27 to November 26, 1994. At the time, the song tied a record for the most weeks at number one that had been set by Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" in late 1992 and early 1993. Boyz II Men would later break their own record in 1996 with "One Sweet Day", a collaboration with Mariah Carey, which remained at number one on the Hot 100 for 16 weeks beginning in December 1995. "I'll Make Love to You" also topped the U.S. R&B and adult contemporary charts for nine and three weeks, respectively, in 1994. It sold 1,627,000 copies domestically, earning a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments of over one million copies. It also peaked at number 5 in the United Kingdom.

"I'll Make Love to You" won the 1995 Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and two American Music Awards for Favorite Pop/Rock Single and Favorite Soul/R&B Single. It ranks at number 19 on Billboard's All-Time Top 100 Songs.

Music video

The music video featured a woman and a man. The man, whose name is Duane, installs a security system in the woman's house. She later invites him to have a drink, but he's busy. It turns out that she really likes him, likewise as he likes her too. While reading the letter, he begins to slowly take off his clothes, right at the moment in the song where the lyrics say he should. In the end, he writes her a letter, she receives it and reads it: it is a love letter, with the song lyrics. Duane Martin was also featured in the music video.

Track listing

European single

  1. "I'll Make Love To You (Pop Edit)" (3:49)
  2. "I'll Make Love To You (Instrumental)" (5:39)

UK CD single / US maxi-CD

  1. I'll Make Love To You (Pop Edit) 3:49
  2. I'll Make Love To You (LP Version) 4:07
  3. I'll Make Love To You (Instrumental) 5:39
  4. I'll Make Love To You (Acapella) 4:49

Parodies and pop culture

  • Main characters, Shawn and Gus of USA Network's Psych, played by James Roday and Dulé Hill respectively, perform the song during the end credits of the episode "Shawn vs. The Red Phantom" with Juliet (Maggie Lawson) on background vocals.
  • The lyrics "I'll make love to you like you want me to / And I'll hold you tight, baby, all" are sung by a group of penguins in the animated film Happy Feet (2006).
  • The song is featured on the video game Karaoke Revolution Volume 2.
  • Jenna mentions she is going to sing a duet of this song with her mother Verna in the episode of 30 Rock named after her.
  • Featured in a scene on the movie Can't Hardly Wait.
  • Featured on the American Reunion soundtrack.
  • Part of the song is sung by The Barden Bellas in the movie Pitch Perfect.
  • Tituss Burgess, as his character Titus Andromedon on the Netflix original comedy Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, sings "I'll Make Love to You" as comic effect; the character sings the song (instead of the more appropriate "End of the Road") at a random man's funeral, causing awkwardness amongst the crowd of people mourning the deceased
  • The song is covered by LH MUSIC CREATION in the arcade and Japanese console versions of Dance Dance Revolution Supernova.
  • JLS sang a cover of this on The X Factor (UK series 5) in the live finals.
  • In Upper Montclair, NJ near, the intersection of Valley Rd and Bellevue Ave, there is a pirate radio station, known as 91.9 WBYZ that plays the song on a 24-hour loop
  • The song was covered by Homer's group Sadgasm in The Simpsons episode That '90s Show but instead, they sing "I'll make rub to you"

    • Cover versions

    In 1996, saxophonist Richard Elliot recorded a cover version from his album City Speak.

    References

    I'll Make Love to You Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA