A-side "Missing You" Recorded 1984 | Released November, 1984 (US) Genre R&B, Pop, Ballad | |
B-side "We are the Children of the World" Format Vinyl, 7", Single, 45 RPM | ||
"Missing You" is a song performed by Diana Ross. The third single she released (in 45-rpm format) from her album Swept Away, the song had been written, composed, and produced by Lionel Richie as a tribute to Marvin Gaye, who was murdered earlier that year.
Contents
Background
Ross and Gaye were lifelong friends and label mates, having both joined Motown in 1961, and recorded a duet album together, Diana & Marvin, in 1973, later recording two more duets in 1978. Gaye appeared at Ross's 1982 Brussels concert while Gaye was living in Belgium, recording the Midnight Love album.
Music video
The music video, directed by Dominic Orlando, was filmed on location at Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada. The video includes, in addition to still photographs and tribute clips of Gaye himself, tribute clips of former Supremes singer Florence Ballard and also of Paul Williams of The Temptations, both Motown artists who had died in the 1970s.
Content and reception
The song was built during conversations about Gaye shared by Ross and Richie, who came up with a song shortly after the conversations. Released in late 1984, the song became Diana's last major hit on the U.S. pop singles chart, hitting the Top 10 in the spring of 1985. It was also her last song to reach number one on the R&B singles chart.
Samples
Five hip hop acts have sampled "Missing You:"
Covers
Whitney Houston covered the song, alongside other Diana Ross songs, in her 1997 Classic Whitney Live from Washington, D.C. concert. This song, specifically, was dedicated to Tupac Shakur, Princess Diana, The Notorious B.I.G., and Gianni Versace, each of whom had died that year or the year prior.
In 2010, Houston performed the song on select dates of her Nothing but Love World Tour as a tribute to the late Michael Jackson.