Thursday, March 26, 2015

Second Listen: "Missing You" (Diana Ross)


Diana Ross's discography of hits is so vast that it'd be impossible to encompass all of her solo glory and The Supreme years in just one day. With that said, "Missing You" was the third 45 release from her album Swept Away, the song was written, composed, and produced by Lionel Richie as a tribute to Marvin Gaye, who had died earlier that year.

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' 1982 Brussels concert while Gaye was living in Belgium, recording the Midnight Love album.

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 US pop singles chart, hitting the Top 10 in the spring of 1985 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was also her last song to reach number one on the Hot Black Singles chart.




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