One Sweet Day

"One Sweet Day"
Single by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men
from the album Daydream
B-side"Open Arms"
ReleasedNovember 14, 1995 (1995-11-14)
GenreR&B
Length4:42
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Mariah Carey
  • Walter Afanasieff
Mariah Carey singles chronology
"Fantasy"
(1995)		 "One Sweet Day"
(1995)		 "Open Arms"
(1995)
Boyz II Men singles chronology
"Hey Lover"
(1995)		 "One Sweet Day"
(1995)		 "I Remember"
(1995)
Music video
"One Sweet Day" on YouTube

"One Sweet Day" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey and American R&B boy band Boyz II Men. The song was released on November 14, 1995, as the second single from the former's fifth studio album, Daydream (1995) by Columbia Records. The artists co-wrote the song with Walter Afanasieff, who co-produced it with Carey. Lyrically, the song speaks about the death of a loved one and misses them, and finally about seeing the person in heaven. The artists wrote the song about specific people in their lives, being inspired by sufferers of the AIDS epidemic, which was a topic at the time.

Music video

The music video for "One Sweet Day" was filmed in February 1995, and features snippets of Carey and Boyz II Men in the studio and recording the song. The busy schedule of both Carey and Boyz II Men did not allow time for them to shoot a proper video.

Chart performance

"One Sweet Day" debuted at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart dated December 2, 1995, with sales of 204,000 units. Columbia distributed free copies to stores, where it was sold for as low as 49 cents. It became Carey's tenth number one single on the Billboard chart and Boyz II Men's fourth number one. he song remained at the peak for a record-breaking 16 consecutive weeks, from December 2, 1995, to March 16, 1996. It became a record for being the only song to stay at number one on the chart for 16 weeks until 2017, when the record was tied by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's "Despacito", featuring Justin Bieber. The record would remain until Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road", featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, broke the record in 2019, spending nineteen weeks on top the Billboard Hot 100. It still remains the only number one debut to spend sixteen continual weeks at number one.

Track listing and formats

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the Daydream liner notes.

Charts

Certifications and sales

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA) 3× Platinum 210,000double-dagger
France (SNEP) Silver 125,000*
New Zealand (RMNZ) Platinum 10,000*
Norway (IFPI Norway) Gold  
United Kingdom (BPI) Gold 400,000
United States (RIAA) 4× Platinum 4,000,000double-dagger

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
double-daggersales+streaming figures based on certification alone

Release history

Release dates and formats for "One Sweet Day"
Region Date Format Label Ref.
United States November 14, 1995 CD maxi single
United Kingdom November 27, 1995
Japan November 30, 1995 Mini CD single Sony Music Japan

References

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Further reading