"Be Without You" is a song by American recording artistMary J. Blige. It was written byJohntá Austin,Bryan Michael Cox, Jason Perry, and Blige for her seventh studio album,The Breakthrough (2005). Production was helmed by Cox, with additional production from Young Smoke and vocal production fromRon Fair and Blige. Apiano-tinkling downtempo R&B song, the song examines a relationship where the couple is trying to decide if they want to stay together, with Blige urging them to appreciate their blessings. "Be Without You" was released as the album's first officialsingle on November 14, 2005.
"Be Without You" is acontemporary R&B andhip hop soul song written in the key ofD minor with a tempo of 73 beats per minute. The song follows a chord progression of Dm – B♭maj7 – C – Dm – Gm7 – C – A7, and Blige's vocals span from F3 to D5.[2] It was co-written by Blige along withBryan-Michael Cox, Jason Perry andJohnta Austin, and co-produced by Cox and Young Smoke.[3] Cox, along with Young Smoke andRon Fair, played multiple instruments. Fair also did the vocal arrangements and string arrangements. Additionally, the song features three engineers and was mixed by David Pensado.[3] Cox commented on the production of "Be Without You": "I did the whole track and Jason co-composed the bridge with me, and Johnta wrote the lyrics and the melody. Mary came in and she and I tweaked some of the lines and tightened the record up lyrically to fit her. We threw ideas around, we talked about the track and we came up with concepts."[3]
Pitchfork's Clover Hope found that on "Be Without You," Blige "is practically levitating. It’s a stunning vocal showcase amid a litany of lyrical vows that capture the ecstasy of the honeymoon phase,"[4] whileAlexis Petridis fromThe Guardian called it a "wonderful song: luscious, dramatic, with Blige bringing her patent edge."[5]Billboard described the song a "tale of real love" and called it "signature Blige,"[6] with Thomas Inskeep, writing forStylus Magazine, calling the song a "slammer of a single, a midtempo love song that gets all the hands in the air (lighters-cum-cell phones, too)."[7]The Sun Sentinel wrote: On "Be Without You, "Blige pours out all her emotion as she talks about the feeling of being with that person you cannot live without.[8]
Antwane Folk fromRated R&B noted that "this power ballad hears Blige inarguably in love, proving her commitment to her man in an arresting singing style that made you believe every word."[9] Da'Shan Smith fromuDiscoverMusic found that the song "remains one her most powerful performances, with vocal runs for days before she brings it home towards the end."[10] Tareck Ghoneim fromContactmusic.com found that "Be Without You" continues "to show Blige's unique, soulful and powerful singing style with the all the pain of a sensitive diva that we've become used to with her [...] Blige at this point in her career could easily turn cheesy and cater to a pop market. However even though this track doesn't quite have the youthful exuberance ofWhat's the 411?, it still has the angst and quality of a lady who is still striving and most definitely has her name carved in the music hall of fame."[11]BET.com wrote of the song: "With a beautiful piano melody and Mary in top-notch, gut-wrenching form, it's easy to see why this is one of the biggest songs of Mary's legendary career."[12]
The single debuted at number 93 on theBillboard Hot 100 and peaked at number three in February 2006, Blige's third highest peak of her career after 2001's "Family Affair" and 1996's "Not Gon' Cry." Moreover, the song became the most successful release in the history of theHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart (until 2013) when it spent a record 15 consecutive weeks at number one. "Be Without You" topped the U.S.BillboardHot 100 Airplay chart for nine weeks, and the danceremix has also topped the U.S.Hot Dance Club Play chart. The song broke the record for the longest-running single in the existence of theHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, where it spent a grand total of 75 weeks on that chart. After its run on the main R&B chart, it moved to the Recurrent R&B Airplay chart.
In the UK, the single only peaked at number 32 on theUK singles chart; however, with the Moto Blanco remix of the song becoming a large club hit in the UK, the song actually managed to hold (to that time) the record for the most weeks on the UK top 75 for a Mary J. Blige single (18 in total). Having proved very popular, the Moto Blanco remix was featured as a B-side in the UK on subsequent singles "MJB Da MVP" and "Enough Cryin'."
"Be Without You" first aired on November 28, 2005. It peaked onAOL Videos Top 11 on the tenth spot on the January 21, 2006, entering the chart the first time and also theLAUNCH Music Videos Top 100 at the sixth position the same week. There's also a "Live At Launch Exclusive Performance" available for download from January 2006, which peaked seventieth on the same chart. The music video won in the Video of the Year category at the2006 BET Awards as well as the award forOutstanding Music Video at the38th NAACP Image Awards.[14][20] In addition, "Be Without You" was nominated forBest R&B Video at the2006 MTV Video Music Awards.[19]
The video begins with a black and white cityscape with Blige standing on top of a building as the song starts playing. Then, the video shifts into a bathroom scene with Blige cleaning out her medicine cabinet. In the first scene, Blige is typing the lyrics on her laptop. The next scene shown in color appears with Blige falling in love with her boyfriend and sleeping with him. Then, the next scene takes place in a kitchen where Blige and her love interest are celebrating dinner with her family. Meanwhile, she is seen in a color scene standing next to a group of candles with the next scene showing her at a red carpet premiere walking out of a limo. Then, Blige and her boyfriend break up after having a fight (as seen in the events at the beginning of the video). After 2 candles begin to melt, the final scene in black and white changes to color with a knock on Blige's door. She opens the door to find her boyfriend on the other side. They embrace at the close of the song.
