Larry Flick fromBillboard described "I'll Make Love to You" as a "sweepingpop/R&Bballad". He wrote further, "Silky harmonies waft over a well-measured arrangement chock-ful of bright, glistening synths and soft-yet-punctuating percussion. Lovely sing-alongchorus initially will remind many of past glories, but single ultimately will provide a refreshing cool breeze to any of numerous radio formats it graces."[1] Troy J. Augusto fromCash Box named it Pick of the Week, declaring it as "a lushly-arranged, slowly-paced ballad", "full of the same charming vocal harmonies and natural soul that gives the group its universal pop appeal. Ready to explode aturban,A/C andTop 40, this cut leads a parade of future hit singles that should keep the Boyz in chart heaven all through the night and all through the year."[3]
In his weekly UK chart commentary,James Masterton deemed it "another piece of immaculate close-harmonysoul", that "is a smash before it has ever started".[2] Pan-European magazineMusic & Media commented, "Silkier then the First Lady's nightgown, the first single off the "mommy" Boyz's upcoming albumII further secures their position as the masters of the close harmony ballad."[4] Alan Jones fromMusic Week also named it Pick of the Week, rating it four out of five. He wrote, "Returning after more than a year, Boyz II Men get back into the "End of the Road" groove with a silky, powerful ballad penned byBabyface. Its sweeping majesty is likely to push it high into the chart."[5] Gerald Martinez fromNew Sunday Times felt that the song, along with "On Bended Knee", "tries to recapture the magic of "End of the Road", and they come close. Big production numbers with solid hooks, they should be flooding our airwaves for the next few months."[6] Paul Evans fromRolling Stone viewed it as a "lush swoon-and-croon" ballad "of the kind the Boyz' hard-core fans demand."[7] Mark Sutherland fromSmash Hits gave it three out of five, saying, "Weeell, in their favour are the facts that they are still the meanest warblers in pop and that soul doesn't come much more silky or supersmooth than this. Against them is the fact that this is basically just "End of the Road" with new lyrics – and blimmin' presumptuous lyrics at that."[8]
The single was a massive commercial success. It held the number one position on the USBillboard 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 byWhitney 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 withMariah 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 andadult contemporary charts for nine and three weeks, respectively, in 1994. It sold 1,627,000 copies domestically, earning aplatinum certification from theRecording Industry Association of America for shipments of over one million copies.[9][10] In Canada, the song reached number one on September 26, retaining the position for two weeks. "All I Wanna Do" bySheryl Crow then held the top position for four weeks, but on November 2, "I'll Make Love to You" returned to number one for an additional week before beginning its final descent from the chart.[11]
Outside North America, "I'll Make Love to You" also experienced major chart success. It reached number one inNew Zealand on September 11, keeping that position for four weeks before "Endless Love" byLuther Vandross andMariah Carey moved to number one. InAustralia, the song reached the top on October 16 and stayed there for two weeks, losing its spot at number one toSilverchair's "Tomorrow". On both charts, the song stayed in the top 50 for 22 weeks. Across Europe, the song reached the top 10 in most countries, but fell outside this range inGermany andFinland, where it peaked at 20 and 12, respectively. In the UK, the song debuted at number 6 on theUK Singles Chart on August 28 before moving up to number 5 the next week, its peak position. It stayed in the top 40 for a further eight weeks. In Ireland, the song was slightly less successful, reaching number 7 and spending 10 weeks on theIrish Singles Chart.
The accompanying music video for "I'll Make Love to You" was directed by American music video director, film director and VJLionel C. Martin.[13] It depicts a story around a woman and a man. The man, played by actorDuane Martin, 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 her 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.[14]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
In series 2, episode 5, "Bump in the Night", of theBBC comedy seriesGhosts in 2020, Julian Fawcett MP (Simon Farnaby), the trouser-less ghost of a Conservative MP who died in 1993, sings the songa cappella for the ghosts' music club, much to the dismay of the less contemporary ghosts.
In the 2012 filmPitch Perfect, an a cappella version of two lines of the song is included in a medley performed by the Barden Bellas as part of the Riff-Off.
In season 1, episode 6, "The Birthday Girl" ofThat 90's Show in 2023, Bob Pinciotti (Don Stark) sings the song to his granddaughter Leia Forman (Callie Haverda).
Boyz II Men created a parody of the song called "I'll Make Love to You (But We Don't Have To)" onThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert in 2023.
