"All My Life" is a song recorded by American R&B duo K-Ci & JoJo. The track was produced and written by the artists, brothers Joel "JoJo" Hailey and Rory Bennett for K-Ci & JoJo's debut studio album, Love Always. The song was released to airplay in December 1997 and was released physically on January 6, 1998, as the third single from the album through MCA Records. "All My Life" is an R&B and soul song. Music critics have claimed this as the duo's most successful song of their career. "All My Life" was a commercial success, and topped the US Billboard Hot 100 for three consecutive weeks. It was certified platinum in the US, and was the duo's longest-running number-one single of their career. "All My Life" performed well internationally, making the Top Ten list in many countries including Australia, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. It achieved platinum status in Australia and gold status in Sweden.
Background and writing
In 1997, K-Ci & JoJo traveled to various recording studios in California and New York with multiple relatively unknown record producers for recording of their debut album, Love Always. Joel initially wrote the song, using his daughter as inspiration. "All My Life" was originally written by Joel Hailey for a female artist on A&M Records, but ultimately decided to keep the song. "All My Life" was recorded at Audio Achievements in Torrance, California. Rory Bennett contributed on the song by helping the writing and the production.
Music and theme
"All My Life" is a slow-tempo love song ballad, performed in slow groove. It is composed in the key of D major and is set to 63 beats per minute in the time signature of common time. "All My Life" has been classified as an R&B and soul song.
Release and reception
"All My Life" was released as the third single from the album Love Always. The song was released in the United States and Canada on January 6, 1998, as a CD single. It was released on March 30, 1998, in Germany as a maxi single. "Don't Rush " was included as the B-side on all copies. In many European countries, "All My Life" was released as a maxi single without a B-side, but contained a radio edit as well as two remixes. On September 18, 2001, "All My Life" would be available to download digitally via the iTunes Store, but "Tell Me It's Real" was included instead of "Don't Rush". The song was praised by music critics, who classify it as the duo's most successful song. Billboard magazine writer Aliya King wrote "All My Life" "cemented the duo's reputation as sensitive and soulful crooners." Steve Heuy of AllMusic calls "All My Life" a "sweet ballad" and claims the song "broke them big".
Chart performance
The single debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 15. It reached the chart's top spot the following week. The song stayed on the Hot 100 for 35 weeks. "All My Life" achieved success on other Billboard charts, including the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, peaking at number one, the Rhythmic Top 40 chart, peaking at number one, and the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart, peaking at number 26. It would also chart number 98 on Billboards Hot 100 decade-end chart. Internationally, "All My Life" performed just as well, peaking inside the top ten in multiple charts. It peaked at number two on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart and was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association for shipments of 70,000 units in Australia. The song also peaked at number four on the Swedish Singles Top 60 and was certified gold by the IFPI Sweden. "All My Life" also peaked at number 12 in Austria, number 3 in Belgium, number 11 in Belgium, number 43 in France, number one in the Netherlands, number one in New Zealand, number 2 in Norway, number 4 in Switzerland, and number 8 in the United Kingdom,
The song's accompanying music video was directed by Lara M. Schwartz. It begins by showing many of the people in the crowd, followed by a pianist playing the introduction. It eventually pans over the two as they begin singing into their microphones. Every so often, an outside scene of love will show up. Examples are of a mother loving her son, a man giving a homeless man food, and a couple holding hands and rollerblading down a sidewalk. In between these scenes, the camera pans over the stage, as well as the people in the crowd and the musicians. At the end, the camera shows a sunset and pans away. The video was nominated for Best R&B Video at the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards, losing to Wyclef Jean's "Gone Till November". The song was also nominated for two Grammy Awards.
