Crush (Jennifer Paige song)
"Crush" is a 1998 pop song recorded by American singer Jennifer Paige. The song was written by Andy Goldmark, Mark Mueller, Berny Cosgrove and Kevin Clark. It was released as the first single from her debut album, Jennifer Paige. The music video for "Crush" was produced by Kati Haberstok and directed by David Hogan.
"Crush" topped the charts in Australia, Canada and New Zealand while peaking at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100, where it stayed for four consecutive weeks. In the United Kingdom, "Crush" reached number four on the UK Singles Chart, and it also reached number four in France. It became a top-twenty hit in at least 13 other countries, including Belgium, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Norway.
Background
In April 1998, soon after Paige recorded "Crush," producer Andy Goldmark played the song at top pop Los Angeles radio station KIIS-FM, where it met with a hugely positive reaction from programmers and was added to the station's playlist within days. During the first week of May, KIIS-FM became the first radio station to begin playing "Crush" and it began its meteoric rise up the charts, without typical record company promotion or release. Paige said "we had no pictures, photography, hadn't gotten it mastered or mass-produced it, nothing."Edel Records, Paige's initial label, made an initial press run of 20,000 copies of "Crush" which sold out quickly, and it soon became KIIS-FM's most requested song. The song, written by Paige's producer Andy Goldmark along with the songwriters Mark Muller, Berny Cosgrove and Kevin Clark, was inspired by Paige's personal experiences and observations in her love life. There have been claims that It was written for Joey Fatone of NSYNC, as she was rumoured to be dating him at the time. However, Paige told Disney Chat that they were never in a relationship. The rumors started as they used to run into each other a lot during concerts and TV appearances. One day Paige was given a Superman ring and as Fatone collects Superman stuff he said it was her engagement ring.
Track listing
Critical reception
In the next few weeks, dozens of other pop radio stations nationwide added "Crush" to their playlists. By this time, several major music labels had expressed interest in Paige. In early June 1998, while "Crush" was climbing the charts, Paige signed a recording contract with Hollywood Records.On July 9, Paige made her first on-air appearance at KIIS-FM with Rick Dees. She performed "Crush" live for the first time that day, and within weeks, the song reached the Billboard Top 10.
Billboard wrote that "Paige succeeds in the nearly impossible task of oozing smoldering sensuality without resorting to typical groans and moans. Instead, she uses her notably flexible vocal range to convey the emotion of the tune, quickly soaring to lilting high notes and then dropping to the lowest point of her register to accentuate within the space of several seconds." They noted further that "As a result, she breathes a refreshing intensity into the song that renders it far more sexy than it would have been had she simply taken the easy route. Fortunately, this talented new artist is given a substantial song to work with." They also added that "Producers Andy Goldmark and Jimmy Bralower surround Paige with tense shuffle beats and twinkly synths". Blender put "Crush" at 189th place on their list of 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born. They described the song as "an unusually supple and sophisticated teen-pop hit informed by the level-headed sass of great R&B... swept along by a breathy chorus, pulsing groove and Paige's exquisite multilayered vocals."
Chart performances
"Crush" was an international hit that peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100, earned a Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America, and sold 700,000 by the end of 1998. It reached number one in three countries: Australia, Canada and New Zealand. In Australia, the song is certified 2× Platinum for more than 140,000 copies shipped, while in New Zealand it is certified Gold for sales of over 5,000. In Europe "Crush" reached number four in France and the United Kingdom, going Gold in both countries, and number six in Ireland, the Netherlands and Norway. It also became a top-ten hit in Austria, Walloon Belgium, Denmark, Hungary and Spain, and it reached the top 20 in Flemish Belgium, Germany, Iceland, Sweden and Switzerland.Live performances and cover versions
In August 1998, Paige made her debut TV appearance singing "Crush" on the ABC show "Live With Regis & Kathie Lee": Other US TV appearances include The Howie Mandel Show. Paige also performed the show live on the Australia prime time TV show "Hey Hey It's Saturday" where she was presented with an award for Crush:On November 11, 1998, Paige performed "Crush" with a live band on the Donny & Marie Osmond Talk Show:
On May 5, 1999, Paige performed "Crush" at the 1999 World Music Awards in Monte Carlo, broadcast on ABC TV on May 20, 1999:
On March 26, 2000, global pop superstar LULU performed "Crush" on her primetime BBC-1 UK National Lottery Show "Red Alert":
Washington, D.C.-based indie rock band The Dismemberment Plan recorded a downtempo version of "Crush" for a 2001 split EP with Juno.
Emperor Entertainment Group of Hong Kong bought a license of the melody, and made a Cantonese version sung by Cantopop singer Joey Yung called "Unknown", which is included on her debut album, EP/JOEY, and compilation album, Love Joey 2. It won "Best Performance of Cover Song award". This becomes Yung's first big hit in the Hong Kong music industry, achieving charting success with 3 number-ones.
Lea Michele recorded "Crush" for the November 18, 2009 episode of Glee. It is featured on the hit show's second, which was certified Gold by the RIAA in the US and in the UK by BPI, Platinum in Canada and Australia and 2x Platinum in Ireland.
Jai Paul covered "Crush" on a collection of leaked demos, released on April 14, 2013.
In 2015, the song was covered by the French girlband "When We Were Young" from their album "Made in '90s".
Also in 2015, the song was covered by the band Campsite Dream who posted in September 2017 that the track went Gold in The Netherlands: https://www.facebook.com/CampsiteDream/videos/1783792651650685/
In 2016, "Crush" returned to the Billboard Top 10 the week of May 21, 2016 when it reached number eight on the magazine's Smooth Jazz Airplay chart in a cover by jazz keyboardist John Novello. His version features R&B saxophone artist Gerald Albright on the chorus. As of the June 18, 2016 Chart, it had spent a total of 19 weeks in the Top 30. "Crush" peaked at number five on the America's Music Chart Smooth Jazz chart the week of May 24, 2016. This cover version reached number two on America's Smooth Jazz Top 20 airplay chart the week of May 28, 2016.
In 2017, William Singe sampled the song on his debut RCA/Sony single "Rush". On March 4, 2017, Singe, while on his sold-out debut US Tour, invited Jennifer Paige on stage with him at Los Angeles' Microsoft Theatre where they performed a mash-up of her new acoustic version of "Crush" and his single "Rush."
Also in 2017, Crush was featured on a T-Mobile US TV Commercial campaign featuring Major League Baseball Star Nelson Cruz:
On July 27, 2017, Paige performed "Crush" with a live band in London:
Charts
Weekly charts
| Chart | Peak position |