We Belong Together

"We Belong Together"
File:Webelongtogether.jpg
Single by Mariah Carey
From the album The Emancipation of Mimi
Released	2005
Format	Digital download 12" maxi single
Genre	Pop/R&B
Length	3:23
Label	Island/Def Jam
Writers	Mariah Carey Jermaine Dupri Manuel Seal Johnta Austin Babyface Darnell Bristol Sidney DeWayne Bobby Womack Patrick Moten Sandra Sully
Producers	Mariah Carey Jermaine Dupri Manuel Seal
Director	Brett Ratner
Certification	Platinum 3N
Chart positions	#1 (USA) #2 (UK) #1 (AU) #1 (CAN)
Professional reviews
NY Times	Link
Mariah Carey singles chronology
"It's Like That" 2005	"We Belong Together" 2005	"Shake It Off" 2005

"We Belong Together" is the second single from Mariah Carey's fourteenth album, The Emancipation of Mimi. Released in 2005, the single peaked at #1 becoming Carey's 16th #1 single; the single also peaked at #2 in the UK. The song is most known for being the comeback single of Mariah Carey as it helped her to regain public credibility after her reputation and music had been denounced for years; it was also her first #1 single in 5 years. The song is also remembered for the numerous records it broke on the charts especially with respect to its record breaking airplay in which it became the first song to cross the 200 million audience impression barrier. Not surpsingly, based on its overall chart performance, the song is often considered to be her most succesful single (a title formerly held by "One Sweet Day")

Song information

The song was was written by Carey, Jermaine Dupri, Manuel Seal, and Johnta Austin, and was produced by Carey, Dupri, and Seal. "We Belong Together" was among the last songs recorded for The Emancipation of Mimi. After recording nearly twenty tracks for the album, Carey was satisfied with her output, but president of Island Def Jam, L.A. Reid, felt that something was missing and asked her to write more songs with Jermaine Dupri. The results were the hit singles "It's Like That" and "We Belong Together".

In this mid-tempo ballad, Mariah declares herself stupid and foolish for ending a relationship on the wrong terms. She wants her ex-lover to come back to her, as when he left, she lost a part of herself. The song features an interesting blend of quiet storm ambience and hip-hop-style singing, leading to a traditional Carey climax in which the pitch raises an octave and Carey belts the chorus, then ends the song on a note held for nearly twenty seconds.

Part of the song's success has been in how it captures the range of human emotional responses in such a situation, starting with a mournful sadness, then moving to desperate attempts to distract one's mind from what has happened, and finally ending with a furious pleading.

References to other songs

In the middle of the song, Carey makes a reference to soul singer Bobby Womack's 1981 hit "If You Think You're Lonely Now". She sings:

"I can't sleep at night

When you are on my mind

Bobby Womack's on the radio

Singing to me, 'If you think you're lonely now'"

Immediately after that, her character changes radio stations and makes a reference to Babyface' 1987 song recorded by The Deele, "Two Occasions". She sings:

"And then I hear Babyface

'I only think of you',"

The latter line is the first line of the song's chorus. The reference is clearer on the Jadakiss–Styles remix, where she continues singing the rest of the chorus of "Two Occasions", in which she sings:

"I only think of you on two occasions

That's day and night

I'd go for broke if I could be with you

Only you can make it right"

Because of the interpolation of these songs, the songwriters of both have also been given co-writing credit on "We Belong Together".

Chart performance

This song is Carey's record-breaking 16th #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and it is also her 9th #1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. It was officially released to radio on March 26 2005, and has become arguably one of Carey's biggest hits of her career, and it has even been officially named the biggest single in the history of both Carey and her record company, Island Def Jam. This is Carey's first single to reach #1 since "Thank God I Found You" in 2000, and it is her first to top the Hot 100 Airplay Chart since "One Sweet Day" in 1995.

Critics, especially after the turn of the millennium, had criticized Carey for having lost her "radio magic" as her positions on the airplay chart slowly declined, but this single seems to prove them wrong. This release makes her the only artist who might surpass The Beatles (with twenty number ones) and Elvis Presley (with 18) in the modern era. (With 75 weeks of #1 hits since 1990, Carey also ranks 2nd only to Presley's 79 weeks.)

Besides the Hot 100, the Hot 100 Airplay, and the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles & Tracks, "We Belong Together" has also reached #1 on the Rhythmic Top 40 (the most spins ever by a female at the format), the Mainstream Top 40, the Pop 100, the Pop 100 Airplay, the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, Dance Radio Airplay, the Hot Dance Music/Club Play, the Adult R&B, the Hot Videoclips, and the Hot Ringtones chart. The song hitting #1 on 13 different charts makes it the song that has topped the most Billboard charts ever in history. It has also reached #1 on other non-Billboard charts, such as the Streaming Audio chart (for 6 weeks), the ARC Top 40, and the AOL Music Network's Top 11.

The single has also broken numerous airplay records on both major forms of radio airplay collection, Mediabase and Nielsen BDS. When the song reached 192.3 million audience impressions as counted by Nielsen BDS, Carey's "We Belong Together" broke the previous airplay record held by Mario's "Let Me Love You," whose airplay peaked at 191.6 million impressions; this made "We Belong Together" the most heard song (in a week) on American radio stations. On the week it broke the BDS record, it also broke the record for the largest gap between a #1 song and a #2 song on the Hot 100 Airplay chart, having over 60 million impressions more than its nearest competitor (Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl").

Furthermore, on the week ending June 17 2005, "We Belong Together" broke its own record of 192.3 million audience impressions as it peaked at 195.8 million audience impressions. On the weeks ending June 24, July 1, and July 15, the song continued to break its own record as it escalated to 202.1 million, 212.2 million, and 223 million impressions respectively. It is the first song in history to break the 200 million one-week BDS audience barrier. The song also repeatedly broke its own record for the largest gap between a #1 song and a #2 on the Hot 100 Airplay, and its highest gap was a difference of nearly 119 million impressions. The week of its highest peak, it had 223 million impressions, while the number-two song, "Hollaback Girl", had only 104.1 million impressions.

On Mediabase, "We Belong Together" has reached more than 254.6 million weekly audience impressions (until July 13 2005), which is the highest in the history of Mediabase, breaking the record previously held by Mario's "Let Me Love You." It is one of only a handful of songs to reach number one on the three major component charts of CHR/Pop, CHR/Rhythmic, and Urban. The song later broke new records when it became the first song in Mediabase history to reach #1 on CHR/Pop, CHR/Rhythmic, Urban, and Urban AC.

The song's success is not limited domestically, as it has been a huge hit in major international markets. The song entered Australia's ARIA Singles Chart on June 27 at #1, making this Carey's first single since 1995's "Fantasy" to top the chart, and only her second #1 single in Australia. In the United Kingdom the song debuted at number two, being kept out of the top spot by 2Pac and Elton John's duet, "Ghetto Gospel". Although "We Belong Together" had sold many more physical singles than "Ghetto Gospel", digital downloads now count towards the U.K. Singles charts, too, and with relatively weak downloads in the U.K., "We Belong Together" lost the top spot to "Ghetto Gospel" by 400 singles (combined total of physical singles and downloads).

The song's successful run at the #1 position on the Hot 100 was briefly interrupted by "American Idol" winner Carrie Underwood, with her new single, "Inside Your Heaven". This makes it one of the few singles to debut at the peak position. This interruption was due to its strong first week sales, but its airplay was only moderate. Also, it is not a surprise for an "American Idol" winner's single to debut at the top, as this was displayed in the past few years with previous winners Fantasia and Kelly Clarkson. The following week (ending July 2, 2005), however, Carey's smash song returned to the top. This return to the zenith of the Hot 100 continues Carey's comeback, with a total of 14 non-consecutive weeks at the top so far. "We Belong Together" is Carey's 1st #1 single to have a non-consecutive run at the top, and it is also her longest run at #1 as a solo artist. (Previously, the songs with the longest run at #1 with her as a solo artist were "Dreamlover" and "Fantasy", both with 8 week runs at the top of the chart.)

When "We Belong Together" went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, the Hot 100 Airplay, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, the Pop 100, Pop 100 Airplay, Mainstream Top 40, Rhythmic Top 40, and the Adult R&B Billboard Radio Monitor chart, it became the only song in Billboard history to top all 9 charts concurrently. The song has also been certified 3N for detections of over 300,000 detections on monitored Billboard/BDS stations.

As of the first week of September, "We Belong Together" has spent 14 weeks at #1, more than any other song of this decade. It has become Carey's 2nd single to have spent more than 10 weeks at #1, the first being her collaboration with Boyz II Men on 1996's "One Sweet Day". This gives Carey the longest running #1 single of both the 1990s and the 2000s and also makes her the first female artist and the first solo artist to have more than two songs spend more than 10 weeks at #1. (The two other artists to accomplish this feat are the groups Boyz II Men and Santana.)

"We Belong Together" ties the record for the most weeks at #1 for a solo artist with Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" and Elton John's Candle in the Wind 1997, and also ties the record for the most weeks at #1 for a female artist with Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You". It is the 5th song to spend 14 weeks at #1; the only song to spend more weeks at pole position is Carey and Boyz II Men's "One Sweet Day" which remained at the top for 16 weeks. In essence, Carey holds the records for the #1 song ("One Sweet Day") and #2 song ("We Belong Together") with the most weeks at #1.

On the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks singles chart, the song remained at #1 for 14 weeks tying the record of Deborah Cox's "Nobody's Supposed to Be Here" as the longest running #1 on that chart. It was not able to break the record the record, however, as it did not secure a 15th week at #1, and was replaced the following by Bow Wow and Ciara's duet, "Like You".

On the Hot 100 Airplay chart, the song has remained at #1 for 16 weeks, tying the record with No Doubt's "Don't Speak" for 2nd place (only behind the Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris"). When the song hit #1 on the Hot 100 Airplay in its 15th week, it propelled Carey to becoming the solo artist and female artist with the most weeks at #1 on the Hot 100 Airplay ever in Billboard history.

Although the song was expected to break the record that is held by "One Sweet Day", it seems likely that it may not accomplish this task, due ironically to Carey herself, as her current single, "Shake It Off" seems set to replace it. "Shake It Off" is currently #2 right behind "We Belong Together"; this is the first time a female lead artist has occupied the top two positions of the Hot 100. The only other four lead artists who have done this before are Nelly, OutKast, The Bee Gees and The Beatles. (It should be noted that Ashanti was the first female artist (non-lead) to accomplish this task with "Foolish" and "What's Luv". However, as she is only a featured artist on "What's Luv", she is not placed into this category with the other five artists.)

The 14 week reign of "We Belong Together", along with the 4 week reign of Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl" and the 1 week reign of Carrie Underwood's "Inside Your Heaven" has helped break a female record on the Billboard Hot 100 as it has become the longest shut-out of male artists from the peak position in Billboard history. In other words, the last time a man held the #1 position was 20 weeks ago. The new chart record of Carey, Stefani, and Underwood breaks the former record of 16 weeks created in 1999 by Brandy's "Have You Ever?" (2 weeks), Britney Spears' "...Baby One More Time" (2 weeks), Monica's "Angel of Mine" (4 weeks), Cher's "Believe" (4 weeks), and TLC's "No Scrubs" (4 weeks)

On September 7 2005, Kanye West's "Gold Digger" dethroned Carey's "We Belong Together". Many fans and critics alike thought that "Shake It Off" would replace "We Belong Together". As Kanye's airplay was below 100 million audience impressions, many thought he didn't stand a chance. But in a record breaking fashion, "Gold Digger" received over 80,000 downloads, giving him enough steam to propell the song from #19 to #1. Billboard has gotten many comments crying foul as many have alleged shady dealing as the song was not released as an advanced single (causing people who wanted to download "Gold Digger" to wait until last week). Billboard has not commented on the situation.

On the other hand, many observers felt that this was simply a case of "just desserts" and "reaping what you sow", since some of Mariah's later #1's were achieved in exactly this manner, that being modest airplay combined with high sales combined with manipulative release date tactics.

Still another group of chartal experts postulated that Kanye West was helped immeasurably by the Controversy surrounding his Hurricane Katrina remarks that "George Bush doesn't care about black people." While such remarks might turn off the population as a whole, they spur fans to support their artist even more, thus driving up paid digital downloads as opposed to not quite so legal free copying and the like. Mariah supporters declaim that Political Controversy should play no role in who is number one, and thus and therefore "We Belong Together" was jobbed. Kanye supporters label all this grapes of the sourest order.

As a result, "Shake It Off" was not able to replace "We Belong Together", meaning that Carey would not become the first female artist in history to replace herself at number one. This is the second time in history that she has been prevented from replacing herself. In 1995, she was foiled by Whitney Houston's "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)" which occupied a one week gap between "Fantasy" and "One Sweet Day".

However, Mariah's chartal drama may not have ended. With "Gold Digger" exhausting its front-loaded downloads strategy, and with "Shake It Off" not being that strong a song to begin with, it is entirely within the realm of possibility that "We Belong Together" will return to the top spot in the subsequent week, thereby extending and possibly record-challenging Mariah's by-now highly non-contiguous run at #1, and being only the second single ever to regain the top spot twice.

Free downloads controversy

During the last week of May 2005, the DJ Clue remix of the song, which was being sold exclusively through iTunes, was offered as a free download through Carey's official website. According to the iTunes discount purchase plan, a record label has to purchase 25,000 copies of a single to offer it for free. That week, the reported numbers suggested that the remix sold about 27,000 copies. Chart experts were puzzed, as the remix had never entered the top fifty of the iTunes chart. The reported numbers also looked similar to the number of copies of the single a record label had to purchase in order to offer it for free. Readers were also puzzled, as records of the Hot 100 that week showed that the ranking of the songs had been submitted for final publishing but were then changed at the last minute.

Chart followers became divided over the nature of this dilemma. Because there had not been much precedent for free download controversy before, many believed that, even if free downloads were counted, they would not have been that great a number. Others maintained that the last-minute change was due to a technical error on iTunes; at iTunes, the DJ Clue remix lists Jadakiss before Carey, causing many to believe that this was the reason for the last-minute change.

With no clear consensus, this situation prompted chart followers to write to Billboard columnist Fred Bronson, asking if it was possible that free downloads were accidentally counted while compiling that week's Hot 100 chart. At first, Bronson claimed that the downloads did not help the song reach its position. However, chart watchers were still dubious, and continued to write to him.

The persistent letter-writing seemed to have had an effect, as on June 3 2005 Bronson replied in his "Chart Beat Chat" column that Billboard had indeed made a mistake. He included a statement from Billboard's director of charts, Geoff Mayfield, claiming that their filters were not in place at the time to enforce their policy about free downloads not counting towards the charts. Had the correct filters been in place, "We Belong Together" would probably not have climbed to number one until the following week.

With the situation explained, controversy broke out among some chart watchers as they accused Carey of using manipulative chart tricks that they believed she had employed with previous singles. The only evidence for this is when Virgin sold Carey's "Loverboy" single for an extremely low price (though this does not break any Billboard rule, as an artist's label is free to set the price of a commercial single). In regard to this accusation, Bronson also stated in his column that all Carey's previous singles had reached number one legitimately and fairly. It should also be noted that other songs such as Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl", Will Smith's "Switch", and Gorillaz' "Feel Good Inc." had also employed the usage of free downloads to succeed on the charts. Despite this controversy, "We Belong Together" has broken numerous records in airplay and on other Billboard charts, and has maintained a healthy level of purchased downloads to succeed with great longevity. Although its first week at the top may be questionable, the song can still boast thirteen other weeks at number one. All in all, the song should be noted for being the single that enforced the new digital filters in Billboard's charts; free downloads no longer count.

Live performances

The View

There are moments in an artist's life where his or her art just clicks, everything falls into place and a work or performance exceeds what they are normally capable of. Such an instance occurred when Mariah Carey sang "We Belong Together" on The View. This was a bit surprising since first she sat for an interview with the various female hosts, in which the usual talk show banalities were exchanged. But then another guest went on, while Mariah costume changed. Thus at the end of the show we performed "We Belong Together", which was just being released at the time and no one hardly had heard. No matter; she launched into it with an emotional fervor, treating each of its sections as though it was the rending of her own heart right then and there. Mariah's band's backup singers were especially "on" that day, matching her lead vocals then providing a dense foundation for her climbing wrenching appeals in the final section. And indeed that final section went on at least twice as long as on the record, as though Mariah knew she was giving her best performance of this song and didn't want it to end. It was after this broadcast that the song began being played on Adult Contemporary as well as Urban station formats, leading to its record-breaking impressions statistics.

Live 8 in London

As Carey was in the prime of her comeback, she was invited to perform at Live 8. However, a decision had to be made on where she would perform. As Carey wanted to perform at a high profile location, she was given a choice between the events two most high profile locations, London and Philadelphia. At first, it would seem natural for Carey to perform at Philadelphia considering that location would features other R&B, Pop, and Hip-hop musicians similar to her genre. However, she also realized that if she mixed in, she would not be able to stand out among her peers. As a result, she chose to perform in London.

Her bold move to stand out was not recieved without nerves on her part. Although she wanted to stand out, she didn't realize how much of a sore thumb she would be as most acts at the London show were rock music oriented such as Pink Floyd and Paul McCartney, or had adopted British cultur like Madonna. Nevertheless, Carey was able to overcome her nerves and to sing the socially aware anthems, "Make It Happen" and "Hero" with the African Children's Choir.

After the choir left, Mariah was left with just her band, including Randy Jackson of American Idol notoriety, and it was time for "We Belong Together", which many had hyped to be her most sought out performance. In a move that was criticized by the U.K. press, before singing "We Belong Together", Carey asked for a microphone stand and for some water. Not suprisingly, Carey found herself being described as a "diva" in tabloids the next day. Carey also recieved for touting "We Belong Together" as her next single to the audience. Many feel that this action was inappropriate as they felt she should not have been promoting "We Belong Together" due to the seriousness of the concert. Nevertheless, the European audiences did not really know the song yet anyway, as it had not even been released as single at that point yet. Once again, it was felt that Carey delievered an impressive and vocally strong performance of the song.

MTV Music Video Awards

For the first time in fourteen years, Carey was invited to perform at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards. As she had not performed in a while, she wanted to make her performance memorable and made plans accordingly. The event was not without problems, however. Although the plans of the performance were supposed to be secret, exclusive photographs from the rehearsals of the event were leaked, detailing the larger-than-life set and revealing that Carey planned to perform a medley of her hits at a location separate from the main ceremony. More setbacks arrived when Hurricane Katrina hit and the award ceremony (especially Carey's performance since it was at a separate location) was placed in jeopardy. More problems arose when Carey lost the two categories she was nominated for before her performance, and it was rumored that she might not perform, or not perform well, since she had lost already.

Nevertheless, the ceremony continued as planned and Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria was chosen to introduce Carey's performance as she stated, "There's nothing desperate about our most shining stars, and that's because real greatness, like true soul is forever. This woman has a body of warmth that's extraordinary. She is the biggest selling female artist of all time. Ladies and gentlemen, live from the National Hotel in South Beach, the unbelievable voice of Mariah Carey!".

During the applause that followed, the screen shifted to the National Hotel in South Beach. As it was nightime already, neon signs flashing "MIMI" could be seen as a helicopter zoomed past to capture an overview of the event. The medley of hits then began with "It's Like That", seguing into "Shake It Off".

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Carey at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards singing a medley
of "Shake It Off" and "We Belong Together (Remix)"

Camera angles became clearer, and it was revealed that Carey would be performing in a tropical setting. The song's co-producer, Jermaine Dupri, could be seen performing with her as he rapped the song's opening lines: "Everbody just bounce, bounce!" while being catered to by servant girls fanning him, bringing him cigars, and serving him drinks.

The scene then focused on Carey, as she began to sing "Shake It Off". She could be seen in a silver dress on a rectangular blue platform against a similar blue color scheme, while surrounded by a body of water and dancers on four mini platforms around her. As her performance was a medley, the dancers at one point jumped off their platforms and into the water, signaling a change. Sure enough, the background music of "Shake It Off" soon ended, and the opening notes of "We Belong Together (Remix)" began to play.

With eyes closed and her hand over her head, Carey advanced up the platform before turning around and singing the opening notes of the remix. As she needed time to get to another stage, the camera quickly zoomed into the water, then up again to reveal the song's guest stars, DJ Clue, Jadakiss, and Styles P rapping with a group of women grooving along.

The camera then revealed Carey on an oval platform with a staircase that resembled Roman architecture, surrounded by flaming torches and a group of male dancers. She climbed the stairs with their assistance and continued to sing the rest of the remix, while her dancers continued to dance. The medley ended when the dancers went knee-high into the water and escorted Carey into it while she delivered the song's ending and one of her signatures, the high note. She splashed water at the camera as a backspray of water signified the song's ending.

Live performance tracker

Date	Show	Song
April 12 2005	Good Morning America	"We Belong Together"
April 14 2005	The Late Show with David Letterman	"We Belong Together"
April 29 2005	The View	"We Belong Together"
May 24 2005	The Oprah Winfrey Show	"We Belong Together"
June 4 2005	MTV Movie Awards	"We Belong Together"
June 28 2005	BET Awards	"We Belong Together"
July 2 2005	Live 8 in London	"We Belong Together"
July 4 2005	Macy's 4th of July Spectacular	"We Belong Together"
August 28 2005	MTV Video Music Awards	"Shake It Off"/"We Belong Together" (DJ Clue Remix)

Remixes

The DJ Clue remix of "We Belong Together" (produced by DJ Clue and Jovonn Alexander) was released on May 17 2005 on iTunes. The remix includes raps from Jadakiss and Styles P.

The hope was that the remix would help propel the song to number one (and based on sales data, it appears that that task has been accomplished). Although the remix was initially an exclusive track for iTunes, it has now been released to other legal downloading services like Rhapsody and Napster. It has even received some radio airplay, such as on New York's Z-100. DJ Clue also shouts a bit on the record, and although not listed as a featured artist on the track listing of the CD or vinyl singles of the song, he was given credit when the song charted on the Hot Digital Tracks chart.

Promotional copies of remixes by Peter Rauhofer and Atlantic Soul have been released, and the U.K. CD singles were released on July 5. The 12" vinyl single was released on July 19 in the USA, causing the song to chart on the Hot 100 Singles Sales and the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales charts. Although these positions may seem low compared to the rest of the chart positions of "We Belong Together", as noted above, the song has only been released on the 12" vinyl single format (a format which only sells a few thousand copies at best per week).

Awards

To date, the digital download of "We Belong Together" (countings sales of the original version and the "We Belong Together (Remix)") has sold exactly 522,579 copies. Not suprisingly the song has been awarded the gold single certification and platinum single certification by the RIAA for sales of digital downloads of at least 100,000 and 200,000 downloads respectively. As the song has sold more than 400,000 downloads, it is expected to be certified 2x platinum eventually.

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Mariah Carey wins the prestiguous Teen Choice Award Surfboard for Choice Music Love Song for "We Belong Together"

Given the song's popularity and record breaking status, it is not surprising to see that it has won or been nominated for several awards. Proving that she could conquer more than just the pop, R&B, rythmic, AC, Hot AC, and Urban AC markets, "We Belong Together" has proved to be a hit in the teen market (as noted by its performances on TRL, and by the song winning the Choice Music Love Song at the 2005 Teen Choice Awards).

The song's popularity also helped it to earn two nominations at the MTV Video Music Awards: one for Best Female Video and one for Best R&B Video. Carey is usually not known for her work in music videos. She has never won any VMAs in her career, but has expressed her desire to pick up a Moonman. However, in the ceremony held on August 28 2005, Carey lost Best Female Video to Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" and Best R&B Video to Alicia Keys's "Karma". Carey's fans and the critics alleged shady dealing, especially with regard to latter loss, as it was felt that "Karma" was plotless, and that the video was simplistic, featuring Keys mostly dancing around a subway. They also felt that Keys should not have won because, although she is mostly considered an R&B artist, "Karma" is generally considered a pop song (to the extent that it flopped on the R&B charts, but was a hit on pop charts). Keys winning the award apparently has caused a massive backlash against her as over 750,000 people have complained to MTV about the incident. MTV has not commented on the situation.

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Carey with the World Music Award (among other awards) for World's Best-Selling Single for "We Belong Together"

"We Belong Together" seemed to fare better at the 2005 World Music Awards, where it was nominated and won the category for World's Best-Selling Single. The win of the award for World's Best Selling Single (along with three other World Music Awards that she won that same night) places Carey with 16 World Music Awards, making her the female artist and overall artist with the most World Music Awards in history (beating the former overall artist record of Michael Jackson's 14).

As mentioned briefly above, because the song broke several chart and sales records, it is expected to be nominated for the Billboard Music Awards. As this song also helped usher in Carey's comeback, it is expected that she will receive some Grammy Award nominations. (In the past, NARAS has given awards to other artists with comebacks, such as Steeley Dan and Carlos Santana.)

The song also won for Best Solo R&B/Soul Single at the 2005 Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards. Unfortunately, she was unable to attend to accept her award.

Awards tracker

Date	Ceremony	Award	Result
August 16 2005	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Music Love Song	Won
August 28 2005	MTV Video Music Awards	Best Female Video	Nominated
August 28 2005	MTV Video Music Awards	Best R&B Video	Nominated
August 31 2005	World Music Awards	World's Best-Selling Single	Won
September 7 2005	Lady of Soul Awards	Best Solo R&B/Soul Single	Won

Music video

The music video was directed by Brett Ratner, who also directed some of Carey's other videos including "Heartbreaker", "I Still Believe", "Thank God I Found You", and this video's predecessor, "It's Like That". Initially, Carey had wanted Paul Hunter to direct the video, but he was apparently busy. Carey, who is a close friend of Ratner, was reluctant at first, as he had stopped directing music videos and mostly directed films, but after hearing a proposed treatment, she approved.

The video serves as the dramatic sequel and conclusion to "It's Like That" (the two music videos were filmed simultaneously). In "It's Like That", Carey's character was seen at a party the night before her wedding, when a guest removed his mask, revealing himself as an ex-beau of Carey's. It is revealed that he knew about Carey's engagement, and had come to see her one last time. Without saying anything, he tosses her a flower, which she holds on to.

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Carey prepares for her wedding

The "We Belong Together" video starts the next morning. Carey wakes up and is shown getting ready for the wedding. She looks forlorn as she wonders where her heart really belongs. As the wedding begins, Carey nervously walks down the aisle to the smiles of her husband-to-be, played by Eric Roberts. However, Carey's ex-beau, played by Wentworth Miller, is watching the wedding from a distance. He makes eye contact with her, presenting her with a dilemma: to become the wife of the man she is seconds away from marrying, or to run away with her true love. Carey decides that she and her ex belong together. She runs from the wedding into his arms, and they jump into his car. Carey's wedding dress is shown trailing from the car as the couple drives away. Meanwhile, her husband-to-be is shown heartbroken over Carey leaving him at the altar.

Carey walks down the aisle, nervously

The music video triggered much publicity from critics and the media, as the wedding dress seen in the video is the same one that Carey wore at her 1993 wedding to Tommy Mottola. While many have speculated that Carey used the dress as a publicity stunt to help promote her new album, she insists that she had no ulterior motives, and that there was no deeper meaning or symbolism to her wearing the dress. The video treatment called for a wedding dress, and she simply had one in her possession. Parallels have also been made by the media comparing the Roberts character to Mottola and the Wentworth Miller character to Derek Jeter (an ex-boyfriend of Carey's). The parallels can be seen as the Roberts character, like Mottola, was overcontrolling and Carey believed she loved him when she did not. The parallels can also be seen in the Miller character, as both he and Jeter are multiracial, and Jeter was often believed to be the "true love" of Carey.

The "We Belong Together" video was successful on several music-video countdowns. It reached number one on VH1's Top 20 Video Countdown, on BET's 106 & Park, and on MTV's TRL (for ten days). On July 8 2005, the video retired at number one from TRL, after spending fifty days on the countdown. "We Belong Together" is Carey's second video to retire, the other being "Heartbreaker".

"We Belong Together" is also Yahoo Music's most watched video of 2005, with 7.5 million streamed performances. The music video has not been released on video or DVD, but it can be found on a VCD of the "We Belong Together" European CD single.

Track listings of major single releases

File:AltWBT.JPG

Alternate Japanese single cover for "We Belong Together"

U.K. CD single/European CD single

1. "We Belong Together" (album version)
2. "We Belong Together" (remix) featuring Jadakiss And Styles P.

U.K. CD maxi single

1. "We Belong Together" (album version)
2. "We Belong Together" (Reconstruction radio mix)
3. "We Belong Together" (Reconstruction club mix)
4. "We Belong Together" (Atlantic Soul vocal)
5. "We Belong Together" (Atlantic Soul instrumental)

European CD maxi single

1. "We Belong Together" (album version)
2. "We Belong Together" (Reconstruction radio mix)
3. "It's Like That" (remix) featuring Fat Joe
4. "We Belong Together" (video — enhanced CD)

Chart trajectory

"We Belong Together" entered the Billboard Hot 100 at eighty-one. It has so far stayed in the Billboard Hot 100 for twenty-two weeks.

Billboard Hot 100 Chart trajectory — "We Belong Together"
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25
Chart position	81	61	30	12	7	3	2	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	4

Comprehensive charts

USA

"We Belong Together" was Carey's sixteenth number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 (the most for a female artist), her eleventh on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay, first on the Billboard Pop 100, the Billboard Pop 100 Airplay, the Billboard Hot Ringtones, and the Billboard Adult R&B, ninth on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks, sixth on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Airplay, tenth on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play, fifth on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 (the most for any artist at that format), and her sixth on the Billboard Rhythmic Top 40.

Year	Single	Chart	Peak position
2005	"We Belong Together"	Billboard Hot 100	#1 (14 weeks)
2005	"We Belong Together"	Billboard Hot 100 Airplay	#1 (16 weeks)
2005	"We Belong Together"	Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales	#19
2005	"We Belong Together"	Billboard Pop 100	#1 (3 weeks)
2005	"We Belong Together"	Billboard Pop 100 Airplay	#1 (10 weeks)
2005	"We Belong Together"	Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks	#1 (14 weeks)
2005	"We Belong Together"	Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay	#1 (14 weeks)
2005	"We Belong Together"	Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Single Sales	#10
2005	"We Belong Together"	Billboard Hot Digital Songs	#2
2005	"We Belong Together"	Billboard Hot Digital Tracks	#2
2005	"We Belong Together" (Remix) featuring DJ Clue, Jadakiss, & Styles P	Billboard Hot Digital Tracks	#5
2005	"We Belong Together" (P. Rauhofer/Atlantic Soul Mixes)	Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play	#1 (1 week)
2005	"We Belong Together"	Billboard Dance Radio Airplay	#1 (2 weeks)
2005	"We Belong Together"	Billboard Mainstream Top 40	#1 (10 weeks)
2005	"We Belong Together"	Billboard Rhythmic Top 40	#1 (10 weeks)
2005	"We Belong Together"	Billboard Adult Top 40	#17
2005	"We Belong Together"	Billboard Adult Contemporary	#7
2005	"We Belong Together"	Billboard Adult R&B	#1 (7 weeks)
2005	"We Belong Together"	Billboard Hot Ringtones	#1 (4 weeks)
2005	"We Belong Together"	Billboard Hot Videoclips	#1 (2 weeks)
2005	"We Belong Together"	Billboard Latin Tropical Airplay	#34
2005	"We Belong Together"	Billboard Smooth Jazz	#38

International

"We Belong Together" was Carey's second number-one single on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart.

Year	Single	Chart	Peak position
2005	"We Belong Together"	UK Top 40	#2
2005	"We Belong Together"	Australian ARIA Singles Chart	#1 (2 weeks)
2005	"We Belong Together"	Canadian Singles Chart	#1 (4 weeks)
2005	"We Belong Together"	German Singles Chart	#11
2005	"We Belong Together"	Spanish Singles chart	#3
2005	"We Belong Together"	Dutch Top 40	#2
2005	"We Belong Together"	World Singles Chart	#5
2005	"We Belong Together"	Worldwide Tracks Chart	#1 (1 week)
2005	"We Belong Together"	Euro Top 20	#1 (4 weeks)
2005	"We Belong Together"	United World Chart	#1 (4 weeks) [1]

Official remixes/versions list

• "We Belong Together" (album version)
• "We Belong Together" (instrumental)
• "We Belong Together" (remix) featuring DJ Clue, Jadakiss, & Styles P. ^
• "We Belong Together" (remix instrumental) (From 12" Vinyl Only) ^
• "We Belong Together" (Atlantic Soul vocal) ^^
• "We Belong Together" (Atlantic Soul radio edit) ^^
• "We Belong Together" (Atlantic Soul instrumental) ^^
• "We Belong Together" (Reconstruction club mix) ^^^
• "We Belong Together" (Reconstruction radio mix)^^^

Remix credits

All songs follow writing credits as listed above unless otherwises stated.

^Remix produced by DJ Clue and Jovonn Alexander

^^Remix produced by Atlantic Soul

^^^Remix produced by Peter Rahoufer