Thank God I Found You
"Thank God I Found You" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey, featuring guest vocals from R&B singer Joe and American boy band 98 Degrees. It was released on November 15, 1999, through Columbia Records, as the second single from her seventh studio album, Rainbow (1999). Written and produced by Carey alongside Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the song is a soulful pop power ballad with lyrics depicting a powerful love relationship in which the protagonist tells her lover "thank God I found you", that was inspired by a relationship Carey was going through at the time.
"Thank God I Found You"
"Babydoll"
November 15, 1999
September 1999[1]
4:17
- Mariah Carey
- James Harris III
- Terry Lewis
- Mariah Carey
- Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
"Thank God I Found You" received mixed reviews from contemporary music critics; some felt it was a great album closer while others deemed it "un-listenable" and "forgettable". Nevertheless, the song became Carey's fifteenth number-one single on the United States Billboard Hot 100 and remained her last chart-topping single until her 2005 comeback single "We Belong Together"; it remains the only chart-topper to date for 98 Degrees and was the first of only two for Joe. The single was later certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Aside from its peak of number two in Canada, the song achieved moderate international charting, reaching the top-ten in Spain, Poland and the United Kingdom; and peaking within the top-thirty in Australia, Belgium (Wallonia), France, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
A DJ Clue-produced remix titled "Thank God I Found You (Make It Last Remix)" uses re-recorded vocals from Carey and features guest vocals from Joe and Carey's label-mate, rapper Nas. The remix is a remake of Keith Sweat's song "Make It Last Forever" (1988), transforming it into a slow groove R&B number, while incorporating a few verses from the original version of "Thank God I Found You".
A music video for "Thank God I Found You", directed by Brett Ratner, features Carey, Joe and 98 Degrees performing the song at an outdoor concert. The Make It Last Remix had its own video commissioned, which was shot in a grainy fashion in Hamburg, Germany, and shows Carey and the song's featured artists performing at a small club. Carey performed the song's original version and accompanying remix live at the 27th Annual American Music Awards. It appeared on the set-lists of the Rainbow World Tour (2000) and The Adventures of Mimi Tour (2006), with Trey Lorenz serving as the male vocalist.
In September 2000, US songwriters Seth Swirsky and Warryn Campbell filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Carey claiming that "Thank God I Found You" borrowed heavily from the song "One of Those Love Songs" they composed for R&B group Xscape. Though initially the case was dismissed, in the precedent-setting[2] Swirsky v. Carey decision,[3] which clarified the standard for proving copyright infringement, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit overturned the initial 2002 dismissal of the case.[4][5] The case was settled out of court in April 2006.[6]
Commercial performance[edit]
In the United States, Columbia released "Thank God I Found You" to radio stations as the second single from Rainbow in November 1999.[42] A physical single was later released on January 25, 2000, in the US and on February 28, 2000, in the United Kingdom.[43][44][45] The issue dated December 11, 1999, debuted at number eighty-two on the Billboard Hot 100—Carey's lowest debut at the time.[46] On the week dated February 19, 2000, the song reached number-one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming Carey's fifteenth number-one single and marking her eleventh consecutive year with a number-one song.[47] It remained Carey's last number-one hit in the US until 2005's "We Belong Together" and, to date, remains 98 Degrees' only number-one song;[48] Joe, meanwhile, would only receive one more number-one hit later in his career: 2001's "Stutter". It was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in February 2000.[49] By February 2001 the single had sold 687,000 copies in the US alone.[50] In Canada, the single debuted and peaked at number two on the Canadian Singles Chart.[51][52]
In Australia, it entered the Australian Singles Chart at its peak of number twenty-seven, on the week dated March 12, 2000.[53] The next week it dropped to number forty-seven.[53] In New Zealand, it debuted on the singles chart at a position of number thirty-four, the week dated April 2, 2000.[54] The song went down to number thirty-five next week, before dropping to number forty-four.[54] In Europe, "Thank God I Found You" charted in a few countries. In the United Kingdom, the single debuted and peaked at number ten on the UK Singles Chart on the week dated March 11, 2000.[55][56] The single stayed on the chart for ten weeks, including one re-entry at number seventy-one on the week dated May 20, 2000.[56] In the Flanders region of Belgium, the song debuted at number forty-seven and peaked at thirty-six.[57] In the Wallonia region, it debuted at number thirty-five and peaked at number twenty-three three weeks after its debut.[58] In France, the single entered the singles chart at number thirty-one, the week dated March 4, 2000.[59] The next week it ascended to its peak of number twenty-eight.[59] It stayed on the chart for fifteen weeks.[59] In the Netherlands, "Thank God I Found You" entered the Single Top 100 at number fifty-five, before peaking at number twenty-three the next week.[60] The song also peaked at number twenty-eight in Germany,[61] forty-three in Sweden,[62] thirty-one in Ireland,[63] and at number seventeen in Switzerland.[64]
Music video[edit]
The music video for "Thank God I Found You" was filmed by Brett Ratner in Minneapolis.[65] The video is a tape of the performance Carey, Joe and 98 Degrees gave at the Last Chance Summer Dance summer music concert, organized by 101.3 KDWB-FM.[66][67] It premiered on October 14, 1999, on MTV's Total Request Live (TRL).[68] The video opens with scenes of Carey and Joe in the studio. Carey is with her puppy and talking on a mobile phone. The video shows saturated blue skies and behind-the-scenes footage of Carey carousing with her dog Jack and writing lyrics on a notepad. As the song starts, Carey is shown lying on red sofa, writing the lyrics on the notepad. Then she performs the song on the stage, joined by Joe and 98 Degrees. Additionally, there is a video for the "Make It Last Remix" that features Carey with braids in a nightclub with Joe and Nas. Directed by Sanaa Hamri.[69] The video is grainy; it was shot at Bar Rosso in Hamburg, Germany on October 16 and 17, 1999.[70]
Lawsuit[edit]
On September 15, 2000, US songwriters Seth Swirsky and Warren Campbell filed a lawsuit against Carey at the 9th Circuit for copyright infringement, "reverse passing off"[76] and false designation, claiming that "Thank God I Found You" borrowed heavily from a song they composed called "One of Those Love Songs". It was recorded by the R&B group Xscape in 1998 for their album Traces of My Lipstick.[77] The lawsuit claimed that Carey wrongfully gave the songwriting credits to Jam and Lewis.[78] Swirsky and Campbell had sold the rights of the song to So So Def Recordings in 1998.[76] "I'm a fan of Mariah Carey; this is nothing personal against her. But I really do believe there's accountability, and it's very clear what happened here. I've never sued anybody before", Swirsky said.[14] According to the district court, an expert witness (chair of the Musicology Department at the University of California at Los Angeles) determined that the songs shared a "substantially similar chorus".[16] The expert stated that although the lyrics and verse melodies of the two songs were different, the songs' choruses "shared a 'basic shape and pitch emphasis' in their melodies, which were played over 'highly similar basslines' and chord changes, at very nearly the same tempo and in the same generic style."[16] He noted both the songs had their choruses sung in the key of B♭. The expert further remarked that "the emphasis on musical notes" on the two songs was the same, which "contribute[d] to the impression of similarity one hears when comparing the two songs."[16] He presented a series of visual transcriptions of his observations. The transcriptions contained details about the pitch sequence of both the songs' chorus, melody, and bassline.[16]
The district court labeled this evidence as insufficient to survive a motion for summary judgment.[16] It noted the expert's methodology to be "flawed" and stated that through its own analysis, no instance of substantial similarity was found.[16] The lawsuit was settled in favor of Carey by the US District Judge, who noted that there was no similarity in key, harmonic structure, tempo, or genre between the two songs.[79]
However, this judgement was later reversed by a higher court. In the precedent-setting[2] Swirsky v. Carey decision,[3] which clarified the standard for proving copyright infringement, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit overturned the initial 2002 dismissal of the case, finding that Swirsky's expert did in fact adequately define the similarities between the two songs.[4][5] The lawsuit was reinstated in 2004;[6] Carey and Swirsky settled out of court in 2006.