Right Here Waiting

"Right Here Waiting" is a song by American singer and songwriter Richard Marx. It was released on June 29, 1989, as the second single from his second album, Repeat Offender (1989). The song was a global hit, topping charts in many countries around the world, including Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United States where it reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The same year, it was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It was the UK's most streamed love song on Spotify ahead of Valentine's Day in 2013 and has since been covered by many artists, including R&B singer Monica.
Marx wrote "Right Here Waiting" on the road as a love letter to his wife, actress Cynthia Rhodes, who was in South Africa shooting a film. It was originally created to be sung by Barbra Streisand but she later refused to sing it. Marx was an aspiring singer-songwriter when Streisand reached out and asked him to write her a hit but when he sent her "Right Here Waiting", Streisand turned down the chance to record it.
In a 2021 interview, Marx commented: "I had just recently written "Right Here Waiting" and it was such a personal song to me at the time that I had no intention of recording it. I was like, 'I’ll give Barbra Streisand "Right Here Waiting"; I’m not gonna do anything with it’. I had to messenger the cassette tape of it to her. The next day she called me – I still have this voicemail – and it says, ‘Richard, I heard the song; it’s a beautiful song, but I’m gonna need you to rewrite the lyrics because I’m not gonna be right here waiting for anyone.' She actually did me a solid, because had she not rejected it I probably would never have recorded it and every once in a while I put my arm around her and I say, ‘Thank you so much for rejecting my song!'”
David Nichols of Smash Hits stated that "really, "Right Here Waiting" is a beautiful ballad with an amazingly catchy tune and – like many other Richard Marx songs – it's destined to become a classic".
"Right Here Waiting" was the second single from Marx's Repeat Offender, after "Satisfied". It entered the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart at number 44 in the week of July 8, 1989, and became Marx's third consecutive number-one single on August 12, 1989. The record spent three consecutive weeks at number one. The song was Marx's first of several to go to number one on the Adult Contemporary chart. Certified platinum on October 16, 1989, "Right Here Waiting" became Marx's best-selling single. The song also reached number one on the Radio & Records CHR/Pop Airplay chart on August 4, 1989, remaining on the top of the chart for three weeks. In the United Kingdom, the song was released in August 1989 and peaked at number two, behind the Italian house song "Ride on Time" by Black Box.
The video for this song was directed by Jim Yukich, and produced by Paul Flattery. It appears to be filmed on the road during Marx's 1989 Repeat Offender Tour, but was all shot in Los Angeles. It features various black-and-white tour footage interspersed with color scenes of Marx playing the song to an empty auditorium with a grand piano at a (staged) soundcheck. Due to Marx's hectic touring schedule, very little time was available to produce a video for this single, so other tour footage was compiled to make an official video for the track.
"Right Here Waiting" was covered by American singer Monica along with R&B group 112. It was released only in the United States in December 1999 as the second and final promotional single from her second studio album, The Boy Is Mine (1998). Produced by Canadian musician David Foster, "Right Here Waiting" peaked at number 32 on the Billboard's US Adult R&B Songs chart.
Monica and 112's version of "Right Here Waiting" was produced by David Foster. A personal favorite of Monica, the singer asked Foster to recreate it for her second studio album, The Boy Is Mine (1998). According to Monica, Foster was surprised to hear that a young girl of her age was listening to Richard Marx music. Her vocal performance on "Right Here Waiting" was inspired by a conversation that she had with Foster's wife Linda Thompson during the recording of the song.
Credits adapted from the liner notes of The Boy Is Mine.