"My All" is a song written by American singer Mariah Carey
and Walter Afanasieff for Carey's seventh album,
Butterfly(1997). It is built around a Latin guitar,
Latin chord, and also makes subtle use of Latin percussion in
the first chorus, before taking on a more conventional
contemporary R&B-style beat. Its protagonist declares she
would give "her all" to have just one more night with her
estranged lover. It was released as the album's fifth and final
single in 1998. It was produced by Carey and Afanasieff with
keyboards by Afanasieff and producer Dan Shea. "My All" was
mixed by Mick Guzauski. "My All" at the time set a record,
giving Carey her thirteenth number-one hit on the Billboard Hot
100 chart, the most by any female recording artist.
Although "My All" was the fifth single released from
Butterfly, it was only the second commercial release in
the U.S. It was released worldwide beginning in April 1998. In
the U.S., it was commercially released as a double A-side with
"Breakdown" (the album's third, radio-only U.S. single). In
June 1998, a remix maxi-single entitled "My All/Stay Awhile"
was released. "My All" became Carey's thirteenth number 1
single on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, making her the
female artist with the most U.S. number 1 hits (she had
previously shared this record with Diana Ross & the
Supremes). It debuted at number 2 (her second to do so
following "Always Be My Baby" in 1996), and two weeks later it
ascended to number 1. It spent one week at the top of the
chart, from May 17 to May 23, 1998, Carey's only one-week stay
at number 1 at the time.
"My All" continued the trend in Carey's singles begun with
"Honey" (1997) of strong sales but moderate radio airplay,
which worked against its chart performance because the
formulations made by
Billboardmagazine during this period were becoming much
more focused on radio airplay than sales. It spent twelve weeks
in the top ten and a total of twenty weeks on the chart, was
certified platinum by the RIAA and was ranked 16 on the Hot 100
1998 year-end chart. The single was only a moderate success
outside the U.S., achieving top ten peaks in the United
Kingdom, France and Switzerland, and reaching the top twenty in
many other countries.
"My All" ranks among one of Carey's most remixed tracks, and
two maxi-singles were released in the U.S. The main R&B
remix of this single is the So So Def remix, which features
re-recorded vocals by Carey. It is built around a sample of the
Loose Ends song "Stay a Little While". Carey's vocal
interpolation blends the first verse and chorus of "My All"
with the verse and chorus of "Stay a Little While". It was
produced by Jermaine Dupri and features raps from Lord Tariq
and Peter Gunz. The single also features a version without JD
or Tariq and P. Gunz rap.
The song's main dance remix is by David Morales. Known as
the Classic Club mix, it is Carey's first collaboration with
Morales for which she did not record entirely new vocals.
Consequently, the song is fairly close to the original chord
progressions of the album version, though some new vocals were
added. The remix was a major U.S. dance hit, consolidating
Morales and Carey's positions as club hitmakers. This remix was
used as a dance break on Carey's Charmbracelet World Tour: An
Intimate Evening with Mariah Carey (2003) and The Adventures of
Mimi Tour (2006).
Carey recorded a Spanish version of "My All", "Mi Todo"
(translated by Manny Benito), and it was released outside the
U.S. on the "My All" single and the Latin American versions of
Butterfly. Unlike "Hero" (1993) and "Open Arms" (1996),
Carey recorded the Spanish version of the song in a different
key from the original English version. The first line of the
song had been mistranslated and was grammatically incorrect,
and Carey later mentioned on her website that she would no
longer record Spanish versions of her songs until she could
verify the correct lyrics and pronunciation ("My All" remains
her last song to be recorded in Spanish as well as English).
Columbia Records commissioned Ippocratis "Grego" Bournellis
(a.k.a. DJ Grego) to remix "Mi Todo", but these four mixes were
only released promotionally in Mexico.
The song has also been released and resung in 2005 as a
Bachata version in both English and Spanish lyrics by the group
Dominicanado.
The single's video, shot entirely in black and white and on
location in Puerto Rico, was directed by fashion photographer
Herb Ritts. The video (released in March 1998) starts with
Carey lying on an overturned rowboat in the ocean and
progresses to her exploring the beach past flowers and a beam
from the beach's lighthouse. The images of Carey lying in the
shell and in front of the flowers were inspired by Sandro
Botticelli's painting
The Birth of Venus. The video climaxes to a scene where
Carey and her lover make love, but then ends with Carey alone.
The video was later re-edited to portray intimate kissing and
caressing before its release as the official video for the
Classic Club Radio Mix.
A music video was filmed for the So So Def remix. Directed
by Diane Martel, it features Carey, Dupri, Lord Tariq, and
Peter Guns partying at a friend's house. The video was shot in
a grainy fashion to simulate a home video.
European CD single
Japanese/U.S. CD single
Australian CD maxi-single
Mexican CD maxi-single
U.S. CD maxi-single #1
U.S. CD maxi-single #2
European CD maxi-single #1
European CD maxi-single #2
European CD maxi-single #3
European CD maxi-single #4
European CD maxi-single #5
"My All"/"Breakdown"