Aretha Franklin, I Knew You Were Waiting | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 68^th edition of Throwback Vibez (2023), we recollect and reflect on “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)” by Aretha Franklin & George Michael. 

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 68^th edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2023), we recollect and reflect on 🎵 “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)”, performed by 🎙 Aretha Franklin & George Michael. 

“Like a warrior that fights and wins the battle / I know the taste of victory.” WOO 💪! 🎙 Aretha Franklin and 🎙 George Michael. Two utterly brilliant artists. Both of them deceased 😢.  Think about that. Both artists would win a 🏆 Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 1987 for the dynamic 🎵 “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)”, which was written by 🎼 ✍ Dennis Morgan and Simon Climie and produced by 🎛 Narada Michael Walden.

“When the river was deep, I didn’t falter

When the mountain was high, I still believed

When the valley was low, it didn’t stop me, no, no

I knew you were waiting, I knew you were waiting for me.”

It should come as no surprise that “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)” was a big hit – it spent two weeks at no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1987.  Sure, vintage Aretha Franklin is the best Aretha Franklin but on this gem, the soul icon shows continued versatility as a pop artist in the mid 80s. “I Knew You Were Waiting” exhibits a starkly different sound from the past but finds Franklin continues cut through with those powerful, untouchable pipes.  She performs the verses with Michael performing the pre-choruses (“Somehow I made it through the heartache, yes, I did / Oh, I escaped / I found my way out of the darkness / I kept my faith”), and both collaborating on the chorus and later, the bridge and outro. The powerful duet appears on her 1986 album, Aretha, which was  awarded the 🏆 Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female (Note: The Recording Academy does not award categories like this anymore). 

via GIPHY

Appears in 🔻:

• 10 Favorite Soul Classics By Aretha Franklin (2018)

🎙 Aretha Franklin • 💿 Aretha • 🏷 RCA • 📅 1986

Aretha Franklin & George Michael, “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)”: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 69 (2023) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; RCA; John Alan Sperry, PIRO via  Pixabay]