I’ll Be There

“I’ll Be There” is the first single released from Third Album by The Jackson 5. It was written by Berry Gordy, Hal Davis, Bob West, and Willie Hutch. The song was recorded by The Jackson 5 and released by Motown Records on August 28, 1970, as the first single from their Third Album on the same date. Produced by the songwriters, “I’ll Be There” was The Jackson 5’s fourth number-one hit in a row (after “I Want You Back” in 1969, “ABC” and “The Love You Save” earlier in 1970), making them the first group to have their first four singles reach number one and the first black male group with four consecutive number-one pop hits. “I’ll Be There” is also notable as the most successful single released by Motown during its “Detroit era” (1959–72). In 2011, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. The duet version by Mariah Carey and Trey Lorenz was recorded during Carey’s appearance on MTV Unplugged in 1992, and released as the first single from her EP MTV Unplugged in the second quarter of 1992. Co-produced by Carey and Walter Afanasieff, “I’ll Be There” became Carey’s sixth number-one single in the US, and her biggest hit elsewhere at the time.