I'll Make Love To You

"I'll Make Love To You" was written and produced by Babyface (real name: Kenneth Edmonds), who could do love ballads as well as anyone this side of Smokey Robinson. In the '80s, he wrote and produced for Pebbles, Klymaxx, and the Whispers, and also had hits as a solo artist with "Whip Appeal" and "It's No Crime." He quickly became a very popular producer and songwriter, working on hits for Madonna, Whitney Houston, Johnny Gill, Aretha Franklin, Mary J. Blige and many others. He formed LaFace Records with Antonio "L.A." Reid.

After their first album was released in 1991, Boyz II Men recorded "End Of The Road," which Babyface wrote with his songwriting partners L.A. Reid and Daryl Simmons. That song appeared on the Boomerang soundtrack in 1992 and was a mega-hit, spending 13 weeks at #1 in America. It became clear that their sweet spot was emotional ballads with little instrumentation - no more new jack swing like their debut hit "Motownphilly," and they didn't need to dance. The group members, though, weren't feeling the song, thinking it sounded too much like "End Of The Road." Motown Records' president Jheryl Busby overruled their objections and made sure the song was released.

In the US, this was the biggest hit of 1994. With 14 weeks at #1, it equaled what was the record for most weeks at #1 in the US, a record that was broken by "One Sweet Day," the 1995 Boyz II Men collaboration with Mariah Carey, which remained at #1 for 16 weeks.