I Swear

This was originally a country hit for John Michael Montgomery, topping the Country chart for four weeks in February 1994 and also reaching #42 on the Hot 100. All-4-One turned it into an R&B song with a group vocal, taking it to the top of the Hot 100 in May 1994, where it stayed for a staggering 11 weeks. Montgomery's version was the first single from his album Kickin It Up; he also included it on his 2002 album Love Songs.

This was written by Gary Baker and Frank J. Myers, who wrote and recorded as Baker & Myers. In an interview with Songwriter Universe magazine, Myers explained that he and Baker wrote the song in 1987 and recorded the demo at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The couldn't convince anyone to record the song, but in 1992 they recorded a new demo of the song which a year later got the attention of John Michael Montgomery, who recorded it in 1993. Atlantic Records thought the song had huge crossover potential, and considered having Montgomery record a pop version, but the label head didn't want to upset country radio stations, so they had their new vocal group All-4-One record the song with David Foster producing the track. Their version was released as the second single from their debut album in the spring of 1994, about six months after Montgomery's version was released as a single.

In the US, this was one of the biggest hits of 1994, spending 11 weeks at #1 (only "I'll Make Love To You" by Boyz II Men held the top spot for longer that year: 14 weeks). In Britain it only reached #2 on the charts, where it was held out of #1 for seven weeks by Wet Wet Wet's "Love Is All Around."