“Back at One” by Brian McKnight

Anyone familiar with Brian McKnight’s career likely knows that he could be considered the premiere turn-of-the-century male R&B singer as far as tender love ballads are concerned. Yes, Brian may have contemporaries who also fall into that category and are more popular than him all-around. But when it came to dropping a straight-up, unadulterated romance-based track, he was at the top of the game.

And so it is with “Back at One”. Basically, what we have here is the vocalist going about trying to convince the addressee that he is verily in love with her. And if she doubts the absoluteness of his affection, he’s confident that as their relationship progresses she will undoubtedly be convinced.

That sorta brings us to the title. Here, McKnight goes about listing ways he feels about and wanting her to feel the same about him. Along those same lines the thesis sentiment, most simply put, revolves around Brian being holistically smitten. 

The vocalist does an adequate job of coming off as someone who isn’t mistaking infatuation for love. He also has no intentions of using and then discarding the addressee. Rather, as relayed, McKnight has met who he truly concludes to be his soulmate. This is someone whose presence has given him new life as far as mitigating depression and loneliness goes. 

Those are the feelings he is expressing to her, logically in the name of making her feel needed and secure in their romance.

Facts about “Back at One”

“Back at One” is a track Brian McKnight dropped through Motown Records back on 17 August 1999. This was also around the time McKnight, who has been professionally active since the late 1980s, was at the peak of his fame. For instance, this song is also the title track to his fifth-studio album, which marked the beginning of four in a row he dropped which made it onto the top 10 of the Billboard 200. 

Also “Back at One” stands as Brian’s most-successful album commercially, in that it has been certified triple-platinum by the RIAA and platinum up north.

Also as for the song itself, it topped Billboard’s Rhythmic chart and peaked at number 2 on the Hot 100. Moreover, it has received its own gold certification from the RIAA.

McKnight, who is a multi-instrumentalist as well as singer, wrote and produced this track himself.

The music video to “Back at One” was directed by none other than Francis Lawrence. Francis is perhaps better known for his work on the big screen, such as in The Hunger Games series. That said, it is worth noting that he has also worked on visuals for a plethora of A list musicians.

Country singer Mark Wills covered this track, to notable success, also in 1999. And there’s an English/Portuguese version “Back at One”. This version features both McKnight and Brazilian singer Ivete Sangalo. 

Amongst other covers of this track is a 2001 rendition by Scottish vocalist Lulu in conjunction with the boys from Westlife.