Throwback Thursday: Babyface – “Every Time I Close My Eyes” (featuring Mariah Carey & Kenny G)

Throwback Thursday: Babyface – “Every Time I Close My Eyes” (featuring Mariah Carey & Kenny G)

This past Monday, after weeks of promo, postponement and mishaps, we finally got the Babyface vs. Teddy Riley IG Live battle we were promised. The battle is the latest in the series of songwriter and producer battles curated by Swizz Beatz and Timbaland, and the biggest one yet, with over 500,000 viewers tuning in and hundreds of thousands more watching from “overflow” rooms (i.e., other accounts streaming the live stream).

According to Instagram, nearly four million accounts attempted to watch the battle, causing the app to crash.

We love how much you're all enjoying the #TeddyRileyvBabyface Live on Instagram! We're experiencing some technical difficulties on mobile apps but we're working on it. In the meantime, live is available on desktop!

— Instagram Comms (@InstagramComms) April 21, 2020

The Face/Riley battle was a beautiful rose that grew out of the concrete that is the ongoing global pandemic. As depressing as these times are, this is a moment that simply wouldn’t happen if we weren’t all forced to remain indoors.

The battle was also a celebration of R&B — and more specifically, late-’80s-to-mid-’90s R&B — in a time when the genre seems to have largely abandoned strong vocals and tuneful melodies — the very things that made the classics classic.

In honor of this cultural moment, it is only right that we have two TBT picks — one from Babyface, one from Teddy Riley.

For Babyface, we’re going to go with “Everytime I Close My Eyes,” which features Mariah Carey and Kenny G. The song was the second single from Babyface’s fourth LP, The Day, and peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the Grammys and is considered a signature hit for Babyface. If there ever was a song made for a first dance, it’s this one.