I Wanna Be the Only One

"I Wanna Be the Only One"
Single by Eternal featuring BeBe Winans
from the album Before the Rain
B-side	"A Friend Is a Friend" "Show Me"
Released	19 May 1997 (1997-05-19)[1]
Genre	R&B gospel
Length	4:18 (album version) 3:36 (radio edit)
Label	EMI 1st Avenue
Songwriter(s)	BeBe Winans James "Rhett" Lawrence
Producer(s)	Nigel Lowis
Eternal singles chronology
"Don't You Love Me" (1997) "I Wanna Be the Only One" (1997) "Angel of Mine" (1997)
Alternative cover
UK CD2

"I Wanna Be the Only One" is a song by British R&B girl group Eternal and American R&B/gospel singer BeBe Winans, released in May 1997 by EMI and 1st Avenue as the third single from the group's third album, Before the Rain (1997). Topping the UK Singles Chart, the release also became the group's third collaboration with Winans, who had written and produced their 1994 single "Crazy" (from Always & Forever) and the song "It Will Never End" (from their 1995 album Power of a Woman). The single became the group's 11th non-consecutive top-10 entry on the UK Singles Chart.

"I Wanna Be the Only One" became Eternal's biggest hit to date; it was the third most-played song on British radio and the most-played song on European radio by a British act in 1997. It earned Eternal a MOBO Award and Capital FM Award for Best Single. It was also nominated for Best Single at the BRIT Awards. As of May 2019, the song has sold 728,000 copies in the UK.^[2] In June 2019, "I Wanna Be the Only One" was ranked at number 28 on the Official Charts Company's "Top 100 Girl Band Singles of the Last 25 Years".^[3]