Thank God I Found You

"Thank God I Found You"
A woman with blonde hair is smiling. She wears a short white shirt and soft make-up. She crosses her right arm behind her head and is pulling a portion of her shirt with her left hand. She is standing in front of a wall with a cloud and a rainbow on it.
Single by Mariah Carey featuring Joe and 98 Degrees
from the album Rainbow
B-side"Babydoll"
ReleasedNovember 15, 1999
RecordedSeptember 1999[1]
Studio
Genre
Length4:17
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Mariah Carey
  • Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
Mariah Carey singles chronology
"Heartbreaker"
(1999) 		"Thank God I Found You"
(1999) 		"Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme)" / "Crybaby"
(2000)
Joe singles chronology
"No One Else Comes Close"
(1998) 		"Thank God I Found You"
(1999) 		"I Wanna Know"
(1999)
98 Degrees singles chronology
"This Gift"
(1999) 		"Thank God I Found You"
(1999) 		"Give Me Just One Night (Una Noche)"
(2000)
Music video
"Thank God I Found You" on YouTube

"Thank God I Found You" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey, featuring guest vocals from R&B singer Joe and American boy band 98 Degrees. It was released on November 15, 1999, through Columbia Records, as the second single from her seventh studio album, Rainbow (1999). Written and produced by Carey alongside Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the song is a soulful pop power ballad with lyrics depicting a powerful love relationship in which the protagonist tells her lover "thank God I found you", that was inspired by a relationship Carey was going through at the time.

"Thank God I Found You" received mixed reviews from contemporary music critics; some felt it was a great album closer while others deemed it "un-listenable" and "forgettable". Nevertheless, the song became Carey's fifteenth number-one single on the United States Billboard Hot 100 and remained her last chart-topping single until her 2005 comeback single "We Belong Together"; it remains the only chart-topper to date for 98 Degrees and was the first of only two for Joe. The single was later certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Aside from its peak of number two in Canada, the song achieved moderate international charting, reaching the top-ten in Spain, Poland and the United Kingdom; and peaking within the top-thirty in Australia, Belgium (Wallonia), France, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

A DJ Clue-produced remix titled "Thank God I Found You (Make It Last Remix)" uses re-recorded vocals from Carey and features guest vocals from Joe and Carey's label-mate, rapper Nas. The remix is a remake of Keith Sweat's song "Make It Last Forever" (1988), transforming it into a slow groove R&B number, while incorporating a few verses from the original version of "Thank God I Found You".

A music video for "Thank God I Found You", directed by Brett Ratner, features Carey, Joe and 98 Degrees performing the song at an outdoor concert. The Make It Last Remix had its own video commissioned, which was shot in a grainy fashion in Hamburg, Germany, and shows Carey and the song's featured artists performing at a small club. Carey performed the song's original version and accompanying remix live at the 27th Annual American Music Awards. It appeared on the set-lists of the Rainbow World Tour (2000) and The Adventures of Mimi Tour (2006), with Trey Lorenz serving as the male vocalist.

In September 2000, US songwriters Seth Swirsky and Warryn Campbell filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Carey claiming that "Thank God I Found You" borrowed heavily from the song "One of Those Love Songs" they composed for R&B group Xscape. Though initially the case was dismissed, in the precedent-setting[2] Swirsky v. Carey decision,[3] which clarified the standard for proving copyright infringement, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit overturned the initial 2002 dismissal of the case.[4][5] The case was settled out of court in April 2006.[6]

  1. ^ Mancini, Robert (August 13, 1999). "98 Degrees Records with Mariah, Preps Christmas Album, Gets Tour Rolling". MTV. Archived from the original on November 7, 2012. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
  2. ^ Michael T. Mervis; Robyn S. Crosson. "9th Circuit's Acceptance of 'Melodic Reduction' May Change Music Infringement Litigation". Archived from the original on January 15, 2023. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  3. ^ "Swirsky v. Carey, 376 F. 3d 841 (9th Cir. 2004)". Music Coptright Infringement Source. Columbia Law School Arthur W. Diamond Law Library Music Plagiarism Project. 2002. Archived from the original on October 22, 2019. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
  4. ^ "Swirsky v. Carey". Archived from the original on May 21, 2011. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  5. ^ "Mariah Carey Accused of Plagiarism". Fox News. October 21, 2011. Archived from the original on August 13, 2011.
  6. ^ "Seth Swirsky, et al v. Mariah Carey, et al". Archived from the original on April 2, 2012.