Can't Let Go (Mariah Carey song)

"Can't Let Go"
"Can't Let Go"
	US cassette cover
Single by Mariah Carey
from the album Emotions
B-side	"To Be Around You"; "I Don't Wanna Cry";
Released	November 1991
Recorded	1991
Studio	Skywalker Sound (Marin County, California); The Plant (Sausalito, California); Right Track Recording (New York City);
Genre	R&B; pop;
Length	4:27 (album) 3:49 (single);
Label	Columbia
Composer(s)	Mariah Carey; Walter Afanasieff;
Lyricist(s)	Mariah Carey
Producer(s)	Walter Afanasieff; Mariah Carey;
Mariah Carey singles chronology
Music video
	"Can't Let Go" on YouTube

"Can't Let Go" is a song recorded by American singer and songwriter Mariah Carey for her second studio album, Emotions (1991). Columbia Records released it as the album's second single in November 1991. Featuring synthesizers and drum programming, "Can't Let Go" is a breakup song in the form of an R&B and pop slow jam. The lyrics, written by Carey, are about post-breakup sadness. She composed the music and produced the song with Walter Afanasieff, who had previously worked on her 1990 single "Love Takes Time". Carey's vocal range spans more than three octaves; her delivery is predominately breathy and in a low register, with whistle notes in the song's introduction and ending.

Music critics considered "Can't Let Go" a vocal showcase for Carey but gave the composition mixed reviews. In the United States, "Can't Let Go" received significant airplay across adult contemporary, contemporary hit, and urban contemporary radio formats. It peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and ended her streak of five consecutive number one songs dating to her debut, "Vision of Love". "Can't Let Go" also became her lowest-charting single in Australia, New Zealand, and the Netherlands, at the time. Elsewhere, the song peaked within the top ten on sales and airplay charts in Canada and at number twenty in the United Kingdom. The Recording Industry Association of America certified it gold.

Jim Sonzero directed the black and white music video, which depicts Carey singing alone in an empty house. She performed "Can't Let Go" on several American and British television programs such as MTV Unplugged, Saturday Night Live, and Top of the Pops. Carey sang it during her 2006 concert tour The Adventures of Mimi and the Las Vegas residencies The Butterfly Returns and The Celebration of Mimi. "Can't Let Go" is featured on her compilation albums Greatest Hits (2001) and The Ballads (2008).