"Don't Leave Me" is a song by American R&B group Blackstreet, produced by Teddy Riley and released in February 1997 as the third single from their second album, Another Level (1996). It contains a sample of the DeBarge song "A Dream", also used in "I Ain't Mad at Cha" by Tupac Shakur.[citation needed] "Don't Leave Me" features Eric Williams, Mark Middleton, and Chauncey Hannibal on lead vocals. It topped the New Zealand Singles Chart for two weeks in May 1997 and reached No. 6 in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the song peaked at No. 12 on the BillboardHot 100 Airplay chart.
Pan-European magazine Music & Media noted that after the success of "No Diggity", "Riley & Co. switch to ballad mode with this well constructed song, which has already met with approval across Europe." Stephan Hampe, head of music at RSH, a CHR network covering northern Germany commented, "I think this is going to break Blackstreet in a big way in Germany, because it is the kind of great song that really stands out". He added, "while No Diggity received a warm welcome too, it remained largely confined to the quarters traditionally inhabited by the R&B fraternity over here. This record however, has the potential to appeal to a much broader audience, so we put in powerplay rotation (32 plays a week) because we want to familiarize our audience quickly with this song."[1]
David Finlan from Experience said that the song "is slightly depressing, because it is about a man trying to keep his girlfriend from breaking up with him. This song hits home because everybody has been through a breakup and as we all know, they are not fun."[2] Malaysian newspaper New Straits Times noted "the fantastic four-part harmony interplay" on "Don't Leave Me".[3] A reviewer from People Magazine stated that Blackstreet "pours on the heartache and late-night yearning".[4] David Fricke from Rolling Stone felt "the turn-ons" in songs like "Don't Leave Me", "are as banal as the titles suggest."[5] James L. Brown from USC Today described it as "a slow bump and grind ballad".[6]
The song did not chart on the US Billboard Hot 100 or the Hot R&B Singles chart due to Billboard rules at the time preventing songs not released as physical singles from charting. However, the song peaked on the Hot 100 Airplay and Hot R&B Airplay charts at No. 12 and No. 1, respectively.[7][8] Internationally, it went to No. 1 in New Zealand and No. 6 in the United Kingdom.[9][10] In the former country, it stayed at No. 1 for two weeks in May 1997 and earned a Gold sales certification from Recorded Music NZ,[11] finishing the year as the 12th-most-successful single.[12]
^Don't Leave Me (UK 12-inch single sleeve). Blackstreet. Interscope Records. 1997. INT 95534.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Don't Leave Me (UK cassette single sleeve). Blackstreet. Interscope Records. 1997. INC 95534.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Don't Leave Me (European CD single liner notes). Blackstreet. Interscope Records. 1997. IND 97515.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
