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"Miss You Much" is a song recorded American singer Janet Jackson for her fourth studio album, Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989). Jackson co-wrote the song with its producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who also served as producers for the song. "Miss You Much" as released as the lead single from the album on August 22, 1989, under A&M Records. "Miss You Much" was inspired by a letter written by Jam's girlfriend, and is musically a dance-pop song which lyrically finds Jackson telling her lover how much she misses him.

"Miss You Much" received generally positive reviews from music critics, who compared it with Prince's work. It was comercially successful, spending four weeks at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, making it the longest-running number one of 1989. "Miss You Much" was the second-best selling single of 1989, and the biggest radio airplay song of the year in the United States. Additionally, the song received two Grammy Award nominations, and was awarded two American Music Awards and a Billboard Award for Top Hot 100 Single of the Year.

The accompanying black-and-white music video for "Miss You Much" was directed by Dominic Sena, and is part of the Rhythm Nation 1814 Film. It is considered iconic for its choreography and chair routine, and has been referenced by various artists. Jackson has performed "Miss You Much" in all of her tours, most recently on the Number Ones: Up Close and Personal tour in 2011. "Miss You Much" has inspired videos from Britney Spears, and was covered in the Korean film 200 Pounds Beauty, also being sampled by artists such as 50 Cent.

Background
After the critical and commercial success of her previous effort, Control (1986), Jackson was under the same kind of pressure her brother Michael felt after releasing Thriller (1982). She was motivated to continue songwriting and took a larger role in the creative production of her new album. Janet had to settle the matter of who would produce her next album. She decided to return to Minneapolis and work with Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, the duo who produced Control. In an interview with Fred Bronson, Jam said, "It happens in sports, but after a very successful record or a very successful season, you renegotiate." He completed,

"'The reason it took so long in the negotiations was that we had decided because we were very close to Janet as friends, we would let the lawyers and the managers take care of it and we wouldn't be involved. We would concentrate on the creative end of things. There were a lot of standstills, a lot of changes at A&M Records internally. Then she called me one day and said, 'Look, do you want to do the record or not?' I said, 'Well, of course we want to do the record. Do you want us to do the record?' And it was at that point she said, 'Well of course... let's just get this done.' We forcefully directed our attorneys and management to get a deal done—and magically, in two weeks, there was a deal.'"

Recording
When Janet returned to Minneapolis in September 1988, Jam & Lewis had several tracks ready for Jackson to hear on her first day back at the Flyte Tyme Studio. "Miss You Much" was the only song they already had a lyrical concept for. At the time, they had no idea it would be the first single. Janet did not record her lead vocals during her first visit. The producer explains, "The idea was to do the backgrounds first to get her voice back in tip-top singing shape, because she hadn't sung for probably two years." After recording backing vocals for several tracks, Janet returned home. While she wrote some lyrics, Jam & Lewis worked on production. In an interview with Fred Bronson, Jam said,

"'It wasn't until after the Christmas holidays that we started back on the record again. We finally got back together around of February '89, and that's when we started intensely on the projet for the next four months.'"

The title for the song, "Miss You Much", came from Jam's girlfriend. She sent a letter to him, which ended by "Miss you much" and Jam thought that it was a "cool" title.

"You Need Me"
Although they produced "Miss You Much", they had any idea for the concept of the album. Executives at A&M requested that she expand on the ideas presented on Control, suggesting a concept album entitled Scandal that would have been about the Jackson family. She wrote a song titled "You Need Me" which was directed at her father Joseph, but was unwilling to devote an entire album to the subject and substituted her own concept for theirs. She commented that "[a] lot of people wanted me to do another album like Control and that's what I didn't want to do. I wanted to do something that I really believed in and that I really felt strong about." "You Need Me" was added as the B-side of the single "Miss You Much".

Composition
According to the sheet music published by Musicnotes.com, the song is set in common time, with a medium funk tempo of 116 beats per minute. It is composed in the key of E major, with Jackson's vocals spanning from A3 to E5. "Miss You Much" was described as "blocky dance-pop", regarded as "the appropriately sweet-and-sour bridge from efficacy to escapadery." Regarding the album's sequencing, Jimmy Jam stated, "The idea of putting 'Rhythm Nation,' 'Living in the World' and 'The Knowledge' as the first three songs on the record really set the tone as to what the record was. Then to have the segue after that where she says, 'Get the point? Good. Let's dance...' and then go into 'Miss You Much,' that was purposely done". Website Entertainment Scene 360° commented its "rock edge and pop hooks like you wouldn't believe". Jon Pareles from The New York Times called it a Prince-like dance tune.

Critical reception
Jon Pareles from The New York Times considered it as a "sparse and punchy" track and compared it with her previous single "Nasty" (1986) and Prince's "Kiss" (1986). Eric Henderson of Slant Magazine gave a positive review, writing "[it] is the appropriately sweet-and-sour bridge from efficacy to escapadery." Alex Henderson, editor of AllMusic, chose the song as his four tracks picks. He considered it as a "nonpolitical piece" and compared it with Prince's works. While reviewing Design of a Decade 1986/1996, David Browne wrote, "With its rigid Robo-drummer beats and homogenized blend of computers and vocal harmonies, the music was shocking in its airtight quality. Nearly 10 years and some plastic surgery down the line, those same qualities make hits like Miss You Much and Nasty sound suffocating, tinny, and more contradictory than ever." In a retrospective review, website Entertainment Scene 360° said it was "a slick, well produced jam" which even without its video it was a durable pop song.

"Miss You Much" won a Soul Train Music Award in the Rhythm and Blues-Urban Contemporary Single, Female. At the 17th Annual American Music Awards, held on January 22, 1990, "Miss You Much" was nominated for Favorite Soul/R&B Single and Favorite Dance Single. The song won the two nominations.

Chart performance
In the United States, "Miss You Much" debuted at number 42 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. After three weeks, the song entered the top-ten at number eight. However, the song started facing competition from fellow singer Madonna's single "Cherish", which also moved into the top-ten the same week. The popular media pitted the two women against each other and tried to create rivalry between them. It eventually reached the top of the chart on the issue date October 7, 1989 the same week "Cherish" peaked at number two. It was present on the top for four weeks, before being replaced by Roxette's "Listen to Your Heart". It also topped the Hot Dance Music/Club Play and the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts. "Miss You Much" was the fifth best-selling song of 1989 in the US, and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in November 1989, for the shipment of a million copies across United States. According to Radio & Records magazine, "Miss You Much" was the number one radio hit of 1989. In Canada, entered the RPM Singles Chart at number 87 on the issue dated August 28, 1989 and reached at number two in its tenth week. It was present on the chart for 17 weeks and was the sixteenth top-selling Canadian single for 1989.

In Australia, "Miss You Much" debuted on the ARIA Singles Chart at number fourty-five on October 1, 1989. It peaked at number twelve in its fifth week and was present for a total of 13 weeks on the chart. In New Zealand, the song debuted at number twenty-six on the RIANZ Singles Chart and reached number two in its fourth week. "Miss You Much" entered the UK Singles Chart at number thirty-five, before moving to number twenty-two. "Miss You Much" also reached the top 20 in Belgium, Germany, Netherlands and Switzerland and the top 30 in Ireland and Italy. The song went on to sell over four million copies worldwide.

Music video
The music video for "Miss You Much" was directed by Dominic Sena and choreographed by Anthony Thomas in August 1989 and is a part of a thirty-minute long-form music video, Rhythm Nation 1814 Film, produced to promote the album. Referred to as a "telemusical" it featured several performance videos, including also "The Knowledge" and "Rhythm Nation". The film had a budget of $1.6 million and was aired on MTV prior to the album's release. Jackson and Sena developed the film as a screenplay, centered around two boys whose dreams of pursuing a music career are destroyed through substance abuse. Sena referred to the film as the "1814 Project", attempting to keep the public unaware of Jackson filming on the streets of Los Angeles. The black-and-white video for "Miss You Much" begins with dancers hanging out at a pool hall gossiping about Jackson and her boyfriend. Jackson enters the room and her dancers look at her. One dancer asks Jackson what she has been up to. She calls them nosey, and then demonstrates her love through song and dance. Towards the end of the video, Jackson is flanked by two men, who perform a final dance routine performed with chairs, wearing bar-room style chairs and bowler hats. This routine was later released on VHS as the Rhythm Nation 1814 Compilation, and re-released the following year with each of the album's promotional music videos.

Live performances
Jackson premiered "Miss You Much" on her Rhythm Nation World Tour (1990). She danced with a chair along two other dancers. The song was also performed during Jackson's Janet World Tour which occurred between 1993 and 1995, in a medley with "When I Think of You" and "Escapade". She wore black tights, red velvet halter top and knee-high boots. The singer was called as a "biddy girl next door" during the performance, by Xhuck Arnold from Philly.com. "Miss You Much" was included on the setlist of her 1998 The Velvet Rope Tour. The stage reveals the "deranged madness" of the following "hallucinatory" segment, featuring Jackson in a jester's headdress and satin bustier, with dancers dressed as "flowers, Mad Hatters, and horny gnomes" in a "Wonderland" setting. Jackson performs an upbeat medley of "Escapade", "When I Think of You", "Miss You Much", "Runaway" and "Love Will Never Do (Without You)" across a "blindingly bright, poppy-induced set design" with varied props, which include a smiling clock tower, inflatable moons, mammoth chaise, vases, and books.

It was also performed by the singer during the All for You Tour in 2001 and 2002, in a medley with "When I Think of You" and "Escapade" with the stage decorated with carnival balloons and costumes. On Jackson's Rock Witchu Tour which covered North America in 2008, "Miss You Much" was performed while the singer wore a sailor outfit with a corset. While promoting her second greatest hits album Number Ones, the singer performed an eight-minute medley of six hits during the American Music Awards of 2009. It included "Control", "Miss You Much", "What Have You Done for Me Lately", "If", "Make Me", and finished with "Together Again". At the end of the performance, Jackson stood alone at center stage, smiling, as the received applauses and standing ovation from the audience. During her concert at Essence Music Festival in New Orleans, in July 2010, which she headlined, Jackson wore a one-piece outfit with leotards underneath to perform the song. Jackson included "Miss You Much" on the setlist of her 2011 Number Ones, Up Close and Personal tour.

Covers and usage in media
"Weird Al" Yankovic included the song's chorus in his polka medley "Polka Your Eyes Out" from his album Off the Deep End (1992). "Miss You Much" was covered by Korean singer Youme in the South Korean comedy film 200 Pounds Beauty in 2005. In the film, the song is performed by fictional Korean pop singer Ammy. American singer Britney Spears referenced the "Miss You Much" video, and Jackson's "The Pleasure Principle" video, for the chair routine in her "Stronger" video. A review of the video commented, "Ms. Spears gives us her best Janet Jackson impression (“Miss You Much“) with a dizzying chair-dance routine." During Jackson's inaugural MTV Icon tribute in 2001, "Miss You Much"'s chair rotine in the video was performed by Pink to honor Jackson. VH1's show Miss You Much was titled after the song.

Track listings

 * International 7" single/Japan 3" CD/International cassette single
 * 1) "Miss You Much" (7" edit) – 3:55
 * 2) "You Need Me" – 4:34


 * Japan maxi CD single
 * 1) "Miss You Much" (7" edit) – 3:57
 * 2) "Miss You Much" (Mama Mix) – 7:24
 * 3) "Miss You Much" (Slammin' R&B Mix) – 7:37
 * 4) "Miss You Much" (Shep's House Mix) – 8:38
 * 5) "Miss You Much" (Shep's House Dub) – 6:03
 * 6) "Miss You Much" (Slammin' Dub) – 5:45
 * 7) "Miss You Much" (7" R&B Remix) – 4:17
 * 8) "Miss You Much" (7" House Mix) – 4:56
 * 9) "Miss You Much" (7" Slammin' R&B Mix) – 4:28
 * 10) "Miss You Much" (That Bass You Much Mix) – 4:22
 * 11) "Miss You Much" (Oh I Like That Mix) – 4:58
 * 12) "Miss You Much" (Sing It Yourself Mix) – 4:21
 * 13) "Miss You Much" (a cappella) – 3:26


 * UK CD single
 * 1) "Miss You Much" (7" edit) – 3:55
 * 2) "Miss You Much" (Mama Mix) – 7:22
 * 3) "You Need Me" – 4:34


 * UK 12" single
 * 1) "Miss You Much" (Mama Mix) – 7:20
 * 2) "Miss You Much" (Oh I Like That Mix) – 4:56
 * 3) "You Need Me" – 4:34


 * International 12" single
 * 1) "Miss You Much" (Mama Mix) – 7:22
 * 2) "Miss You Much" (Sing It Yourself Mix) – 4:19
 * 3) "Miss You Much" (Oh I Like That Mix) – 4:56
 * 4) "You Need Me" – 4:34


 * International CD single
 * 1) "Miss You Much" (7" edit) – 3:45
 * 2) "You Need Me" – 4:34
 * 3) "Miss You Much" (Mama Mix) – 7:22
 * 4) "Miss You Much" (Oh I Like That Mix) – 4:56


 * US 12" promo/Germany 12" single
 * 1) "Miss You Much" (Slammin' R&B Mix) – 7:45
 * 2) "Miss You Much" (Slammin' Dub) – 5:48
 * 3) "Miss You Much" (a cappella) – 3:25
 * 4) "Miss You Much" (Shep's House Mix) – 8:45
 * 5) "Miss You Much" (Shep's House Dub) – 6:05
 * 6) "Miss You Much" (The Bass You Much Mix) – 4:20


 * Germany CD maxi
 * 1) "Miss You Much" (7" Slammin' R&B Mix) – 4:30
 * 2) "Miss You Much" (7" House Mix) – 4:55
 * 3) "Miss You Much" (7" R&B Mix) – 4:20
 * 4) "Miss You Much" (Slammin' R&B Mix) – 7:45