And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going

"And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going"
Single by Jennifer Holliday
from the album Dreamgirls: Original Broadway Cast Album
B-side	"Fake Your Way to the Top" by Cleavant Derricks, Loretta Devine, Jennifer Holliday, and Sheryl Lee Ralph
Released	1982
Format	7" single
Recorded	1982
Genre	Show tune, soul
Length	4:08
Label	Geffen
Writer(s)	Tom Eyen, Henry Krieger
Producer(s)	David Foster
Jennifer Holliday singles chronology
"And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" (1982) "I Am Changing" (1982)

"And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" (also known in short as just "And I Am Telling You") is a torch song from the Broadway musical Dreamgirls, with lyrics by Tom Eyen and music by Henry Krieger. In the context of the musical, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" is sung by the character Effie White, a singer with the girl group The Dreams, to her manager, Curtis Taylor Jr., whose romantic and professional relationship with Effie is quickly ending. The lyrics to "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going", often considered the show's signature tune, describe Effie's love for Curtis, both strongly devoted and defiant. She refuses to let Curtis leave her behind, and boldly proclaims to him, "I'm staying and you ... you're gonna love me."

In addition to its presence in the musical, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" is also notable as the debut single of two women who portrayed Effie. Jennifer Holliday originated the role on Broadway in 1981 and won a Tony Award for her performance as well as the Grammy for Best R&B Performance, Female for its re-release in 1982 for which it became a number-one R&B hit for Holliday. Jennifer Hudson portrayed Effie in the 2006 film adaptation of Dreamgirls, winning an Oscar for the role. Hudson's version became a Top 20 R&B single, and a number-one dance hit.

Jennifer Holliday version

In 1982, Jennifer Holliday, the actress who portrayed Effie in the original Broadway production, released the song as a single. It was her first single release and it met with great success, topping the Billboard R&B charts and attaining top forty positions on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart. In 1983, Holliday won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female for the single.

"And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" was designed as the closing number of Dreamgirls' first act. Holliday's performance of the song, in a style owing much to gospel music singing traditions, was regularly staged to thunderous applause; it was hailed as the highlight of the show in several printed reviews of the musical. In his review of Dreamgirls' opening night performance, New York Times theatre critic Frank Rich referred to Holliday's "And I Am Telling You" as "one of the most powerful theatrical coups to be found in a Broadway musical since Ethel Merman sang "Everything's Coming Up Roses" at the end of Act I of Gypsy" "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" remains Holliday's signature song.

Rosabel remix

In 2001, Rosabel remixed the song and released their version (credited as Rosabel with Jennifer Holliday) as a single. It performed well on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play chart, peaking at number six. In 2007, it reappeared on the same chart, with additional, promotional-only remixes by Jody Den Broeder, and reached number 10 (this time credited to Jennifer Holliday with Rosabel). Coincidentally, the 2007 remix was climbing the U.S. dance chart at the same time as Jennifer Hudson's cover version with both songs appearing in the top ten simultaneously in February 2007.

Remixes:

• Rosabel Anthem Mix – 9:43
• Rosabel Anthem Radio Edit - 3:16
• Rosabel Dreamgirls Anthem Mix - 6:29
• Rosabel Attitude Mix – 10:27
• Rosabel Attitude Dub - 10:11
• Rosabel Invasion Dub – 7:16
• Ralphi's Classic House Mix – 7:18
• Ralphi's Classic House Radio Edit – 3:43
• Ralphi's Funky Underground Vox – 7:24
• Ralphi's Hard House Dub aka Ralphi Rosario Dub – 7:39
• Junior Vasquez Earth Club Anthem – 9:23
• Junior Vasquez Padapella – 9:07
• Tranceuro Express Club Mix – 6:03
• Tranceuro Express Radio Edit – 3:56

Jennifer Hudson version

"And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going"
Single by Jennifer Hudson
from the album Dreamgirls: Music from the Motion Picture, Jennifer Hudson and NBA Live 07
Released	December 5, 2006
Format	Music download
Recorded	The Underlab, Los Angeles: March 2006
Genre	Rhythm and blues, soul
Length	4:45 (highlights version) 5:06 (soundtrack version)
Label	Music World/Columbia
Producer(s)	The Underdogs
Jennifer Hudson singles chronology
"And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" (2006) "Spotlight" (2008)

"And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" was recorded in 2006 by former American Idol contestant Jennifer Hudson, who portrayed Effie White in the DreamWorks/Paramount motion picture adaptation of Dreamgirls. Her recording of the song, the Dreamgirls film soundtrack's second single, peaked at number 60 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, and number 14 on the R&B chart. Hudson won the 2006 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Dreamgirls; she thanked Holliday in her acceptance speech. The song can be heard on her debut album Jennifer Hudson (2008).

Hudson's version received outstanding reviews from multiple movie and music critics, which highlighted her strength as both a vocalist and an actress. New York Observer described Hudson's performance as "five mellifluous, molto vibrato minutes...." Newsweek said that when moviegoers hear Hudson sing the song, she "is going to raise goose bumps across the land." Variety wrote that Hudson's performance "calls to mind debuts like Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl or Bette Midler in The Rose, with a voice like the young Aretha."

On June 26, 2007, the 7th Annual BET Awards opened with Jennifer Holliday and Jennifer Hudson performing "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" live in their first duet together.

Although it in essence is Hudson's first single release, it became her fourth top 75 hit in the United Kingdom after a performance on The X Factor in 2009 after being sung by Danyl Johnson. Hudson performed the song again at the 85th Academy Awards, as part of the Dreamgirls section in the tribute to movie musicals.

Dance remix

A club remix was created for this single, engineered by Richie Jones and Eric Kupper, and appears as a bonus track on the "Deluxe Edition" of the Dreamgirls soundtrack album. This version of Hudson's "And I Am Telling You" was a chart success, reaching the top of the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart in early 2007. A shortened edit of the full remix appeared on a Columbia Records promotional-only CD accompanying the Jones & Kupper remix of another Dreamgirls song, the Beyoncé Knowles/Anika Noni Rose/Sharon Leal/Jennifer Hudson rendition of "One Night Only". Also included were the Freemasons remixes of Beyoncé's singles "Déjà Vu" and "Ring the Alarm".

Other performances

Singer Shirley Murdock covered the song for her 1988 album, From a Woman's Point of View.

Siobhan Fallon performed a snippet of the song as part of the 1992 Saturday Night Live sketch, Chris Rock's White Person's Guide to Surviving The Apollo, to raucous applause from the "audience". Her character's original choice of "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue" merely got her booed at and pelted with various items.

Will Smith lip-synched to Jennifer Holiday's version of "And I Am Telling You" in a 1995 episode of the sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Jennifer Hudson says this was where she discovered the song. The scene featured Will singing along to the song while serenading Uncle Phil.

Whitney Houston performed a cover of the song in a medley along with "I Loves You Porgy" and "I Have Nothing" at the 1994 American Music Awards ceremony. This performance was included in the 2014 CD/DVD release, Whitney Houston Live: Her Greatest Performances. Houston also performed "And I Am Telling You" at various concerts during her 1993-1994 The Bodyguard World Tour.

In 1994, Donna Giles scored a minor club hit in the US and UK with her rendition of the song. The track remained a sleeper club hit in the UK throughout 1995, prompting a spate of re-releases and remixes, including Stonebridge, culminating in a major release on Ore Records in 1996. This last release would finally take the track to number 27 on the UK Singles Chart in February of that year. On November 20, 2007, the original master, Produced by critically acclaimed Eve Nelson, was released digitally by Breaking Records and is available on all major download sites.

On an episode of Martin, Gina (Tisha Campbell-Martin) performs "And I'm Telling You" on Martin's show Word on the Street. Jim Carrey performed a version of the song in the final episode of The Larry Sanders Show in 1998.

In the 2001 comedy film Down to Earth, Phil Quon, played by John Cho, performed it at the Apollo Theater on its closing night.

In 2002, Bonnie Tyler recorded this on her album Heart Strings.

In the 2003 musical drama Camp, the character of Ellen Lucas (played by Joanna Chilcoat) sings a powerful (if visually comic) version of this song.

Jake Gyllenhaal performed it on Saturday Night Live shortly after the film's release in a mock performance of Jennifer Hudson. He wore a wig, black heels, and a black sequin dress. Three of the regulars on SNL were his "backup singers", also dressed in a black dress, heels, and wigs.

Bianca Ryan, an American singer and guitarist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, auditioned for the first season of NBC's America's Got Talent in the early summer of 2006, and "blew [the judges and audience] away" by singing "And I'm Telling You". Ryan sang the song again when she was announced as the winner of season one of Talent, on August 17, at the age of eleven.

On December 19, 2007, 14-year-old Filipino Charice Pempengco performed the song on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. She had also sung it earlier in the year in the Korean show Star King. In 2008, she flew to London, UK, she was given a standing ovation from the audience after performing the same song on Paul O'Grady Show. This was her first performance and appearance on the show. On February 18, 2011 singer Savannah Robinson sang this song on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and received a standing ovation. She was immediately signed to Ellen DeGeneres' record label eleveneleven. Savannah came back to the show on March 30, 2011 to perform the song with her favorite singer Jennifer Hudson.

Amber Riley covered the song in the 2009 Glee episode "Sectionals".

American Idol runner-up Jessica Sanchez performed the song as one of her two songs in the Top 4. Her performance during the Top 4 was praised by Jennifer Holliday. She later performed the song with Holliday during the finale of the show's eleventh season in 2012.

In March 2013, Tituss Burgess performed the song at Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS fundraising concert Broadway Backwards.

Dami Im, the 2013 winner of the Australian version of The X Factor, performed this song as one of her final three songs. Im recorded a version for her self-titled album, which debuted at number one in Australia.

Sam Bailey performed this on The X Factor final in December 2013 with Nicole Scherzinger.

Jermain Jackman performed this on The Voice UK at both his blind audition, and then again in the final as his favourite performance of the series. He went on to win the show, making it his winner's single.

In 2014, Maltese child singer, Veronica Rotin, performed this as the lead track on her debut album, Veronica Rotin, and regularly sings it in her live performances and TV appearances.

In 2015, Jamie Foxx performed an improvised spoof of the song on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, with the words to "On Top of Spaghetti."

Louisa Johnson performed the song in The X Factor final with Rita Ora in December 2015.

Charts

Jennifer Holliday version

Chart (1982)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	22
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B Songs	1
UK Singles Chart	32

Rosabel with Jennifer Holliday version

Chart (2001)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play	6
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales	66
Chart (2007)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play	10

Jennifer Hudson version

Chart (2006/2007)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	60
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs	14
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play	1
U.S. Billboard Pop 100	70
Chart (2009)	Peak position
UK Singles Chart	32
UK R&B Singles Chart	12

See also

• List of number-one dance singles of 2007 (U.S.)

References

Preceded by "Early In the Morning" by The Gap Band

Billboard's Hot Soul Singles number one single July 24, 1982 – August 14, 1982: Jennifer Holliday version

Succeeded by "Dance Floor, Part 1" by Zapp