| Yearning for Your Love | |
| Cover: | GBYEARN.jpg |
| Border: | yes |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | The Gap Band |
| Album: | The Gap Band III |
| Released: | January 1981 |
| Recorded: | 1980 |
| Length: | 3:59 (single) 5:43 (album version) |
| Label: | Mercury |
| Prev Title: | Humpin' |
| Prev Year: | 1980 |
| Next Title: | Early in the Morning |
| Next Year: | 1982 |
"Yearning for Your Love" is a 1980 ballad recorded and released by The Gap Band on Mercury Records. The single was the third release off the band's fifth album, The Gap Band III (1980). Four different singles, each with a different B-side, were released in 1981.
The song became a modest hit on the US and UK charts when it was released; it arose to number five on the Hot Soul Singles chart and number sixty on the Billboard Hot 100. Written by Gap Band keyboardist Oliver Scott and keyboardist Ronnie Wilson, it was a romantic love song dedicated to Wilson's wife at the time and was performed by Ronnie's brother Charlie Wilson.
The song was markedly different in style from the past few hits,[1] with less emphasis on synthesizers, instead on "light slices of guitar, smooth keyboard pads and soft percussion". It is said, Charlie Wilson's smooth baritone take on the song helped the song become influential to contemporary R&B singers, such as Keith Sweat, Johnny Gill and Gerald Levert.
| Chart (1981) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Hot Soul Singles Chart | 5 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 60 |
In 1989, Swiss pianist Alex Bugnon covered the song for his album, Love Season.[6]
In 1990, Guy also covered the song on their 1990 album, The Future.[7]
In 2001, keyboardist Kevin Toney covered the song on his album Strut. The song featured Evelyn "Champagne" King on vocals.[8]
In 2019, singer PJ Morton covered the song from his album Paul.[9]
The song has been sampled several times including some of the following: