Who's Lovin' You

"Who's Lovin' You" is a Motown soul song, written in 1960 by William "Smokey" Robinson. The song has been recorded by many different artists, with the most famous versions having been recorded by The Miracles, The Jackson 5, and En Vogue.

Miracles version

The song was written by Smokey Robinson for his group The Miracles, who recorded the song in 1961 for their first Motown album, Hi, We're the Miracles. The song is a lamentation about an ex-lover, reminiscing on how their relationship went sour and wondering who's loving them now. A showcase for vocal runs, "Who's Lovin' You" was issued as a Miracles b-side and remained one of their most popular songs. During the 1960s, virtually every major Motown act, from The Supremes to the Temptations to Brenda Holloway, recorded a cover version of the song.

Jackson 5 version

The most famous cover of "Who's Lovin' You", and the one most future covers were based upon, was recorded on August 7, 1969 by The Jackson 5. Michael Jackson was the lead singer on this recording, with his brothers Marlon, Tito, Jermaine, and Jackie on background vocals; Bobby Taylor of The Vancouvers served as producer. The Jackson 5 version of "Who's Lovin' You" was one of a number of early recordings the group made at the Hitsville U.S.A. recording studio in Detroit, Michigan, with the Funk Brothers on instrumentation. Just after recording this song, Berry Gordy moved the entire Jackson family to Los Angeles, California to record the hit pop songs he would co-write for the group with The Corporation™.

"Who's Lovin' You", which was included on the first Jackson 5 LP, Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5, was issued as the b-side to The Jackson 5's first single, "I Want You Back", released on October 14 1969. "I Want You Back" went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and "Who's Lovin' You" went to #1 on the R&B charts thanks to radio play. A live recording of the song was issued as a single in 1992, to advertise the broadcast of the miniseries The Jacksons: An American Dream that November on ABC; it rose to #72 on the R&B charts.

En Vogue version

En Vogue's cover of "Who's Lovin' You" was attached to the beginning of their first single, "Hold On", which was written as an answer song to Robinson's composition. The idea was born when, while the girls were practicing the song in producer Denzil Foster's car, when he accidentally turned on a drum machine, creating an interesting juxtaposition of old school soul and new-school hip-hop/new jack swing.

The opening section of "Hold On", released as the group's first single, was an acapella version of the song's first verse. Once the girls get to the "and I wonder/who's lovin' you" chorus, a drum machine kicks in and starts a new jack swing beat, over which "hold On" is delivered. "Hold On" was the anchor of En Vogue's first album, Born to Sing, which eventually went platinum.