Song · Des'ree
“You Gotta Be” by Des'ree
From the album I Ain’t Movin’ (1994)
“You Gotta Be” by Des'ree appears on 3 radio countdowns from 3 stations between 2023 and 2025. It was first released in 1994 on the album I Ain’t Movin’. Its best result is #334 on the WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '90s. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #5,977 indie & aaa song of all time.
"You Gotta Be" comes from I Ain't Movin', Des'ree's second album, released in 1994, where it sits third on the original running order and opens the American edition. The British singer wrote it with Ashley Ingram, who produced it, and it's a warm, steady-rolling slice of R&B and soul. Paul Boyd shot the video, with Des'ree performing in black and white.
Sony Soho Square put the single out, and it went top 10 in the US and Australia and top 40 in several other countries, selling 358,000 copies in the US by June 1998. Advertisers kept coming back to it, too: a 1999 remix that soundtracked a Ford Focus ad went top 10 in her native UK and to No. 1 in Spain, and Q later put it on its list of the 1001 best songs ever.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 749 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s | 893 |
| 2023 | 573 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of All Time | 909 |
| 2025 | 334 | WFPK | WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '90s | 500 |
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