"Right Here Waiting" is a song by American singer and songwriter Richard Marx. It was released on June 29, 1989, as the second single from his second album, Repeat Offender. The song was a global hit, topping charts in many countries around the world, including the U.S. where it reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. It reached number two on the UK Singles Chart. It was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. It was the UK's most streamed love song on Spotify ahead of Valentine's Day in 2013. The song has been covered by many artists, including Monica for her album The Boy Is Mine. Background and writing The song was originally created to be sung by Barbra Streisand but she later refused to sing it. Marx was an aspiring singer/songwriter when Streisand reached out and asked him to write her a hit. Marx sent Streisand "Right Here Waiting", but she turned down the chance to record it. He said in an interview, “I had just recently written "Right Here Waiting" and it was such a personal song to me at the time that I had no intention of recording it,” he told CBS’s The Talk. “I was like, ‘I’ll give Barbra Streisand "Right Here Waiting"; I’m not gonna do anything with it’. “I had to messenger the cassette tape of it to her. The next day she called me – I still have this voicemail… – and it says, ‘Richard, I heard the song; it’s a beautiful song, but I’m gonna need you to rewrite the lyrics because I’m not gonna be right here waiting for anyone. She actually did me a solid, because had she not rejected it I probably would never have recorded it and every once in a while I put my arm around her and I say, ‘Thank you so much for rejecting my song!'” "Right Here Waiting", once it was recorded by Marx, reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1989. "Right Here Waiting" was the second single from Repeat Offender, after "Satisfied". Marx wrote the song on the road as a love letter to his wife, the actress Cynthia Rhodes, who was in South Africa shooting a film. The track was arranged by Marx with Jeffery (C.J.) Vanston to feature none of the heavy drums and synthesizers popular at the time, with Marx's