Angel (Shaggy song)

"Angel" is a song by Jamaican reggae artist Shaggy featuring additional vocals from Barbadian singer Rayvon. Containing samples from Steve Miller Band's "The Joker" and the Chip Taylor-written "Angel of the Morning", it was released to radio on 30 January 2001 as the follow-up to Shaggy's international number-one hit, "It Wasn't Me". "Angel" also proved to be successful, reaching number one in 12 countries, including Australia, Germany, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Content.
"Angel" uses the bassline from "The Joker" by Steve Miller Band (1973). The chorus melody is from "Angel of the Morning", originally written and composed by Chip Taylor, that has been recorded numerous times and has been a hit single for various artists including Merrilee Rush, Juice Newton, Nina Simone, P. P. Arnold, Olivia Newton-John, The Pretenders/Chrissie Hynde, Dusty Springfield, Mary Mason, Melba Montgomery, Vagiant, Billie Davis, Bonnie Tyler, Rita Wilson, and Skeeter Davis.
Commercial reception.
The song debuted at number 81 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 on the week ending December 30, 2000. The song first entered the top 40 at number 39 on the week ending January 20, 2001. It peaked at number one on the chart week of March 31, 2001, for one week. According to "Billboard" writer Silvio Pietroluongo, "Angel" beat Crazy Town's "Butterfly" to number one by a margin of two points, which was the smallest gap between two singles since the magazine began having its charts stored digitally in 1985. It was also the second song to reach number one without a retail release, after Aaliyah's "Try Again" (2000), although physical formats would later be issued in the United States on 24 April 2001. "Angel" was the 17th-most-successful song of 2001 in the US and has sold 1,494,000 digital copies in the US as of April 2016.
Internationally, the song reached number one in Australia, Austria, Flanders, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, topping the Eurochart Hot 100 as well. In Australia, it peaked atop the ARIA Singles Chart for eight weeks, finishing fourth on the Australian year-end chart for 2001. It was also an enduring hit in Ireland, where it is the 20th-highest-selling single of all time.
Music video.
The music video was directed by Cameron Casey.
Track listings.
US 7-inch single
US 12-inch single
European CD single
UK enhanced CD single
European and Australian enhanced CD single