"Have You Ever?" is a R&B ballad

Ballad

A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...

 written by Diane Warren

Diane Warren

Diane Eve Warren , is a US songwriter. Her songs have received six Academy Award nominations, five Golden Globe nominations, including one win and seven Grammy Award nominations, including one win. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001...

 for Brandy

Brandy Norwood

Brandy Rayana Norwood , known professionally as Brandy, is an American singer-songwriter, producer, actress, and dancer. In 2009, she introduced her rap alter-ego Bran'Nu....

's second studio album

Studio album

A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...

, Never Say Never. It was produced by David Foster

David Foster

David Walter Foster, OC, OBC , is a Canadian musician, record producer, composer, singer, songwriter, and arranger, noted for discovering singers such as Michael Bublé, Josh Groban, and Charice Pempengco; and for producing some of the most successful artists in the world, such as Céline Dion, Toni...

 and released as the album's third single during the fall of 1998

1998 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1998.-Events:*January 28 – "Weird Al" Yankovic gets LASIK surgery to cure his myopia...

. The single became Brandy's second song to reach the top position on the Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

Hot 100. The ballad

Ballad

A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...

 also reached number one in New Zealand, peaked within the top ten in Australia, and the top 20 in Canada, top 30 in Ireland and the top 20 in the United Kingdom.

Recording and background

"That was the first time I had been in the studio with a producer like David Foster", Brandy said about recording in a 2005 interview. "My voice wasn't as developed as it is now and the song required what producers call ‘money notes' - the kind that get you a No. 1 on the charts! I was really nervous but it all worked just fine."

Music video

The video starts at an empty before Brandy drives in. She is also seen singing in her bedroom and the pool wearing different clothes.

Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single-releases of "Have You Ever?."
CD maxi single

1. "Have You Ever" (radio version) – 3:32
2. "Happy" (album version) – 4:06
3. "Have You Ever" (album version) – 4:26

Weekly charts

> > > > > > > > > > >

Chart (1998)	Peak position

Year-end charts

End of year chart (1999)	Position
US Billboard Hot 100	14

Cover versions

• In 2003, American Idol
  American Idol
  American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
  
   finalist Trenyce Cobbins performed this song on the Final 6 Dianne Warren show. She eventually placed fifth in the competition.
• In 2006, Dutch
  Netherlands
  The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
  
   singer Esmée Denters
  Esmée Denters
  Esmée Denters is a Dutch singer-songwriter. She was a regular cover-artist on video-sharing website YouTube on which she covered songs by contemporary musicians like Justin Timberlake and Natasha Bedingfield....
  
   covered the song on YouTube, which led to her getting a record deal with Justin Timberlake
  Justin Timberlake
  Justin Randall Timberlake is an American pop musician and actor. He achieved early fame when he appeared as a contestant on Star Search, and went on to star in the Disney Channel television series The New Mickey Mouse Club, where he met future bandmate JC Chasez...
  
  's Tennman Records
  Tennman Records
  Tennman Records is an American record label created as a joint venture between Justin Timberlake and Interscope Records.-History:The label was announced in a press release dated May 28, 2007....
  
  
• On Australian Idol
  Australian Idol
  Australian Idol is a Logie Award-winning Australian singing competition, which began its first season on July 2003 and ended its run in November 2009. As part of the Idol franchise, Australian Idol originated from the reality program Pop Idol, which was created by British entertainment executive...
  
  season 4 in 2006, eventual runner-up Jessica Mauboy
  Jessica Mauboy
  Jessica Hilda Mauboy , is an Indigenous Australian R&B singer-songwriter and actress. In 2006, Mauboy was the runner-up on the fourth season of Australian Idol, she had auditioned for the talent show in Alice Springs to pursue a recording career...
  
   performed Have You Ever on the Final 7 performance show.
• In 2007, Irish
  Ireland
  Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
  
   boy band Westlife
  Westlife
  Westlife are an Irish boy band established on 3 July 1998. They are to disband in 2012. The group's line-up was Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan, and Brian McFadden . The group are the only act in British and Irish history to have their first seven singles peak at number one...
  
   remade a version of the song on their album Back Home
  Back Home (Westlife album)
  Back Home is the eighth studio album and ninth album overall by Irish boy band Westlife and it was released on 5 November 2007. The album debuted at #1 on the Official UK Album Charts, selling 132,000 copies in its first week of release and remained in the top three spots for eight consecutive weeks...
  
  
• In 2008, Filipino pop singer Nina Girado
  Nina Girado
  Marifil Niña Girado , better known by her stage name Nina, is a Filipino pop/R&B singer, occasional songwriter, record producer, TV and radio personality. She made her recording debut in 2002 after signing a recording contract with Warner Music Philippines...
  
   released her rendition of the song for her album Nina Sings The Hits of Diane Warren
  Nina Sings the Hits of Diane Warren
  Nina Sings the Hits of Diane Warren is the fourth studio album by Filipino singer Nina, released in the Philippines on July 25, 2008 by Warner Music. It is a cover album consisting of Nina's renditions of familiar love songs written by American songwriter Diane Warren...
  
  
• In 2009, another Filipino pop singer Sarah Geronimo
  Sarah Gerónimo
  Sarah Asher Tua Geronimo is a Filipino recording artist, actress and dancer. Geronimo started her career appearing in children's variety shows such as Pen-pen de Sarapen, Ang TV and NEXT...
  
   did a cover version of the song for latest album Music and Me

External links

• ForeverBrandy.com — official site