Almost Is Never Enough

Album: Yours Truly (2013)
Charted: 49 82
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This love ballad is a duet with The Wanted's Nathan Sykes - both singers are managed by Scooter Braun. Ariana recalled to MTV News: "I didn't know it was going to be a duet and Scooter just said 'Check your email'."

    "And Nathan just sang the hell out of it," she added. "I thought it was Brian McKnight. I'm like 'Who is this?' Honestly I wasn't expecting it. I didn't know he had that in him. I saw him perform live on one of the radio shows that we were at together and I was like, 'Damn he can sing.'"
  • The song also features on The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones soundtrack. Ariana told MTV News: "The version going on the Mortal Instruments soundtrack is a much shorter version. The one that's on my album is very long. But I'm really excited by it."
  • This marked the first time Sykes hit the recording studio after undergoing vocal cord surgery back in April 2013. "I met Ariana at a charity bowling event thing, and she seemed lovely, and we kept in contact, and she's a really talented girl," Sykes recalled to MTV News. "I got the call from Scooter like, 'We want you to try this vocal. It's a really hard vocal, and she doesn't even know it's been turned into a duet.'"

    "This would have been the first time I've recorded since my surgery, so I went in," Nathan added, noting that the team had to evaluate his post-surgery vocal ability. "I was really nervous. I've never been so nervous for a session, and went in and [did] what I like to think is quite possibly the best vocal I've ever recorded. I'm really proud of it."
  • Braun tweeted that the video for the track has hints of Boyz II Men and Mariah Carey's clip for their 1995 hit ballad "One Sweet Day." Sykes told MTV News that "One Sweet Day" is a good comparison: "Yeah, it's kind of that vibe, the sort of sound we really took to on the track, and we're both big fans of both those artists," he said. "The video's a really cool video. It was shot and recorded in the studio. I get to get on the piano at some points. It shows a really fun day recording the track."
  • The pair debuted the song live on August 10, 2013 in Atlanta, Georgia, while Grande was enjoying a brief stint opening for Justin Bieber on his Believe tour.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Director Mark Pellington ("Jeremy," "Best Of You")

Director Mark Pellington ("Jeremy," "Best Of You")Song Writing

Director Mark Pellington on Pearl Jam's "Jeremy," and music videos he made for U2, Jon Bon Jovi and Imagine Dragons.

Why Does Everybody Hate Nu-Metal? Your Metal Questions Answered

Why Does Everybody Hate Nu-Metal? Your Metal Questions AnsweredSong Writing

10 Questions for the author of Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces

Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake & PalmerSongwriter Interviews

Greg talks about writing songs of "universal truth" for King Crimson and ELP, and tells us about his most memorable stage moment (it involves fireworks).

Paul Williams

Paul WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

He's a singer and an actor, but as a songwriter Paul helped make Kermit a cultured frog, turned a bank commercial into a huge hit and made love both "exciting and new" and "soft as an easy chair."

Harry Wayne Casey of KC and The Sunshine Band

Harry Wayne Casey of KC and The Sunshine BandSongwriter Interviews

Harry Wayne Casey tells the stories behind KC and The Sunshine Band hits like "Get Down Tonight," "That's The Way (I Like It)," and "Give It Up."

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Heaven And Hell

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Heaven And HellSongwriter Interviews

Guitarist Tony Iommi on the "Iron Man" riff, the definitive Black Sabbath song, and how Ozzy and Dio compared as songwriters.