Let's Wait Awhile

About Let's Wait Awhile

"Let's Wait Awhile" is a song by American singer Janet Jackson, released as the fifth single from her third studio album Control (1986). It was written and produced by Jackson and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, with Melanie Andrews also serving as co-writer. It is also the first song Jackson co-produced. The song was Inspired by a conversation Melanie Andrews had with her childhood boyfriend, just young teenagers at the time. The song speaks of sexual abstinence and postponing sexual intimacy within a relationship until the time is right. The song received generally favorable reviews from music critics, who praised the track's sweetness and Jackson's tender delivery. It was also praised for its meaningful message, considered to be a teaching tool to encourage sexual abstinence amidst the AIDS crisis at the time. In the United States, it peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary singles charts and became a number one hit on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Outside the US, it reached number three in the United Kingdom, where she made her debut on the BBC's Top of the Pops on March 26, 1987, and number four in Ireland, in addition to charting within the top 40 in several other countries. It has been included in two of Jackson's greatest hits albums, Design of a Decade: 1986–1996 (1995) and Number Ones (2009). more »