"You Are" is the title of a popular song from 1983 by the R&B

Contemporary R&B

Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...

 singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

 Lionel Richie

Lionel Richie

Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr. , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Since 1968, he has been a member of the musical group Commodores signed to Motown Records...

. "You Are" was written by Richie and his then-wife, Brenda Harvey Richie. It appears on his self-titled debut solo album

Lionel Richie (album)

Lionel Richie is the debut solo album by R&B singer Lionel Richie. It was released in 1982 on Motown Records. The first single, "Truly", topped the Billboard Hot 100. Follow-up single "You Are" reached number four, and "My Love" reached number five...

, which came out in 1982.

Released as the follow-up single to his number-one hit song "Truly

Truly (song)

"Truly" is the title of the debut solo single by R&B singer-songwriter Lionel Richie in 1982 . Richie wrote the song and co-produced it with James Anthony Carmichael....

", "You Are" reached the top five on three major 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...

music charts. On the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 pop chart, the song spent two weeks at number four in early 1983. It peaked at number two on the R&B chart

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...

 and spent six weeks at number one on the adult contemporary chart. In the United Kingdom, the song reached number 43 on the British pop chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

.

"You Are" is a romantic song, although with a more upbeat arrangement than many of Richie's slower ballads, including a horn section. Before achieving popularity for his own music, singer Richard Marx

Richard Marx

Richard Noel Marx is an American adult contemporary and pop/rock singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He had a string of hit singles in the late 1980s and 1990s, including "Endless Summer Nights", "Right Here Waiting", "Now and Forever", and "Hazard"...

was a studio musician who can be heard singing backing vocals on "You Are" as well as other songs from Richie's debut album.

Charts

Chart (1983)	Peak position
UK Singles Chart	43
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	4
U.S. Billboard Black Singles	2
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary	1