In 1999, British singer George Michael and American singer Mary J. Blige lined the tune for Michael’s best hits album Women & Gents: The Better of George Michael(1998). Launched outdoors america on March 1, 1999, because the second single from the album, “As” grew to become a top-10 hit in Michael’s dwelling nation, reaching quantity 4 on the UK Singles Chart, and likewise charted throughout the prime 10 in Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain.

“As” was not launched on the US model of Women & Gents or as a single within the US. Michael cited Blige’s report firm president, Jay Boberg, for pulling the observe after Michael’s arrest for committing a lewd act in a public restroom. In 2019, Kirk Burrowes, who govt produced Blige’s fourth album Mary, advised Rated R&B that it was certainly Boberg’s determination to not launch “As” within the US: “[Boberg] didn’t need to let George Michael, who initiated that unique manufacturing, use it as a single within the U.S. to launch his best hits album. It pissed everybody off at Sony. It pissed George Michael off. It pissed everybody off, however we couldn’t make Jay Boberg bend. He ought to have put it on the Mary album, however we couldn’t put it on the album within the states as a result of he wouldn’t let George Michael put it on the Women & Gents [album] within the states.”