Hold On (Wilson Phillips song)

"Hold On" is a song recorded by American vocal group Wilson Phillips. It was released on February 27, 1990, as the lead single from their debut studio album, "Wilson Phillips" (1990). The single topped the US "Billboard" Hot 100 for a week in June 1990 and was the most successful single of that year in the US. The song won the Billboard Music Award for Hot 100 Single of the Year for 1990. At the Grammy Awards of 1991, "Hold On" received a nomination for Song of the Year, losing to "From a Distance" by Julie Gold and performed by Bette Midler.
In 2017, "Billboard" ranked the song number 15 on their list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time. In 2020, Cleveland.com ranked it at number 37 in their list of the best "Billboard" Hot 100 No. 1 song of the 1990s.
Background.
Chynna Phillips wrote the song's lyrics while battling substance abuse as well as being in a "really bad" relationship. She explained to Kelly Clarkson, "I just said if I don't change my course, I'm going to be in a lot of trouble." Producer Glen Ballard presented the track to the group, noting it needed lyrics. Phillips based the lyrics off of the principles taught in AA, specifically the idea that things had to be taken "one day at a time." The next day, Phillips returned with "Hold On" and sang it for the Wilsons and Ballard, who immediately loved it. "I remember one guy I played it for said, 'That's not going to go anywhere. That's not a very good song. It's really corny,'" Phillips recalls. "I just remember thinking to myself, 'God, I hope he's wrong.'"
Commercial performance.
"Hold On" became Wilson Phillips' first number one single, reaching the top spot of the "Billboard" Hot 100 on June 9, 1990, and, despite spending only one week at number one, was ranked the top song of the year by "Billboard". (This was the second and final concurrence of this to date, the first of which was "Stranger on the Shore" by "Mr." Acker Bilk in 1962.) The song also spent a week atop the adult contemporary chart that same year. In addition, "Hold On" peaked at number six on the UK Singles Chart; this was in large part due to a performance by the group on the legendary British music series "Top of the Pops" a week prior to the song's peak position.
Despite being number one on the US year-end for 1990, the song did not appear on the 1990s decade-end chart. It does, however, appear on Billboard's 60th anniversary "All-time chart" at number 228, ahead of many songs that do appear on the decade-end chart.
Critical reception.
Alex Henderson from AllMusic felt the song is not "remotely convincing." Bill Coleman from "Billboard" described it as an "engaging and melodic pop confection". In 2020, Tony L. Smith from Cleveland.com wrote, "A decade or two ago, Wilson Phillips' inspirational anthem 'Hold On' wasn't regarded as anything more than a cheesy (maybe the cheesiest) pop song from the Nineties. But opinions change. For a generation big on nostalgia, it gets no bigger than 'Hold On,' a song that has good times written all over it." "Music & Media" called the song "melodic, well crafted and extremely catchy", and "everything you would expect from a band madeup of daughters of rock stars." The Daily Vaults Christopher Thelen stated in his review of "Wilson Phillips", that "Hold On" is "the defining moment for the album, setting the tone for what was to come as well as letting the listener know that all they have to do is sit back and enjoy the ride."
Track listing.
US CD single
US / CA 7-inch vinyl and cassette single
UK CD
Germany Maxi-CD
In popular culture.
Harold & Kumar sing the song as a duet in the film "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle".
The song was featured in the finale of the 2011 film "Bridesmaids", performed by the band members as themselves, bringing renewed recognition to Wilson Phillips.