Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number by Aaliyah

"Age Ain't Nothing but a Number" is a song by American singer Aaliyah from her debut studio album of the same name (1994). The song was written and produced by R. Kelly and lyrically the song is about a young girl wanting to date an older man. Containing a lyrical interpolation from the song "What You Won't Do For Love by Bobby Caldwell the "soulful" ballad opens with a guitar-piano interplay, with Aaliyah's spoken voice noting her daily diary entry. Critically the song was panned by many critics because of the songs controversial message about dating someone older. Blackground and Jive released "Age Ain't Nothing but a Number" as the third single (and final single in the United States) from the album on December 6, 1994. Commercially the song performed poorly on the US Billboard Hot 100 peaking at number 75 on the chart. The song became Aaliyah's first single not to top the charts with her first two singles peaking within the top 10. On the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop songs chart the song fared better peaking within the top 40 at number 5 on the week ending on December 24, 1994. Internationally the song performed moderately well peaking within the top 40 of the UK Official chart at number 32. The song experienced even greater success on the UK's Dance and R&B charts peaking within the top 20 at number 19 and 6 respectively. The song first faced controversy after its release when a marriage certificate emerged stating that a 15-year-old Aaliyah had married a 27-year-old R. Kelly. In 1997 the song was yet again surrounded with controversy when both Aaliyah and R.Kelly were served with a lawsuit from music publisher Windswept Pacific. The music publishing company claimed that the duo illegally copied Bobby Caldwell's song "What You Won't Do For Love".