Journey may be one of the most successful rock bands of all time, but there’s one major chart achievement the group never reached: a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
However, two of the band’s former members did eventually achieve the feat with a different band.
And it was all thanks to a power ballad written by one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Diane Warren.
37 years ago today, on Nov. 11, 1989, Bad English topped the Billboard Hot 100 with “When I See You Smile.” It was the first and only No.1 hit for the rock supergroup, with the song spending two weeks at the top of the chart.
“When I See You Smile” by Bad English reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated November 11, 1989, beginning a two-week run at the top. BITE-SIZED FACT | The power ballad was written by Diane Warren, one of the most successful songwriters of the era. #80s pic.twitter.com/nx3dStq2Av
— Bite-Sized Nostalgia (@landofthe80s) November 11, 2026It’s a milestone that eluded Journey despite the group’s impressive run of hit singles throughout the 1980s. They had a total of 8 Top 10 hits between 1981 and 1987, with none reaching #1. The closest they got was with “Open Arms,” which peaked at No. 2 in 1982.
Bad English formed in 1987 in Los Angeles, after Journey disbanded, with the hard rock group bringing together familiar faces from the rock scene, including Journey guitarist Neal Schon and keyboardist Jonathan Cain, alongside former Babys members John Waite and Ricky Phillips. Drummer Deen Castronovo rounded out the lineup.
The band released its self-titled debut album in 1989, with “Forget Me Not” serving as its first single. That track peaked at No. 45 on the Billboard Hot 100, but its follow-up would take the group to an entirely different level.
Warren, who had already established herself as one of the music industry’s legendary songwriters, penned the song. SongFacts notes that it was written as a tribute to her father for supporting her career. It was initially meant for the band Sheriff, but since they had another song in the works, it went to Bad English.
In a 2013 interview with Something Else!, Waite explained that the band recorded the song partly as a thank-you to A&R executive Don Grierson, who had brought it to their attention.
“Let’s cut this song as a way of saying thank you,” Waite recalled telling his bandmates.
It paid off in the long run, as in addition to becoming the band’s signature ong, it was also one of the defining power ballads of the late ’80s.
The band broke up in 1991, but its brief run gave Journey’s former members the chart milestone they’d never achieved with their original band.
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