In 1989, singer-songwriter Richard Marx wrote the song “Right Here Waiting” as a love letter to his wife, actress Cynthia Rhodes. It was originally created to be sung by Barbra Streisand, but she turned it down. Marx said that he had no intention of recording it himself, but when he approached Streisand about singing it she left him a voicemail saying, "Richard, I heard the song; it’s a beautiful song, but I’m gonna need you to rewrite the lyrics because I’m not gonna be right here waiting for anyone.” In the end, Marx decided to record it himself. The song hit the No. 1 spot on the Adult Contemporary Billboard chart and became Marx’s best-selling single. In a 2021 interview, he revealed that every now and then he tells Streisand “Thank you so much for rejecting my song.”
