Too Little Too Late

"Too Little Too Late" is a song by American singer JoJo from her second studio album, The High Road (2006). It was written by Billy Steinberg, Josh Alexander and Ruth-Anne Cunningham, and produced by the former two with Da Family Records founder Vincent Herbert. The song was released as the album's lead single on July 24, 2006. A power ballad, "Too Little Too Late" is a pop and R&B breakup song about a girl who struggles about dealing with her first love as she refuses to reconcile with her ex-boyfriend despite his efforts to convince her. Its theme about an unsuccessful relationship drew comparisons to JoJo's 2004 debut single, "Leave (Get Out)".

Alexander began writing the song on his own before being joined by Steinberg and Cunningham to complete it. Although Cunningham always envisioned the song being recorded by JoJo, the songwriters had considered offering "Too Little Too Late" to American girl group the Pussycat Dolls. After learning that the Blackground Records was recruiting new material for JoJo, it was forwarded to the label two years after it had been written. JoJo decided to record "Too Little Too Late" to express how much she had matured since the release of her self-titled debut album in 2004, and personally selected the track to be the album's first single.

The song earned positive reviews from music critics, who praised its composition, mature themes and JoJo's vocal performance; some critics and media publications included it on their rankings of the best breakup songs. Commercially, the song was an international success, reaching the top-six in six countries in addition to the United States. When "Too Little Too Late" rose from number 66 to number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, it broke singer Mariah Carey's record for the largest jump to a top-three spot in the chart's history, which Carey had previously achieved with her 2001 single "Loverboy". The record was ultimately later broken by Kelly Clarkson's "My Life Would Suck Without You", which jumped from number 97 to number one on the issue dated February 7, 2009. "Too Little Too Late" remains JoJo's most commercially successful single to date.

Directed by Chris Robinson, the song's music video features a soccer theme, inspired by both JoJo's appreciation for the sport and her relationship with then-boyfriend Freddy Adu, a professional soccer player. Soccer player Mike Zaher, junior defender for the UCLA Bruins at the time, portrays JoJo's boyfriend in the music video, which also features appearances by the rest of the soccer team.

"Too Little Too Late" was written by songwriters Billy Steinberg and Josh Alexander, and singer-songwriter Ruth-Anne Cunningham. Alexander began writing "Too Little Too Late" on his own before Steinberg joined him to complete it, particularly contributing lyrics and a bridge to the music Alexander had already composed for the song's verses and chorus. Steinberg identified "Too Little Too Late" as one of the few songs in his career to which he contributed only after a portion of it had been written, with Alexander introducing the song to him after he had already conceived its title, as well as some of the ballad's lyrics and melody, admitting that Steinberg essentially "helped him finish writing that song and that lyric." Born in Ireland, "Too Little Too Late" was one of the first songs Cunningham was hired to write professionally after moving to Los Angeles, California from Dublin at the age of 17. Cunningham's manager at the time, Eamonn Maguire, had introduced her to Steinberg a few weeks after she relocated from Ireland. After hearing Cunningham perform one of her original songs, Steinberg invited her to co-write "Too Little Too Late", which they successfully completed by the following day during a writing session with Alexander. Upon finishing the song, Cunningham felt that it was most suitable for JoJo but the songwriters lacked the necessary contacts and resources to forward it to her at the time.

"Too Little Too Late" is a more R&B-leaning track than Steinberg and Alexander's previous work, which had tended to be more pop rock-oriented. Writing the song in a more urban contemporary style was a conscious decision the songwriters made after realizing pop rock songs they had written for artists such as FeFe Dobson and The Veronicas were not being particularly embraced by contemporary radio stations in the United States; Steinberg elaborated, "I enjoy writing in all different styles. But I particularly enjoy hearing my songs on the radio, and these days pop radio is playing much more urban ... So there's a lot more gratification in writing a song for an artist like JoJo that radio embraces."

Two years followed before the song was finally recorded, during which the songwriters had considered giving it to girl group the Pussycat Dolls. Upon learning that Bruce Carbone, executive vice president of A&R at Universal Records, was interested in obtaining new material for JoJo's then-upcoming second studio album, Steinberg sent a demo recording of "Too Little Too Late" to Carbone, who immediately expressed how much he liked the song. Steinberg and Alexander were then introduced to record producer Vince Herbert, founder of Da Family Records, who invited the songwriters to co-produce the song alongside him. Blackground then flew Steinberg and Alexander out to New York, where they began producing the track before recording JoJo's vocal's in September 2005.

"Too Little Too Late" was one of the first prospective songs from the album that Herbert played for JoJo. The singer claimed that she wanted to record the song as soon as she heard it for the first time, elaborating, "When my team heard that song, they knew I could hit the sweet spot, musically and in terms of subject matter." According to Vibe, the overall more mature, personal sentiment of the album prompted her to record "Too Little Too Late", having experienced both her first love and first heartbreak since the release of her self-titled debut album. The song was recorded at both Cryptic Studios in Los Angeles, California and Sony Music Studios in New York, New York. The songwriters later returned to the studio to co-write a second song for the album with JoJo herself, titled "How to Touch a Girl". In regards his musical style, JoJo described Steinberg as a "classic writer and producer."