it was released as the album's third single in 1998 in the united states, canada, new zealand and australia only (in europe, "the roof" was chosen as the third single instead). because of conflict between carey and her record label at the time, sony music entertainment, it was only given a commercial release in australia, where it performed modestly and remained in the top 40 for three weeks. a remix of the song was promoted to u.s. radio stations and debuted on "billboard" magazine's hot r&b/hip-hop airplay chart in september–october 1997. however, it wasn't released commercially in the u.s. until april 1998, as a double a-side with "my all." it reached the top five on the "billboard"'s hot r&b/hip-hop songs chart as "my all/breakdown." however, the song itself independently appeared on the billboard hot 100 airplay chart and reached the top twenty on the hot r&b/hip-hop airplay and rhythmic airplay chart charts. in new zealand, the song performed well, peaking at number four and being certified gold by the recording industry association of new zealand (rianz), denoting shipments of over 7,500 units.