"without you" was composed by lamont dozier to be the love theme in "leonard part 6", released in the united states on december 18, 1987, and the film starred bill cosby in the lead role. that same year, regina belle released her first album, "all by myself", but "without you" was not included on the album. in 2012, "all by myself" was remastered on cd and "without you" was included at the end of the album as a bonus track, however, it was not the original 1987 version, but a "single mix" of the song. "without you" was not included in any of belle's other albums, nor in her compilations. unlike her, bryson included the song on his album "positive", released in 1988, the only album that contains the original version of "without you", which was also included in his compilations "anthology", released in 2001, and "bedroom classics vol. 2 – peabo bryson", released in 2004. on every album that the song is present, it is titled "without you (love theme from leonard part 6)", but its title is only "without you". it was the first of four duets recorded by peabo bryson and regina belle, who recorded together "without you" (in 1987), "i can't imagine" (in 1991), "a whole new world" (in 1992) and "total praise" (in 2009).