"Incomplete" is a song by American vocal group Backstreet Boys from their fifth studio album, Never Gone (2005). The power ballad was released on April 11, 2005, as the group's first single since they decided to reunite after a two-year hiatus. It was written by Dan Muckala, Lindy Robbins, and Jess Cates, and it was produced by Muckala with Kevin Richardson on piano. According to Billboard magazine's Chuck Taylor, the song is an "emotion-packed, grown-up tome about relationship struggle and strife."
"Incomplete" marked a stylistic change for the band, with member AJ McLean saying that the band wanted to break away from the image they had attained during the 1990s and early 2000s. The song was a commercial success, peaking at number 13 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and earning a gold certification for selling over half a million copies in the US. It also reached the top 10 in several European countries. In Australia, it debuted at number one, giving the group their only number-one hit there, and received a double-platinum sales certification.
Chuck Taylor from Billboard magazine compared the Backstreet Boys' vocals to those of Bryan Adams and Blessid Union of Souls, going on to say that the song would be refreshing to hear on the radio "like crisp white sheets." British columnist James Masterton wrote that "Incomplete" proved that the band had not lost their talent following their hiatus, going on to call the track's production "bombastic."
The official music video for "Incomplete" was directed by Joseph Kahn.
UK CD1
UK CD2; European and Australian maxi-CD single
European CD single
Japanese CD single
Personnel are lifted from the Never Gone liner notes.
In 2017, international symphonic metal supergroup Exit Eden covered "Incomplete" as the 3rd track of their debut album entitled Rhapsodies in Black.