2 Become 1 third chart-topper and their first Christmas number-one single in the UK. It sold 209,000 copies in the first three days of release and 462,000 in the first week, becoming the tenth best-selling single of the year. "2 Become 1" sold 1.14 million copies in total, giving the Spice Girls their second and final million-selling single in the UK.Despite being released during the final two weeks of 1996, "2 Become 1" was the 5th best seller of the year. In Ireland, "2 Become 1" was the group's second number-one single, and their first to debut at the top of the Irish
Say You'll Be There encompassing [...] G-funk synths on 'Say You'll Be There' [...] and Babyface's guitar and strings balladry on '2 Become 1'". Larry Flick of "Billboard" magazine compared it to "Wannabe" saying that it "is as immediately infectious, though it's not nearly as silly and novelty-driven". Ken Tucker from "Entertainment Weekly" called the song "a bid for street cred", while David Browne from the same magazine commented about the confusing lyrics, "let's see: She wants to be friends, he wants more, and yet she croons, 'I'm giving you everything/All that joy can bring'? She's as confused as I am. Better to revel