It was written by American musicians Nasri Atweh, Hakim Bell, Adam Messinger, Akene "The Champ" Dunkley, and group members Nadja Benaissa, Lucy Diakovska, Sandy Mölling, and Jessica Wahls for their fifth regular studio album Welcome to the Dance (2009).

[1] Musically, "One Life" introduced a change in sound for the quartet, as the track took the band's work further into the contemporary dance-pop and electropop genre predominantly associated with the introduction of the Welcome to the Dance album.

[4] Its leading single "Goodbye to Yesterday" emerged as the album's only top ten hit,[5] and although both the group members and their record company, Universal Music Domestic Pop, felt increasing discontent and uncertainty about the direction of the project by summer 2007,[6] it was not until No Angels' participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in Belgrade, Serbia, the quartet hit an all-time career low, following their performance with the German ESC entry "Disappear," which finished 23rd out of the 25 countries that participated in the final voting in May 2008.

[7] As a direct consequence, planned recordings for the band's next studio album during the summer were indefinitely delayed, and the group went on a two-month hiatus to rethink and analyze the past year.

[8] In August 2008, whilst Nadja Benaissa spent her summer holidays with her daughter in Los Angeles, California, he spontaneously decided to send fellow band members Lucy Diakovska, Sandy Mölling, and Jessica Wahls overseas to join Benaissa for writing and recording sessions at New Kids on the Block singer Donnie Wahlberg's mansion, eventually green-lighting the start of the project.

[9] One of the first songs ever all four band members jointly started writing lyrics for, "One Life" was written during the second out of five separate studio sessions for the Welcome to the Dance album.

A rapped break before the third chorus, performed by Jessica Wahls, serves as a bridge, involving slight auto-tune effects.

"[1] "One Life" received generally positive reviews from contemporary music critics many of whom declared it the album's standout track.

[20] In 2022, "One Life" re-entered the German Download Chart at number 37 amid the opening night of the band's Celebration Tour.

[23] The video features the four members of the band in individual shots, with Sandy Mölling performing in a narrow passage with glove-wearing hands caressing her from every direction, and Nadja Benaissa laying on top of neon lights stake, that she noted an ironic remark on her April 2009 arrest and the subsequent media scandal.

[1] Lucy Diakovska and Jessica Wahls each are seen performing individual dance routines with male dancers, dressed in either black overalls or pink light bulbs.