After signing a contract with Columbia Records, Carey began work on her debut album and she reached out to Ric Wake to ask if he would produce the song, to which he agreed.

The song was a critical and commercial success, being described as an album highlight and becoming Carey's third consecutive number-one single on the US Billboard Hot 100.

She worked several jobs, including as a waitress and coat-checker, in order to pay for studio sessions with Margulies to make changes to the demo.

He quickly realized that he had found a talented vocalist, turned the car around and returned to the party to find Carey, but she had already left.

After meeting with Carey and her mother Patricia for the first time, Mottola said, "When I heard and saw Mariah, there was absolutely no doubt that she was in every way destined for super-stardom."

[4] Prior to Carey signing her record deal with Columbia, she and Margulies had written and produced fourteen songs over a three-year period, seven of which made the final track listing of her self-titled debut studio album (1990), including "Someday".

The drum programming was performed by Wake and Joe Franco, while Cadway played the guitars and Tancredi the keyboards.

[16] Pan-European magazine Music & Media described the song as "upbeat dance pop with a prominent role for Carey's joyous and confident vocals.

[8] The English electronic group Rezonance Q released a remix which peaked at number 29 on the UK Singles Chart in early 2003.

[22] On July 24, 2020, along with the celebration of the 30th-anniversary of her album Mariah Carey, she released the song as an extended play, titled Someday EP, which contains the remixes from the US maxi single, as well as previously unreleased remixes, including the 'House Dub Version', the 'New Jack Dub Version' and the 'New Jack Bonus Beats'.

[23] Despite having released two highly successful albums, Mariah Carey and Emotions (1991), the singer had yet to embark on world tour because of stage-fright and the possible negative effects of singing vocally strenuous songs every night.

This version was produced by Carey and Afanasieff and recorded live at the Kaufman Astoria Studios in New York City on March 16, 1992.

[30][31] After three months of release, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the song gold, denoting shipments of more than 500,000 copies.

[27] Trust also noted that Carey "proved her way" by releasing a club song which reached number-one following two chart-topping ballads.

[36] Outside of North America, "Someday" reached the top-five in Iceland,[37] the top-fifteen in New Zealand,[38] the top-forty in France and the United Kingdom,[39][40] and the top-fifty in Australian and Belgium.