"Lean on Me" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Bill Withers. It was released in April 1972 as the first single from his second album, Still Bill. It was a number one single on both the soul and Billboard Hot 100 charts, the latter chart for three weeks in July 1972.[2] Billboard ranked it as the No. 7 song of 1972.[3] It was ranked number 208 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2010.[4] Numerous other versions have been recorded, and it is one of only nine songs to have reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with versions recorded by two different artists.[5] In 2007, the 1972 recording of the song by Bill Withers on Sussex Records was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[6]
"Lean on Me" | ||||
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Single by Bill Withers | ||||
from the album Still Bill | ||||
B-side | "Better Off Dead" | |||
Released | April 21, 1972 | |||
Recorded | 1972 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length |
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Label | Sussex | |||
Songwriter(s) | Bill Withers | |||
Producer(s) | Bill Withers | |||
Bill Withers singles chronology | ||||
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Audio | ||||
"Lean on Me" on YouTube |
Bill Withers' childhood in the coal mining town of Slab Fork, West Virginia,[7] was the inspiration for "Lean on Me", which he wrote after he had moved to Los Angeles, and found himself missing the strong community ethic of his hometown. He had lived in a decrepit house in the poor section of his town.
Withers recalled to SongFacts the original inspiration for the song:
"I bought a little piano and I was sitting there just running my fingers up and down the piano. In the course of doing the music, that phrase crossed my mind, so then you go back and say, 'OK, I like the way that phrase, Lean On Me, sounds with this song.'"[8]
Withers stated in the same interview that he made an effort to keep the lyrics simple.[8]
Several members of the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band[9] were used for the recording session in 1972. A string section was also included.
7-inch single
Weekly charts edit
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Year-end charts edit
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Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA)[16] | Platinum | 70,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI)[17] | Platinum | 600,000‡ |
United States (RIAA)[19] | Gold | 2,000,000[18] |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
"Lean on Me" | ||||
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Single by Club Nouveau | ||||
from the album Life, Love & Pain | ||||
B-side | "Pump it Up (Reprise)" | |||
Released | March 20, 1987 | |||
Recorded | 1986 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length |
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Label | Warner Bros. | |||
Songwriter(s) | Bill Withers | |||
Producer(s) | Jay King | |||
Club Nouveau singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Lean on Me" on YouTube |
The R&B group Club Nouveau covered the song with go-go beat and took it to number one, for two weeks, on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in March 1987.[21] It also reached number one on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart,[21] and number two on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, kept out of the top spot by Jody Watley's "Looking for a New Love". It won a Grammy Award in 1987 for Bill Withers, as the writer, for Best R&B Song.[22]
The song ranked at number 94 in VH1's 100 Greatest One-hit Wonders of the 80s (although Club Nouveau's follow-up single, "Why You Treat Me So Bad", would reach #39 on the Hot 100 in July 1987).[23]
7-inch single
12-inch single
Chart (1987) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia (Kent Music Report) [24] | 5 |
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[25] | 22 |
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[26] | 12 |
Canada Top Singles (RPM) | 1 |
Ireland (IRMA) | 5 |
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[27] | 5 |
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[28] | 4 |
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[29] | 1 |
South Africa (Springbok) [30] | 2 |
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[31] | 7 |
UK Singles (OCC) | 3 |
US Billboard Hot 100[32] | 1 |
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[33] | 31 |
US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[34] | 1 |
US Hot Black Singles (Billboard)[35] | 2 |
West Germany (Official German Charts)[36] | 9 |
Chart (1987) | Position |
---|---|
Australia (Kent Music Report)[37] | 27 |
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[38] | 4 |
Europe (European Hot 100 Singles)[39] | 55 |
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[40] | 7 |
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[41] | 18 |
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[42] | 3 |
UK Singles (OCC)[43] | 41 |
US Billboard Hot 100[44] | 29 |
US Crossover Singles (Billboard)[45] | 6 |
US Hot Black Singles (Billboard)[46] | 39 |
West Germany (Official German Charts)[47] | 61 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom (BPI)[48] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
United States (RIAA)[49] | Gold | 1,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
"Lean on Me (With the Family)" | ||||
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Single by 2-4 Family | ||||
from the album Family Business | ||||
Released | January 30, 1999 | |||
Recorded | 1998 | |||
Genre | Hip hop | |||
Length | 3:38 (radio version) | |||
Label | Epic | |||
Songwriter(s) | Bill Withers | |||
Producer(s) | Alex Trime, Sven "Delgado" Jordan | |||
2-4 Family singles chronology | ||||
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In 1999, 2-4 Family released "Lean on Me (With the Family)", a remake with a hip hop arrangement and additional lyrics. Epic Records published a 12-inch single and a CD maxi single in Germany.
In 2008, several years after the dissolution of 2-4 Family, founding band-member Mike Johnson performed the song with backing vocalists and dancers at the Eurovision Song Contest in Bulgaria.
Chart (1999) | Peak position |
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Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[50] | 6 |
Germany (Official German Charts)[51] | 9 |
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[52] | 7 |
Chart (1999) | Position |
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Germany (Official German Charts) [53] | 82 |
Ultimately, go-go deserves better than Club Nouveau's version of "Lean On Me." New jack swing deserves better, too.