Lean on Me (song)
Encyclopedia
"Lean on Me" is a song written and released by Bill Withers
in 1972.
It was his first and only number one on both the soul singles and the Billboard Hot 100
. It is ranked number 205 on the Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Numerous cover versions have been recorded, and it is one of only nine songs to have scored No. 1 with versions recorded by two different artists.
Withers' childhood in the coal mining town of Slab Fork, West Virginia
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 lived in a decrepit house in the poor section of 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.'"
Several members of the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band
were used for the recording session in 1972.
group Club Nouveau
covered the song and took it to number one for two weeks on the Billboard
charts in 1987. It also scored number one on the dance charts, and won a Grammy award in 1987 for Bill Withers, as the writer, for Best R&B Song.
12" Single
released an adapted rap version with additional lyrics. The track was entitled "Lean on Me (With the Family)". Unlike the original, this version is very Hip hop
-influenced.
and Heart
made a duet singing this song at the 17th Race To Erase MS event in May 2010. Kid Rock
, Sheryl Crow
, and Keith Urban
performed the song at the 2010 Hope for Haiti earthquake relief telethon
.
The song was used in a 1970s drug awareness film titled Dead Is Dead, hosted and produced by actor Godfrey Cambridge
.
Mary J. Blige
performed this song at the HBO We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial
. The next day, a crowd spontaneously began singing the song in the Purple Tunnel of Doom under the National Mall
as they waited to gain entrance to the inauguration ceremonies.
The song features at the end of Radioactive Man
, an episode of The Simpsons
, when two film producers return to Hollywood after a movie failure.
Paula Abdul
and The Muppets
performed this song on a 1997 episode of Muppets Tonight
.
On the fourth season of Martin
, Martin and the crew sang the song in the hospital in the episode, "Why Can't We Be Friends" that was aired in 1996.
Brian Eno
, Michael Stipe
, and Stephen Colbert
sang an a capella version of the song on The Colbert Report that first aired on November 10, 2011.
(1976), Al Jarreau
(1985), DC Talk (1992), Michael Bolton
(1993), Bonnie Tyler
(1999), Anne Murray
(1999), and The Temptations
.
In 1989, covers of "Lean on Me" by The Winans
and Sandra Reaves-Phillips provided the emotional uplift for a motion picture of the same name
. Additionally, for the same film, the song was adapted by Big Daddy Kane
in "hip hop" form.
In Denmark
, rapper Majid
featuring Burhan G
made a rap song entitled "Lean On Me". The song contains the same introduction words as the original, with Burhan G doing the refrain from the song however otherwise has different lyrics.
Mitchel Musso
recorded a version of the song for the 2008 film Snow Buddies
.
Glee
recorded a version of the song for their "Ballad
" episode, in which the glee club sings it to fellow members Finn
and Quinn
.
On the fourth season of Martin
, Martin and the crew sang the song in the hospital in the episode, "Why Can't We Be Friends" that was aired in 1996.
Brian Eno
, Michael Stipe
, and Stephen Colbert
sang an a capella version of the song on The Colbert Report that first aired on November 10, 2011.
Bill Withers
William Harrison "Bill" Withers, Jr. is an American singer-songwriter and musician who performed and recorded from 1970 until 1985. Some of his best-known songs are "Lean on Me", "Ain't No Sunshine", "Use Me", "Just the Two of Us", "Lovely Day", and "Grandma's Hands"...
in 1972.
It was his first and only number one on both the soul singles and the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. It is ranked number 205 on the Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Numerous cover versions have been recorded, and it is one of only nine songs to have scored No. 1 with versions recorded by two different artists.
Withers' childhood in the coal mining town of Slab Fork, West Virginia
Slab Fork, West Virginia
Slab Fork is an unincorporated community in Raleigh County, West Virginia, United States with a population of 202. Slab Fork is located along a stream of the same name and West Virginia Route 54...
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 lived in a decrepit house in the poor section of 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.'"
Several members of the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band
Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band
Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band is a pioneering American soul and funk band. Formed in the early 1960s, they had the most visibility from 1967 to 1973 when the band had 9 singles reach Billboard's pop and/or rhythm and blues Hot 100 lists, such as "Do Your Thing" , "Till You Get...
were used for the recording session in 1972.
Charts
| Chart (1972) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
1 |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary | 4 |
| UK Singles Chart | 18 |
Club Nouveau version
R&BRhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
group Club Nouveau
Club Nouveau
Club Nouveau is a contemporary R&B-pop band that was formed by record producer/performer Jay King in 1986 in Sacramento, California, subsequent to the breakup of the Timex Social Club. Other members of Club Nouveau included original members Denzil Foster, Thomas McElroy, Samuelle Prater, and...
covered the song and took it to number one for two weeks on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
charts in 1987. It also scored number one on the dance charts, and won a Grammy award in 1987 for Bill Withers, as the writer, for Best R&B Song.
Track listings
7" Single- "Lean On Me" 3:58
- "Pump It Up (Lean On Me) (Reprise)" 2:38
12" Single
- "Lean On Me (Remix)" 7:42
- "Lean On Me (LP Version)" 5:56
- "Pump It Up (Lean On Me) (Remix)" 4:51
- "Pump It Up (Lean On Me) (Reprise - LP Version)" 2:38
Charts
| Chart (1987) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Hot Dance Club Play The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs... |
1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
2 |
| Canadian Singles Chart | 1 |
| UK Singles Chart | 3 |
| German Singles Chart | 9 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 22 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 7 |
| Dutch Top 40 | 4 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 1 |
2-4 Family version
In 1999, 2-4 Family2-4 Family
2-4 Family was a rap/hip hop group, that formed in Germany in the late 1990s. The original line-up consisted of Jo O'Meara, Jay Dogg, Joseph Jazz and Essence Woods.-History:...
released an adapted rap version with additional lyrics. The track was entitled "Lean on Me (With the Family)". Unlike the original, this version is very Hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
-influenced.
Track listings
CD Single- Lean On Me (With The Family) (Radio Version) 3:38
- Lean On Me (With The Family) (DSP Mix) 4:04
- Lean On Me (With The Family) (Lounge Mix) 6:38
- Lean On Me (With The Family) (Special Radio Version) 3:58
- Stay (Jay's D-Style Mix) 4:15
- 9 Lives (Album Version) 4:06
Charts
| Chart (1999) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| German Singles Chart | 9 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 6 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 7 |
In popular culture
The song is frequently played at charity events. Avril LavigneAvril Lavigne
Avril Ramona Lavigne is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She was born in Belleville, Ontario, but spent most of her youth in the small town of Napanee. By the age of 15, she had appeared on stage with Shania Twain; by 16, she had signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records worth more...
and Heart
Heart (band)
Heart is an American rock band who first found success in Canada. Throughout several lineup changes, the only two members remaining constant are sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson. The group rose to fame in the 1970s with their music being influenced by hard rock as well as folk music...
made a duet singing this song at the 17th Race To Erase MS event in May 2010. Kid Rock
Kid Rock
Robert James "Bob" Ritchie , known by his stage name Kid Rock, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and rapper with five Grammy Awards nominations...
, Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Suzanne Crow is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, folk, hip hop, country and pop...
, and Keith Urban
Keith Urban
Keith Lionel Urban is a New Zealand-born Australian, country music singer, songwriter and guitarist whose commercial success has been mainly in the United States and Australia. Urban was born in New Zealand and began his career in Australia at an early age...
performed the song at the 2010 Hope for Haiti earthquake relief telethon
Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief
Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief was a charity telethon held on January 22, 2010 from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time . The telethon was the most widely distributed telethon in history...
.
The song was used in a 1970s drug awareness film titled Dead Is Dead, hosted and produced by actor Godfrey Cambridge
Godfrey Cambridge
-External links:*...
.
Mary J. Blige
Mary J. Blige
Mary Jane Blige is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and occasional actress. She is a recipient of nine Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards, and has recorded eight multi-platinum albums. She is the only artist with Grammy Award wins in Pop, Rap, Gospel, and R&B. Blige has...
performed this song at the HBO We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial
We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial
We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial was a public celebration of the then forthcoming inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States at the Lincoln Memorial and the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on January 18, 2009. By some estimates the...
. The next day, a crowd spontaneously began singing the song in the Purple Tunnel of Doom under the National Mall
National Mall
The National Mall is an open-area national park in downtown Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. The National Mall is a unit of the National Park Service , and is administered by the National Mall and Memorial Parks unit...
as they waited to gain entrance to the inauguration ceremonies.
The song features at the end of Radioactive Man
Radioactive Man (The Simpsons episode)
"Radioactive Man" is the second episode of The Simpsons seventh season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on September 24, 1995. The episode sees the film version of the comic book series Radioactive Man set up production in Springfield. Much to Bart's disappointment, the...
, an episode of The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
, when two film producers return to Hollywood after a movie failure.
Paula Abdul
Paula Abdul
Paula Julie Abdul is an American singer-songwriter, dancer, choreographer, actress and television personality.In the 1980s, Abdul rose from cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers to highly sought-after choreographer at the height of the music video era before scoring a string of pop music-R&B hits...
and The Muppets
The Muppets
The Muppets are a group of puppet characters created by Jim Henson starting in 1954–55. Although the term is often used to refer to any puppet that resembles the distinctive style of The Muppet Show, the term is both an informal name and legal trademark owned by the Walt Disney Company in reference...
performed this song on a 1997 episode of Muppets Tonight
Muppets Tonight
Muppets Tonight is a live-action/puppet television series created by Jim Henson Productions and featuring The Muppets. Much like the "MuppeTelevision" segment of The Jim Henson Hour, Muppets Tonight was a continuation of The Muppet Show, set in a television studio, rather than a theater.-Format:The...
.
On the fourth season of Martin
Martin (TV series)
Martin is an American sitcom produced by HBO Independent Productions that aired for five seasons, from August 27, 1992 to May 1, 1997 on Fox...
, Martin and the crew sang the song in the hospital in the episode, "Why Can't We Be Friends" that was aired in 1996.
Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
, Michael Stipe
Michael Stipe
John Michael Stipe is an American singer and lyricist. He was the lead vocalist of the alternative rock band R.E.M.Stipe is noted and occasionally parodied for the "mumbling" style of his early career as well as his social and political activism. He was in charge of R.E.M.'s visual image; often...
, and Stephen Colbert
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Tyrone Colbert is an American political satirist, writer, comedian, television host, and actor. He is the host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, a satirical news show in which Colbert portrays a caricatured version of conservative political pundits.Colbert originally studied to be an...
sang an a capella version of the song on The Colbert Report that first aired on November 10, 2011.
Other cover versions
"Lean on Me" has been interpreted by various other artists including MudMud (band)
Mud were an English glam rock band, formed in February 1968, best remembered for their single "Tiger Feet", which was the UK's best-selling single of 1974...
(1976), Al Jarreau
Al Jarreau
Alwin "Al" Lopez Jarreau is a seven-time Grammy Award winning jazz singer.- Background :Jarreau was born in Milwaukee, the fifth of six children. His web site refers to Reservoir, Inc., the name of the street where he lived. His father was a Seventh-Day Adventist Church minister and singer, and...
(1985), DC Talk (1992), Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton originally performed in the hard rock and heavy metal genres from the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s, both on his early solo albums and those recorded as the frontman of the band Blackjack...
(1993), Bonnie Tyler
Bonnie Tyler
Bonnie Tyler is a Welsh singer, most notable for her hits in the 1970s and 1980s including "It's a Heartache", "Holding Out for a Hero" and "Total Eclipse of the Heart".-Early life:...
(1999), Anne Murray
Anne Murray
Morna Anne Murray CC, ONS is a Canadian singer in pop, country and adult contemporary styles whose albums have sold over 54 million copies....
(1999), and The Temptations
The Temptations
The Temptations is an American vocal group having achieved fame as one of the most successful acts to record for Motown Records. The group's repertoire has included, at various times during its five-decade career, R&B, doo-wop, funk, disco, soul, and adult contemporary music.Formed in Detroit,...
.
In 1989, covers of "Lean on Me" by The Winans
The Winans
The Winans are an American Gospel music quartet from Detroit, Michigan consisting of brothers Marvin, Carvin, Michael and Ronald Winans.-Members:Please refer to the Winans family page for more detail on the individual members.-Origins:...
and Sandra Reaves-Phillips provided the emotional uplift for a motion picture of the same name
Lean on Me (film)
Lean on Me is a 1989 dramatized biographical written by Michael Schiffer, directed by John G. Avildsen and starring Morgan Freeman. Lean on Me is loosely based on the story of Joe Louis Clark, a real life inner city high school principal in Paterson, New Jersey, whose school is at risk of being...
. Additionally, for the same film, the song was adapted by Big Daddy Kane
Big Daddy Kane
Antonio Hardy better known by his stage name Big Daddy Kane, is an American rapper who started his career in 1986 as a member of the rap group the Juice Crew. He is widely considered to be one of the most influential and skilled MC's in Hip Hop...
in "hip hop" form.
In Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, rapper Majid
Majid (rapper)
Majid is a Danish rapper of Moroccan-Berber origin. Residing in Brøndby Strand near Copenhagen, Denmark he was a major contributor to Danish act Outlandish, which also hails from Brøndby Strand...
featuring Burhan G
Burhan G
Burhan Genç known as Burhan G is a Danish R&B and pop singer, songwriter and producer of Kurdish/Turkish origin from Turkey. His father is Turkish origin and his mother kurdish origin. He has three albums including Burhan G in 2010. that was certified platinum in Denmark...
made a rap song entitled "Lean On Me". The song contains the same introduction words as the original, with Burhan G doing the refrain from the song however otherwise has different lyrics.
Mitchel Musso
Mitchel Musso
Mitchel Tate Musso is an American actor, singer-songwriter and musician. Musso is best known for his three Disney Channel roles as Oliver Oken in the Disney Channel sitcom, Hannah Montana, Jeremy Johnson in the Disney Channel animated series Phineas and Ferb and his role as King Brady in the...
recorded a version of the song for the 2008 film Snow Buddies
Snow Buddies
Snow Buddies is a 2008 direct to video in the Air Bud series. It was released on DVD on February 5, 2008. The movie was shot on location in Canada at Mount Seymore and the town of Ladner, British Columbia.-Plot:...
.
Glee
Glee (TV series)
Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...
recorded a version of the song for their "Ballad
Ballad (Glee)
"Ballad" is the tenth episode of the American television series Glee. The episode premiered on the Fox network on November 18, 2009, and was written and directed by series creator Brad Falchuk. "Ballad" sees the glee club split into pairs to sing ballads to one another. Rachel is paired with club...
" episode, in which the glee club sings it to fellow members Finn
Finn Hudson
Finn Hudson is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee. The character is portrayed by actor Cory Monteith, and has appeared in Glee from its pilot episode, first broadcast on May 19, 2009. Finn was developed by Glee creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan...
and Quinn
Quinn Fabray
Quinn Fabray is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee. The character is portrayed by actress Dianna Agron, and has appeared in Glee since its pilot episode, first broadcast on May 19, 2009. She is a former cheerleader at the fictional William McKinley High School in...
.
On the fourth season of Martin
Martin (TV series)
Martin is an American sitcom produced by HBO Independent Productions that aired for five seasons, from August 27, 1992 to May 1, 1997 on Fox...
, Martin and the crew sang the song in the hospital in the episode, "Why Can't We Be Friends" that was aired in 1996.
Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
, Michael Stipe
Michael Stipe
John Michael Stipe is an American singer and lyricist. He was the lead vocalist of the alternative rock band R.E.M.Stipe is noted and occasionally parodied for the "mumbling" style of his early career as well as his social and political activism. He was in charge of R.E.M.'s visual image; often...
, and Stephen Colbert
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Tyrone Colbert is an American political satirist, writer, comedian, television host, and actor. He is the host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, a satirical news show in which Colbert portrays a caricatured version of conservative political pundits.Colbert originally studied to be an...
sang an a capella version of the song on The Colbert Report that first aired on November 10, 2011.