"Lean on Me" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Bill Withers. It was released in April 1972 as the lead single from his second album, Still Bill. It was a No. 1 single on both the soul and Billboard Hot 100 charts, the latter chart for three weeks in July 1972. Billboard ranked it as the No. 7 song of 1972.Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1972

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 with a 1987 cover by Club Nouveau also reaching No. 1. In 2007, the 1972 recording of the song by Bill Withers on Sussex Records was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. It was ranked No. 208 on Rolling Stones list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2010.

Background and writing Bill Withers's childhood in the coal mining town of Slab Fork, West Virginia, was the inspiration for "Lean on Me", which he wrote for his album Still Bill 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.'"

Withers stated in the same interview that he made an effort to keep the lyrics simple.

Several members of the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm BandThompson, Dave (2001). "Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band." Funk. San Francisco: Backbeat Books. pp. 203-206. were used for the recording session in 1972. A string section was also included.

Personnel Bill Withers – Piano, vocals Benorce Blackmon – Guitar Raymond Jackson – Wurlitzer electric piano, string arrangement Melvin Dunlap – Bass James Gadson – Drums

Track listings 7-inch single "Lean on Me" – 3:45 "Better Off Dead" – 2:13

Charts

Weekly charts + Chart (1972)PeakpositionAustralia (Kent Music Report)24Canada Top Singles (RPM)20US Best-Selling Soul Singles (Billboard)1US Easy Listening (Billboard)4US Cash Box Top 1001

+ Chart (2020)Peakposition

+ Chart (2026) Peakposition

Year-end charts + Chart (1972) RankUS Billboard Hot 1007US Cash Box14

Certifications

Club Nouveau version

The R&B group Club Nouveau covered the song with go-go beat on their album Life, Love & Pain and took it to No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100 chart in March 1987. It also reached No. 1 on the Dance Club Play chart and No. 2 on the Hot Black Singles chart. It won a Grammy Award in 1987 for Bill Withers, as the writer, for Best R&B Song at the 30th Annual Grammy Awards. The song ranked at No. 94 in VH1's 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the 80s.

Track listings 7-inch single

"Lean on Me" – 3:58 "Pump It Up (Lean on Me)" (reprise) – 2:38

12-inch 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

Weekly charts + Chart (1987)PeakpositionAustralia (Kent Music Report) N.B. the Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA between mid 1983 and June 19, 1988.5Canada Retail Singles (The Record)1Europe (European Hot 100 Singles)6Italy Airplay (Music & Media)11South Africa (Springbok Radio)2US Hot Black Singles (Billboard)2

Year-end charts + Chart (1987)PositionAustralia (Kent Music Report)27Canada Top Singles (RPM)4Europe (European Hot 100 Singles)55Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)7Netherlands (Single Top 100)18New Zealand (RIANZ)3UK Singles (OCC)41US Billboard Hot 10029US 12-inch Singles Sales (Billboard)15US Crossover Singles (Billboard)6US Dance Club Play (Billboard)36US Hot Black Singles (Billboard)39West Germany (Media Control)61

Certifications

2-4 Family version

In 1999, 2-4 Family released "Lean on Me (With the Family)", a remake with a hip hop arrangement and additional lyrics, from their album Family Business. 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.

Track listings 12-inch single "Lean on Me (With the Family)" (special radio version) – 3:58 "Lean on Me (With the Family)" (DSP mix) – 4:04 "9 Lives" (album version) – 4:06 "Stay" (special radio version) – 4:12 "Lean on Me (With the Family)" (lounge mix) – 6:38 "Stay" (Jay's D-Style mix) – 4:15

CD maxi 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 Weekly charts + Chart (1999)Peakposition

Year-end charts + Chart (1999)PositionGermany (Media Control)82

In popular culture The song is used in the ending scene of the 1995 season 7 episode of The Simpsons titled "Radioactive Man". Mary J. Blige performed this song on the HBO special We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial (January 18, 2009). 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 for President Barack Obama. On October 3, 2015, Hillary Clinton, during her presidential campaign, made a cameo appearance on Saturday Night Live in a comedy sketch alongside Kate McKinnon, who regularly parodied Clinton for the show. At the end of the sketch, the duo sang "Lean on Me" together.

Notable cover versions In 1989, remakes of "Lean on Me" by the Winans and Sandra Reaves-Phillips provided the emotional uplift for the film Lean on Me. For the same film, the song was adapted by Big Daddy Kane in "hip hop" form.

In 1976, English glam rock band Mud released their version which was a top 10 hit on both the UK singles chart and Irish singles chart, peaking at No. 7 and No. 6, respectively.

For the BBC's Children in Need in 2016, 1,580 children in choirs sang the song in unison, live from nine towns across the UK. The choirs started singing at the same time and on the telethon; starting in the studio it cut between the choirs giving them either one 20 second slot, or two 10 second slots on air before finishing in the studio. The choirs sang from Elstree at Elstree Studios (the studio just outside London where the main telethon was held), Liverpool at Sefton Park, Swansea from The Swansea University Bay Campus, Bridlington at Bridlington Spa, Dudley at the Black Country Living Museum, Glasgow at BBC Pacific Quay, Milton Keynes at Stadium MK, Salisbury at Salisbury Arts Centre and Belfast at Titanic.

In 2020, the song was recorded by an ad hoc supergroup of Canadian musicians credited as ArtistsCAN, both in tribute to Withers' recent death and to raise funds for the Canadian Red Cross during the COVID-19 pandemic.Claire Shaffer, "Justin Bieber, Geddy Lee and More Sing ‘Lean on Me’ in Bill Withers Tribute". Rolling Stone, April 27, 2020. Participating artists included Bryan Adams, Jann Arden, Justin Bieber, Michael Bublé, Fefe Dobson, Scott Helman, Shawn Hook, Avril Lavigne, Geddy Lee, Marie-Mai, Sarah McLachlan, Johnny Orlando, Josh Ramsay, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Tyler Shaw, Walk Off the Earth, Donovan Woods, and Olivia Lunny.

In 2023, Japanese-American singer Ai performed the song live at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park during the 49th G7 summit. Ai additionally covered "Lean on Me" during a surprise appearance at the G7's youth symposium that took place later the same day. Her cover of "Lean on Me" later was included on her thirteenth studio album, Respect All.

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