Wind Beneath My Wings
Encyclopedia
"Wind Beneath My Wings" is the title of a song written in 1982 by Jeff Silbar and Larry Henley
. They recorded a demo of the song, which they gave to musician Bob Montgomery
. Montgomery then recorded his own demo version of the song, changing it from the mid-tempo version he was given to a ballad. Silbar and Henley then shopped the song to many artists, eventually resulting in Roger Whittaker
becoming the first to release the song commercially. It appeared on his 1982 studio album, also titled Wind Beneath My Wings.
Following Whittaker's recording, many other artists recorded the song, including Sheena Easton
(who also recorded it in 1982). Easton's version appeared on her 1982 studio album Madness, Money & Music
, though it was not released as a single by her record company. She did, however, perform it on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
, The Merv Griffin Show
, her HBO live concert special, as well as her NBC television special.
1983 was the first year "Wind Beneath My Wings" appeared on music industry trade publication charts in the United States. Singer Lou Rawls
was the first to score a major hit with the song, as his version peaked at #10 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, as well as #60 on the Billboard Hot Black Singles
chart and #65 on the main Billboard Hot 100
singles chart. Gladys Knight & The Pips
also released a recording of the song in 1983 under the title "Hero", and their version peaked at #64 on Billboard' Hot Black Singles chart while also reaching #23 on Billboard' Adult Contemporary chart. Singer Gary Morris
released a country version of the song in 1983 that charted highest on any of the Billboard music charts that year. Morris's version of the song peaked at #4 on Billboard' s Hot Country Singles
chart, and also later won both the Academy of Country Music
and the Country Music Association
awards for Song Of The Year.
But the highest-charting version of the song to date was recorded in 1988 by singer and actress Bette Midler
for the soundtrack to the film Beaches
. This version of "Wind Beneath My Wings" was released as a single in early 1989, spent one week at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in June 1989, and won Grammy Awards
for both Record of the Year
and Song of the Year
in February 1990. On October 24, 1991, Midler's single was also certitifed Platinum
by the Recording Industry Association of America
for shipment of one million copies in the United States.
"Wind Beneath My Wings" has also been recorded by Colleen Hewett
, Lee Greenwood
, B.J. Thomas, Willie Nelson
, Kenny Rogers
, Patti LaBelle
, Eddie
& Gerald Levert
, John Tesh
, Judy Collins
, Shirley Bassey
, Israel Kamakawiwoʻole, Sonata Arctica
, Chyi Yu
and Perry Como
. Donald Braswell II
recorded this song on his 2011 album, Unchained.
for the soundtrack of the film Beaches
and became a U.S. number-one single. It was named Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the Grammy Awards of 1990
. The song became a worldwide hit, #5 in UK, #4 in New Zeland and #1 in Australia.
7": UK (Atlantic A8972)
7": Japan (Atlantic PRS-2048)
3": Japan (Atlantic 09P3-6159)
12": UK (Atlantic A8972T)
3": UK (Atlantic A8972CD)
CDM: USA (Atlantic PR2615-2) Promo
CDM: Germany (Atlantic 756785481-2)
Note: Released in 1996
Larry Henley
Larry Henley is an American singer and songwriter, born June 30, 1941 in Arp, Texas. He is perhaps best known for co-writing the 1989 hit record, "Wind Beneath My Wings". The single was a U.S...
. They recorded a demo of the song, which they gave to musician Bob Montgomery
Bob Montgomery (musician)
Bob Montgomery is an American singer, songwriter, and music producer/publisher.Montgomery was born in Lampasas, Texas. He was a songwriting partner and best friend of Buddy Holly, performing together as the duo "Buddy and Bob" while teenagers in high school...
. Montgomery then recorded his own demo version of the song, changing it from the mid-tempo version he was given to a ballad. Silbar and Henley then shopped the song to many artists, eventually resulting in Roger Whittaker
Roger Whittaker
Roger Whittaker is an Anglo-Kenyan singer-songwriter and musician with worldwide record sales of over 55 million. His music can be described as easy listening. He is best known for his baritone singing voice and trademark whistling ability...
becoming the first to release the song commercially. It appeared on his 1982 studio album, also titled Wind Beneath My Wings.
Following Whittaker's recording, many other artists recorded the song, including Sheena Easton
Sheena Easton
Sheena Easton is a Scottish recording artist. Easton became famous for being the focus of an episode in the British television programme The Big Time, which recorded her attempts to gain a record contract and her eventual signing with EMI Records.Easton rose to fame in the early 1980s with the pop...
(who also recorded it in 1982). Easton's version appeared on her 1982 studio album Madness, Money & Music
Madness, Money & Music
Madness, Money & Music is the third album by singer Sheena Easton. It was released in 1982 and produced by Christopher Neil. This Adult Contemporary ballad-led album includes the hits, "I Wouldn't Beg for Water" and "Machinery" , as well as the UK single "Are You Man Enough"...
, though it was not released as a single by her record company. She did, however, perform it on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
, The Merv Griffin Show
The Merv Griffin Show
The Merv Griffin Show is an American television talk show, starring Merv Griffin. The series ran from October 1, 1962 to March 29, 1963 on NBC, September 20, 1965 to September 26, 1969 in first-run syndication, from August 18, 1969 to February 11, 1972 at 11:30 PM ET weeknights on CBS and again in...
, her HBO live concert special, as well as her NBC television special.
1983 was the first year "Wind Beneath My Wings" appeared on music industry trade publication charts in the United States. Singer Lou Rawls
Lou Rawls
Louis Allen "Lou" Rawls was an American soul, jazz, and blues singer. He was known for his smooth vocal style: Frank Sinatra once said that Rawls had "the classiest singing and silkiest chops in the singing game"...
was the first to score a major hit with the song, as his version peaked at #10 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, as well as #60 on the Billboard Hot Black Singles
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,...
chart and #65 on the main 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...
singles chart. Gladys Knight & The Pips
Gladys Knight & the Pips
Gladys Knight & The Pips were an R&B/soul family musical act from Atlanta, Georgia, active from 1953 to 1989. The group was best known for their string of hit singles on Motown's "Soul" record label and Buddah Records from 1967 to 1975, including "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and "Midnight...
also released a recording of the song in 1983 under the title "Hero", and their version peaked at #64 on Billboard
Gary Morris
Gary Gwyn Morris is an American country music artist who charted a string of countrypolitan-styled hit songs throughout the 1980s....
released a country version of the song in 1983 that charted highest on any of the Billboard music charts that year. Morris's version of the song peaked at #4 on Billboard
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
chart, and also later won both the Academy of Country Music
Academy of Country Music
The Academy of Country Music was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Whereas the Country Music Association, founded in 1958, was based in Nashville, the Academy sought to promote country music in the western states. Among those involved in the...
and the Country Music Association
Country Music Association
The Country Music Association was founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee. It originally consisted of only 233 members and was the first trade organization formed to promote a music genre...
awards for Song Of The Year.
But the highest-charting version of the song to date was recorded in 1988 by singer and actress Bette Midler
Bette Midler
Bette Midler is an American singer, actress, and comedian, also known by her informal stage name, The Divine Miss M. She became famous as a cabaret and concert headliner, and went on to star in successful and acclaimed films such as The Rose, Ruthless People, Beaches, and For The Boys...
for the soundtrack to the film Beaches
Beaches (film)
Beaches , is a 1988 American comedy-drama film adapted by Mary Agnes Donoghue from the Iris Rainer Dart novel of the same name...
. This version of "Wind Beneath My Wings" was released as a single in early 1989, spent one week at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in June 1989, and won Grammy Awards
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for both Record of the Year
Record Of The Year
Record of the Year may refer to:*Grammy Award for Record of the Year*The Record of the Year, a British award based on public polling...
and Song of the Year
Song of the Year
Song of the Year may refer to:* Dove Award for Song of the Year* Grammis Song of the Year* Grammy Award for Song of the Year* Latin Grammy Award for Song of the Year* Singing News Fan Awards for Song of the Year...
in February 1990. On October 24, 1991, Midler's single was also certitifed Platinum
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
for shipment of one million copies in the United States.
"Wind Beneath My Wings" has also been recorded by Colleen Hewett
Colleen Hewett
Colleen Hewett is an Australian actress and popular singer. She is perhaps best known to international audiences for her 1984 guest role in the television series Prisoner as Sheila Brady.-Pop singer:...
, Lee Greenwood
Lee Greenwood
Melvin Lee Greenwood is an American country music artist. Active since the early 1980s, he has released more than twenty major-label albums and has charted more than 35 singles on the Billboard country music charts....
, B.J. Thomas, Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
, Kenny Rogers
Kenny Rogers
Kenneth Donald "Kenny" Rogers is an American singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur...
, Patti LaBelle
Patti LaBelle
Patricia Louise Holte-Edwards , better known under the stage name, Patti LaBelle, is a Grammy Award winning American singer, author and actress who has spent over 50 years in the music industry...
, Eddie
Eddie Levert
Edward "Eddie" Levert is an American singer, and is the lead vocalist of the soul/funk/R&B vocal group, The O'Jays.Levert was born in Bessemer, Alabama, but was raised in Canton, Ohio. While attending high school, he met buddies Walter Williams, Bill Isles, Bobby Massey, and William Powell...
& Gerald Levert
Gerald Levert
Gerald Levert was an American R&B singer. Gerald Levert sang with his brother, Sean Levert, and friend Marc Gordon in the R&B trio LeVert. He was also a part of LSG, an R&B supergroup comprising Keith Sweat, Johnny Gill, and Levert...
, John Tesh
John Tesh
John Frank Tesh is an American pianist and composer of pop music, as well as a radio host and television presenter. His 10-year-old 'Intelligence for Your Life Radio Show' reaches 14.2 Million listeners/week, and is syndicated by Teshmedia on 400 stations in US, Canada, and the UK...
, Judy Collins
Judy Collins
Judith Marjorie "Judy" Collins is an American singer and songwriter, known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records ; and for her social activism. She is an alumna of the University of Colorado.-Musical career:Collins was born and raised in Seattle, Washington...
, Shirley Bassey
Shirley Bassey
Dame Shirley Bassey, DBE , is a Welsh singer. She found fame in the late 1950s and was "one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century"...
, Israel Kamakawiwoʻole, Sonata Arctica
Sonata Arctica
Sonata Arctica are a Finnish power metal band from the town of Kemi, originally assembled in 1995. Their later works contain several elements typical of progressive metal.....
, Chyi Yu
Chyi Yu
Chyi Yu , is a Taiwanese singer. She is also the older sister of Taiwanese singer songwriter Chyi Chin, and is best known for her 1979 hit, "The Olive Tree" .-Discography:*1979 橄欖樹 *1982 祝福*1983 你是我所有的回憶*1984 有一個人...
and Perry Como
Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
. Donald Braswell II
Donald Braswell II
Donald Braswell II is an American actor, classical crossover tenor and composer. Braswell was on a fast track to become an internationally acclaimed opera singer when he suffered a car accident in 1995 that made him unable to speak for almost two years...
recorded this song on his 2011 album, Unchained.
Gary Morris version
"Wind Beneath My Wings" was performed by Bette MidlerBette Midler
Bette Midler is an American singer, actress, and comedian, also known by her informal stage name, The Divine Miss M. She became famous as a cabaret and concert headliner, and went on to star in successful and acclaimed films such as The Rose, Ruthless People, Beaches, and For The Boys...
for the soundtrack of the film Beaches
Beaches (film)
Beaches , is a 1988 American comedy-drama film adapted by Mary Agnes Donoghue from the Iris Rainer Dart novel of the same name...
and became a U.S. number-one single. It was named Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the Grammy Awards of 1990
Grammy Awards of 1990
The 32nd Grammy Awards were held in 1990. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year.-General:*Record of the Year**Arif Mardin & Bette Midler for "Wind Beneath My Wings"*Album of the Year...
. The song became a worldwide hit, #5 in UK, #4 in New Zeland and #1 in Australia.
Track listing
7": USA (Atlantic 7-88972)7": UK (Atlantic A8972)
7": Japan (Atlantic PRS-2048)
3": Japan (Atlantic 09P3-6159)
- "Wind Beneath My Wings"
- "Oh Industry"
12": UK (Atlantic A8972T)
3": UK (Atlantic A8972CD)
- "Wind Beneath My Wings"
- "Oh Industry"
- "I Think It's Going To Rain Today"
CDM: USA (Atlantic PR2615-2) Promo
- "Wind Beneath My Wings" (Edit)
- "Wind Beneath My Wings" (Album Version)
CDM: Germany (Atlantic 756785481-2)
- "Wind Beneath My Wings"
- "From A DistanceFrom a Distance"From a Distance" is a song written in 1985 by American singer-songwriter Julie Gold. Some think this song was inspired by a PF Sloan song of the same name. Gold was working as a secretary at the time for Home Box Office and writing songs in her free time...
" - "In My LifeIn My Life"In My Life" is a song by The Beatles written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney . The song originated with Lennon, and while Paul McCartney contributed to the final version, the extent of his contribution is in dispute. George Martin contributed the instrumental bridge...
" - "To Deserve You"
Note: Released in 1996
Chart performance
| Chart (1989) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| U.S. Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks | 2 |
| UK Singles Chart | 5 |
| Chart (2008) | Peak position |
| UK Singles Chart | 70 |