"Rock Steady" is a song written and performed by American singer-songwriter Aretha Franklin, released in October 1971, from her eighteenth album, Young, Gifted and Black (1972). The single reached the No. 9 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 charts that same year. It also peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Best Selling Soul Singles chart. The original A-side, a rendition of the song "Oh Me Oh My (I'm a Fool for You Baby)" peaked at No. 73 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 9 on the Best Selling Soul Singles chart.
Contents
Personnel
Aretha Franklin – lead vocals, piano
Donny Hathaway – electric piano, organ
Bernard Purdie – drums
Cornell Dupree – guitar
Richard Tee – organ
Chuck Rainey – bass guitar
The Sweethearts of Soul (Brenda Bryant, Margaret Branch, Pat Smith) — backing vocals
Robert Popwell, Dr. John – percussion
The Memphis Horns
Wayne Jackson – trumpet
Andrew Love – tenor saxophone
Ron Albert, Howard Albert, Chuck Kirkpatrick; engineer
Jerry Wexler – production
Tom Dowd – horn arrangement, production
Arif Mardin – production
Cover versions
The earliest cover was a reggae version recorded by The Marvels on the Pama Supreme label, coupled with "Be My Baby", in 1971.
An early cover was in 1972 by Sweet Salvation, who recorded a whip-snapping cover for their sole eponymous album.
The Jackson Sisters recorded a cover of the song in 1976 for their eponymous album.
In 1987, a house version of the song was recorded by singer Dalis and released on Trax Records.
Rap duo EPMD sampled the beat and Franklin's lyrics (more pronounced on the remix) for their 1989 single "I'm Housin" from their debut LP Strictly Business.
Patti Austin covered the song on her 1994 album That Secret Place.
Spanish rock rap band Def Con Dos sampled the horn section of the song's chorus on their song "Promiscuidad" from their 1996 album Ultramemia.
Rap group People Under the Stairs mention the song in their song "The Next Step II" from their 1998 album The Next Step.
Dawn Robinson of the group En Vogue did a solo cover of the song on 1998's Dr. Dolittle film soundtrack.
Daryl Hall and John Oates covered the song on their 2004 album Our Kind of Soul.
Prince released a version on his 2007 live album, Indigo Nights. The song features Beverley Knight.
In 2008, the song was sampled by Japanese R&B singer Namie Amuro in her own song, "Rock Steady".
Usage in media
The song was used in the 2000 American comedy film High Fidelity.
The song is used as a diegetic track in 2011 video game Driver: San Francisco.
The song was heard in the 2017 American comedy-drama film The Upside.
The song was used as an introduction to Ellen DeGeneres' Netflix 2018 stand-up comedy special Relatable.