"That's What Friends Are For" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager.
It was first recorded by Rod Stewart in 1982 for the soundtrack of the film Night Shift, but it is best known for the 1985 version by Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Gladys Knight, and Stevie Wonder. This recording, billed as being by Dionne Warwick & Friends, was released as a charity single for AIDS research and prevention. It was a massive hit, becoming the number-one single of 1986 in the United States, and winning the Grammy Awards for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and Song of the Year. It raised more than $3 million for its cause.
Contents
Dionne Warwick version
Background and composition
Dionne Warwick's recording of "That's What Friends Are For" marked the first time she had worked with Bacharach since the 1970s, when Warwick felt abandoned by Bacharach and Hal David dissolving their partnership. Warwick said of their reconciliation:
We realized we were more than just friends. We were family. Time has a way of giving people the opportunity to grow and understand ... Working with Burt is not a bit different from how it used to be. He expects me to deliver and I can. He knows what I'm going to do before I do it, and the same with me. That's how intertwined we've been.
A one-off collaboration headed by Warwick and featuring Gladys Knight, Elton John, and Stevie Wonder, with a different second verse, was released as a charity single in the UK and the US in 1985. The song is in the key of E♭ major. It was recorded as a benefit for the American Foundation for AIDS Research, and raised more than US$3 million for that cause. Warwick, who had previously raised money for blood-related diseases such as sickle-cell anemia, wanted to help combat the then-growing AIDS epidemic because she had seen friends die painfully of the disease. John plays piano and Wonder plays harmonica on the song; the two had previously worked together on 1983's "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues".
Critical reception
The Dionne and Friends version of the song won the performers the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, as well as Song of the Year for its writers, Bacharach and Bayer Sager.
Chart performance
In the US, the song held the number-one spot of the adult contemporary chart for two weeks, the number-one spot of the soul chart for three weeks, and the top spot of the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks. It became Billboard's number-one single of 1986. It was certified Gold on January 15, 1986, by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It was the final US number one for all but John, who would have two more US number-ones during the 1990s. In 2018, to mark the 60th anniversary of the Hot 100 chart, Billboard ranked the song as the chart's 78th-most successful single.
Outside the United States, the song topped the charts in Canada and Australia and reached the top 10 in Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, and Sweden. On the UK Singles Chart, the song debuted at number 49 and climbed to its peak of number 16 three weeks later, staying at that position for another week before descending the chart. It remained in the UK top 100 for a further five weeks, totaling 10 weeks on the chart altogether.
Live performances
Warwick, John, Knight, and Wonder performed the song live together for the first time in 23 years at the 25th Anniversary amfAR gala in New York City on February 10, 2011.
Personnel
Personnel are adapted from Sessiondays.
Dionne Warwick – vocals
Elton John – vocals, piano
Gladys Knight – vocals
Stevie Wonder – vocals, harmonica
Freddie Washington – bass
John Robinson – drums
Michael Landau – guitar
Randy Kerber – keyboards
David Foster – synthesizer
Paulinho da Costa – percussion
1990 benefit concert
On March 17, 1990, an AIDS benefit titled That's What Friends Are For: Arista Records 15th Anniversary Concert was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. One month later, CBS aired a two-hour version of the concert on television. The celebrity guests and performers were: Luther Vandross, Air Supply, Lauren Bacall, Burt Bacharach, Eric Carmen, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Clive Davis, Taylor Dayne, Michael Douglas, Exposé, Whoopi Goldberg, Melanie Griffith, Hall & Oates, Jennifer Holliday, Whitney Houston, Alan Jackson, Kenny G, Melissa Manchester, Barry Manilow, Milli Vanilli, Jeffrey Osborne, Carly Simon, Patti Smith, Lisa Stansfield, The Four Tops, and Dionne Warwick. "That's What Friends Are For" was the finale song sung by Warwick and cousin Houston before being joined on the stage by the other guests of the event. More than $2.5 million was raised that night for the Arista Foundation which gave the proceeds to various AIDS organizations.
Other versions
In September 2023, British actor-singers Denise van Outen and Duncan James released a duet version in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support, which was recorded in tribute to their friend, singer Sarah Harding, who died from breast cancer in 2021.
In 2024, Warwick took part in a parody version of the song for a Capital One commercial celebrating the annual NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.
Long time WPFW radio host Donnie McKethan used an instrumental version of "That's What Friends Are For" by Vincent Montana, Jr. from the album Sut/l Vibes as the theme song / outro music for his radio programs.