That's What Friends Are For
{{Short description|1982 song by Rod Stewart}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2012}}
{{Infobox song
| name = That's What Friends Are For
| cover =
| alt =
| type =
| artist = Rod Stewart
| album = Night Shift
| released = 1982
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Pop
| length = 3:54
| label = Warner Bros.
| writer = {{hlist|Burt Bacharach|Carole Bayer Sager}}
| producer =
}}
"That's What Friends Are For" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager.
It was first recorded in 1975 by The Stylistics, then covered 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.
Rod Stewart version
"That’s What Friends Are For" was included on the expanded edition of the 2008 remaster of the album Body Wishes.
=Personnel=
- Rod Stewart – vocals
- Jim Cregan – guitar, background vocals
- Jimmy "Z" Zavala – saxophone
- Kevin Savigar – keyboards
- Jay Davis – bass
- Tony Brock – drums, background vocals
Dionne Warwick version
{{Infobox song
| name = That's What Friends Are For
| cover = Dionne and Friends That's What Friends Are For.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder
(as "Dionne & Friends")
| album = Friends
| B-side = Two Ships Passing in the Night
| released = October 1985
| recorded = 1985
| studio =
| venue =
| genre =
- Pop
- soul
- R&B{{cite book|last= Breihan|first= Tom|chapter= Bon Jovi - "You Give Love a Bad Name|date= November 15, 2022|title= The Number Ones: Twenty Chart-Topping Hits That Reveal the History of Pop Music|publisher=Hachette Book Group|location= New York|page= 183}}
| length = {{Duration|m=4|s=15}}
| label = Arista
| writer =
| producer =
- Burt Bacharach
- Carole Bayer Sager
| chronology = Dionne Warwick
| prev_title = Run to Me
| prev_year = 1985
| next_title = Whisper in the Dark
| next_year = 1986
| misc = {{Extra chronology
| artist = Elton John
| type = single
| prev_title = Act of War
| prev_year = 1985
| title = That's What Friends Are For
| year = 1985
| next_title = Nikita
| next_year = 1985
}}
{{Extra chronology
| artist = Gladys Knight
| type = single
| prev_title = Till I See You Again
| prev_year = 1985
| title = That's What Friends Are For
| year = 1985
| next_title = Send It to Me
| next_year = 1986
}}
{{Extra chronology
| artist = Stevie Wonder
| type = single
| prev_title = Part-Time Lover
| prev_year = 1985
| title = That's What Friends Are For
| year = 1985
| next_title = Go Home
| next_year = 1985
}}
{{External music video|{{YouTube|HyTpu6BmE88|"That's What Friends Are For"}}}}
}}
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:{{cite news |last=McEvoy |first=Colin |title=What It Was Like to Work with Burt Bacharach, in the Words of his Collaborators |work= Biography |date= February 9, 2023 |url=https://www.biography.com/musicians/a42815918/burt-bacharach-famous-collaborators |accessdate=February 11, 2023}}
{{blockquote|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-flat major.{{cite web|url=https://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtd.asp?ppn=MN0164122|title=That's What Friends Are For by Dionne & Friends – Digital Sheet Music|date=November 14, 2016|publisher= | website= Musicnotes.com |access-date= April 9, 2021}} 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.{{cite news |newspaper= Washington Post |date=1988 |quote=So working against AIDS, especially after years of raising money for work on many blood-related diseases such as sickle-cell anemia, seemed the right thing to do. 'You have to be granite not to want to help people with AIDS, because the devastation that it causes is so painful to see. I was so hurt to see my friend die with such agony,' Warwick remembers. 'I am tired of hurting, and it does hurt. |title=That's What Friends Are For}} 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".
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 (John would have two more US number-ones during the 1990s). Due to Wonder's involvement, it also holds the distinction of being the last number-one song for anyone who had topped the charts before the British Invasion (his first number-one hit, "Fingertips", came in 1963).
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.
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. This rendition is also listed at number 75 on Billboard's Greatest Songs of all time.{{cite web | url= http://www.billboard.com/charts/greatest-hot-100-singles| title = Greatest of All-Time – Hot 100 Songs |website= Billboard.com| date= | accessdate = }}
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.{{cite news| url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704132204576136581815276232 | work=The Wall Street Journal | first=Marshall | last=Heyman | title=Superstar 'Friends' Reunite | date=February 11, 2011}}
=Personnel=
- Dionne Warwick – vocals
- Elton John – vocals, piano
- Gladys Knight – vocals
- Stevie Wonder – vocals, harmonica
- Freddie Washington – bass
- John Robinson – drums
- Carlos Vega – drums
- Michael Landau – guitar
- Randy Kerber – keyboards
- David Foster – synthesizer
- Paulinho da Costa – percussion
=Charts=
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
==Weekly charts==
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+Weekly chart performance for "That's What Friends Are For" !Chart (1985–1986) !Peak |
| scope="row"|Australia (Kent Music Report){{cite book|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, NSW|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6}}
|1 |
|---|
| {{single chart|Flanders|10|artist=Dionne & Friends|song=That's What Friends Are For|rowheader=true|access-date=June 8, 2018}} |
| {{single chart|Canadatopsingles|1|chartid=0625|rowheader=true|access-date=June 8, 2018}} |
| {{single chart|Canadaadultcontemporary|1|chartid=9353|rowheader=true|access-date=June 8, 2018}} |
| scope="row"|Europe (European Hot 100 Singles){{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/80s/1986/M&M-1986-01-06.pdf|title=European Hot 100 Singles|magazine=Eurotipsheet|volume=3|issue=1|page=15|date=January 6, 1986|access-date=August 30, 2020}}
|19 |
| scope="row"|Finland (Suomen virallinen lista){{cite book|url=https://musiikkiarkisto.fi/oa/_tiedostot/julkaisut/sisaltaa-hitin.pdf#page=278|first=Timo|last=Pennanen|year=2021|title=Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021|section=Dionne Warwick|page=278|publisher=Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava|location=Helsinki|access-date=July 11, 2022|language=Finnish}}
|18 |
| scope="row"|France (IFOP){{cite web|url=http://infodisc.fr/Tubes_Artistes_W.php|title=InfoDisc : Les Tubes de chaque Artiste commençant par W|website=Infodisc|access-date=June 12, 2020}}
|79 |
| {{single chart|Ireland2|7|song=That s What Friends Are For|rowheader=true|access-date=June 8, 2018}} |
| scope="row"|Italy (Musica e dischi){{cite web|url=http://www.musicaedischi.it/classifiche_archivio.php|title=Classifiche|work=Musica e dischi|language=it|access-date=June 8, 2022}} Set "Tipo" on "Singoli". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Dionne Warwick".
|5 |
| {{single chart|Dutch40|11|year=1985|week=48|rowheader=true|access-date=June 8, 2018}} |
| {{single chart|Dutch100|13|artist=Dionne & Friends|song=That's What Friends Are For|rowheader=true|access-date=June 8, 2018}} |
| {{single chart|New Zealand|3|artist=Dionne & Friends|song=That's What Friends Are For|rowheader=true|access-date=June 8, 2018}} |
| {{single chart|Norway|6|artist=Dionne & Friends|song=That's What Friends Are For|rowheader=true|access-date=June 8, 2018}} |
| scope="row"|South Africa (Springbok Radio){{cite web|url=http://www.rock.co.za/files/sa_charts_1969_1989_songs_(T-V).html|title=SA Charts 1965 – 1989 Songs T-V|website=South African Rock Lists|access-date=June 8, 2018}}
|2 |
| {{single chart|Sweden|7|artist=Dionne & Friends|song=That's What Friends Are For|rowheader=true|access-date=June 8, 2018}} |
| {{single chart|Switzerland|11|artist=Dionne & Friends|song=That's What Friends Are For|rowheader=true|access-date=June 8, 2018}} |
| {{single chart|UK|16|date=19851130|rowheader=true|access-date=June 8, 2018}} |
| {{single chart|Billboardhot100|1|artist=Dionne Warwick|rowheader=true|access-date=June 8, 2018}} |
| {{single chart|Billboardadultcontemporary|1|artist=Dionne Warwick|rowheader=true|access-date=June 8, 2018}} |
| {{single chart|Billboardrandbhiphop|1|artist=Dionne Warwick|rowheader=true|access-date=June 8, 2018}} |
| {{single chart|West Germany|36|songid=1360|artist=Dionne & Friends|song=That's What Friends Are For|rowheader=true|access-date=June 8, 2018}} |
{{col-2}}
==Year-end charts==
{{col-end}}
=Certifications=
{{Certification Table Top|caption=Certifications and sales for "That's What Friends Are For"}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|title=That's What Friends Are For|artist=Dionne Warwick & Friends|type=single|award=Platinum|relyear=1985|certyear=1986|access-date=September 26, 2019}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|title=That's What Friends Are For|artist=Dionne Warwick|type=single|award=Silver|relyear=2004|certyear=2022|id=6542-52-1|access-date=October 4, 2022}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|title=That's What Friends Are For|artist=Dionne Warwick & Friends|type=single|award=Gold|relyear=1985|certyear=1986|access-date=June 8, 2018}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|streaming=true}}
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.{{cite web|url=https://metro.co.uk/2023/09/01/duncan-james-and-denise-van-outens-touching-way-of-remembering-sarah-harding-19429966/|title=Duncan James and Denise Van Outen reveal touching way they're remembering Sarah Harding|website=Metro|last=O'Connor|first=Rachael|date=1 September 2023|access-date=8 September 2023}}
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.{{cite web|title= NCAA - That's What March Is For :60 {{!}} Capital One |via= YouTube |date= March 13, 2024 |access-date= March 15, 2024 |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCRVsemdvJE}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Rod Stewart songs}}
{{Dionne Warwick}}
{{Gladys Knight}}
{{Stevie Wonder}}
{{Elton John songs}}
{{Grammy Award for Song of the Year 1980s}}
{{Billboard Year-End number one singles 1980–1999}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Arista Records singles
Category:Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
Category:Cashbox number-one singles
Category:Grammy Award for Song of the Year
Category:Number-one singles in Australia
Category:RPM Top Singles number-one singles
Category:Songs about friendship
Category:Songs with music by Burt Bacharach
Category:Songs written by Carole Bayer Sager