"Carry On" is a song by American singer

Martha Wash Martha Elaine Wash (born December 28, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, and producer. Known for her distinctive and powerful voice, Wash first achieved fame as half of the Two Tons O' Fun, who sang backing vocals for the disco si ...

, released on October 30, 1992 through

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

as the lead single from her debut solo self-titled studio album, ''

'' (1993). It was written by Eric Beall, who also composed the instrumentation in collaboration with Steve Skinner and peaked at number-one on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Dance Club Play Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...

chart.

Release

The single was the first release from her self-titled debut album, ''

'', which was part of her settlement deal with

after she sued the label over being uncredited for her work on previous songs by

Black Box In science, computing, and engineering, a black box is a system which can be viewed in terms of its inputs and outputs (or transfer characteristics), without any knowledge of its internal workings. Its implementation is "opaque" (black). The te ...

. The track was her first number-one single as a solo artist on the ''

chart, reaching the top spot on December 5, 1992. In Europe, "Carry On" was a Top 40 hit in the Netherlands and a Top 50 hit in the UK.

Critical reception

Alex Henderson from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

viewed the song as a "dance-floor gem", describing it as "soaring".

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the music ...

from ''

'' wrote, "After building a near-legendary reputation as a belter on hits by

, C & C Music Factory, and the Weather Girls, it's difficult to believe that this is Wash's first solo recording. Regardless, she proves why she will always be the prototype for future

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...

divas on this driven pop/dance romp. It almost doesn't even matter what she's singing; any chance to wonder at the power of her voice is worth taking. Fortunately, this song works just fine, and is roping in club DJs at a rapid rate. Watch radio to quickly follow suit." Caroline Sullivan from ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' said in her review of the ''

'' album, "Things work best when her producer allows her

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

roots to emerge, as on the beautiful inspirational number "Carry On"." Connie Johnson from ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' felt the "gospel-driven" song "ranks among the best tracks she has recorded." A reviewer from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' gave it three out of five, declaring the song as "uplifting", and concluding that Wash "deserves success in her own". Andy Beevers from the '' RM'' Dance Update rated it five out of five, naming it House Tune of the Week. He also complimented it as "a great, truly uplifting song". Gordon Chambers from ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' remarked that Wash "glides" on the track. Ian Hyland of ''

Sunday Mirror The ''Sunday Mirror'' is the Sunday sister paper of the ''Daily Mirror''. It began life in 1915 as the ''Sunday Pictorial'' and was renamed the ''Sunday Mirror'' in 1963. In 2016 it had an average weekly circulation of 620,861, dropping marke ...

'' gave it nine out of ten, writing, "Another one of those massive tunes that's been largin' it on the dance floor recently. Now you can have it at home."

Usage in media

In 2010, the song was used in the fifth episode of

season two Season 2 may refer to: * ''Season 2'' (Infinite album) * ''2econd Season ''2econd Season'' is the second and most recent album by Atlanta-based rapper Unk. Release It was released on November 4, 2008. Guest Performers The album features gu ...

reality competition Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

television series ''

RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, VH1 (season 9–14) and, beginning with the f ...

'', in which Wash also served as guest judge. Contestants

Sahara Davenport Antoine Ashley (December 17, 1984 – October 1, 2012), better known by the name Sahara Davenport, was an American drag queen, singer, reality television personality, and classically trained dancer. Davenport was best known as a contestant on th ...

and

Morgan McMichaels Morgan McMichaels (born May 28, 1981) is the stage name of Scottish-American drag performer Thomas White, best known as a contestant on the second season of the reality television competition ''RuPaul's Drag Race,'' as well as the third seaso ...

, were up for elimination and had to lipsync to the song in order to continue in the competition. During the episode,

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part o ...

and head judge

RuPaul RuPaul Andre Charles (born November 17, 1960; stylized as RuPaul) is an American drag queen, television personality, actor, musician, and model. Best known for producing, hosting, and judging the reality competition series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' ...

emotionally recounted "That song is very special to me because when my mother passed away, that was the song that I would play all the time. I played Martha Wash's 'Carry On' non-stop. That's what got me through it."

Impact and legacy

British DJ, Phil Asher picked "Carry On" as one of his favourites in 1995, "My ex-girlfriend brought it back from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. I'm still playing it to this day, in fact I played it last night. It's a vocal anthem of the real kind – no handbags in sight." In 1996, English

house music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago' ...

DJ,

DJ Paulette DJ Paulette (born Paulette Constable, 22 December 1966 in Manchester, England) is an English house music DJ. She is currently a resident for two radio programs on FG DJ Radio: Underground FG and Radio FG Paris France and hosts Space Bass on Da ...

chose it as one of her favourites, saying, "I play this track towards the end of the night. The lyrics are perfect — she is ''the'' voice."

Track listings

* CD maxi, US # "Carry On" (Original 7" Edit) — 3:30 # "Carry On" (Album Radio Mix) — 4:17 # "Carry On" (

Masters At Work Masters at Work is the American garage house production and remix team of "Little" Louie Vega and Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez. The duo has produced music together under the names MAW, KenLou, Sole Fusion, Hardrive, and Nuyorican Soul. They have been r ...

7" Mix) — 4:10 # "Carry On" (Masters At Work 12" Dance Mix) — 6:46 # "Carry On" (Masters At Work Dub Mix) — 5:14 # "Carry On" (Carried Away Dub) — 7:08 # "Carry On" (Carry This 12" Dance Mix) — 5:26 # "Carry On" (Vocal Bass Dub Mix) — 5:59 # "Carry On" (12" Alternative Mix) — 7:26

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

Release information
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

Official video
at

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

{{authority control 1992 songs 1992 debut singles American house music songs House music songs Martha Wash songs RCA Records singles