"Home" is a song from the 1975 Broadway musical, ''

The Wiz ''The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz"'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls (and others) and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' ( ...

''. It was written by

Charlie Smalls Charlie Smalls (October 25, 1943 – August 27, 1987) was an American composer and songwriter, best known for writing the music and lyrics for playwright William F. Brown's 1975 Broadway musical ''The Wiz'' and the 1978 film version of the same ...

and was performed by

Stephanie Mills Stephanie Dorthea Mills (born March 22, 1957) is an American singer and songwriter. She rose to stardom as " Dorothy" in the original seven-time Tony Award winning Broadway run of the musical ''The Wiz'' from 1974 to 1979. The song "Home" from t ...

in the stage production and by

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups o ...

in the 1978

film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dia ...

and released on the

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' ...

in 1978.

1989 recording

Stephanie Mills re-recorded the song for her 1989 album of the same name with background vocals by

Take 6 Take 6 is an American a cappella gospel sextet formed in 1980 on the campus of Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. The group integrates jazz with spiritual and inspirational lyrics. Take 6 has received several Grammy Awards as well as Dove ...

. The single release scored her another number one on the ''Billboard''

Hot Black Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

chart. The single was the last of five number ones for Mills on the R&B Singles chart.

Track listing

;US 7" 45 RPM Single"Stephanie Mills - Home (7" Single) US 12" 45 RPM"
''Discogs.com'' A1. "Home" - 4:34 B1. "Love Hasn't Been Easy on Me" - 4:44

Charts

Personnel

*Arranged by

Donald Lawrence Donald Lawrence (born May 4, 1961, Gastonia, North Carolina) is an American gospel music songwriter, record producer and artist. He is best known for his Grammy Award-nominated songs "The Blessing of Abraham" and "Encourage Yourself". He studied ...

, Donald Robinson,

Nick Martinelli Nicholas J. Martinelli (born 5 July 1952) is an American R&B and pop record producer. During the 1980s he worked with many R&B and pop music artists, some of them based in the UK. Acts he has worked with include Loose Ends, Phyllis Hyman, F ...

*Background arrangement – Mervyn Warren *Strings and horns arrangement – The Brothers Kerber *Backing vocals – Take 6 *Bass – Douglas Grigsby *Drums, percussion, emulator, synthesizer – Jim Salamone *Electric piano, synthesizer – Curtis Dowd *Assistant engineer – John Sullivan, Sal Viarelli *Guitar – Randy Bowland *Keyboards – Donald Robinson *Producer – Nick Martinelli *Recorded by Bruce Weeden *Written by Charlie Smalls

Cover versions

*In 1978,

Andrea McArdle Andrea McArdle is an American singer and actress best known for originating the role of Annie in the Broadway musical '' Annie''. Career McArdle was born in Philadelphia. While studying dance as a child, she was spotted by a talent agent who got ...

sang the song in Christmas at Walt Disney World. *

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston in ...

made her world debut on ''

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, May 10, 1965 to July 4, 1969 in first-run syndication, from August 18, 1969 to February 11, 1972 ...

'' on April 29, 1983 performing this song. She had covered the song several times in concert during her US Tour 1985, '' Whitney: The Concert for a New South Africa'' 1994 HBO TV special, and her '' My Love Is Your Love Tour'' in 1999. Her 1983 performance on ''The Merv Griffin Show'' was included in the CD/DVD release '' Whitney Houston Live: Her Greatest Performances'' and as a bonus on the DVD '' Whitney: The Greatest Hits'' and the 25th anniversary deluxe edition of her debut album. *In 2007,

Melinda Doolittle Melinda Marie Doolittle (born October 6, 1977) is an American singer who finished as the third place finalist on the sixth season of ''American Idol''. Prior to her appearance on ''American Idol'', Doolittle worked as a professional back-up sin ...

performed the song on ''

American Idol (season 6) The sixth season of ''American Idol'' premiered on the Fox Broadcasting Company as a two-night, four-hour premiere special on January 16 and January 17, and ran until May 23, 2007. Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson returned to judge once ...

'' and subsequently released a studio version. *In 2012, a version by

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...

recorded in 1985 for ''

The Broadway Album ''The Broadway Album'' is the twenty-fourth studio album by American singer Barbra Streisand, released by Columbia Records on November 4, 1985. Consisting mainly of classic show tunes, the album marked a major shift in Streisand's career. She had ...

'' but not initially released was finally included on '' Release Me''.

In popular culture

*An 11-year-old

Jazmine Sullivan Jazmine Marie Sullivan (born April 9, 1987) is an American R&B and soul singer. Born and raised in Philadelphia, her debut album, '' Fearless'' was released in 2008. The record topped ''Billboards Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and was certifi ...

sang the show at her elementary school performance of The Wiz in 1999. The home video clip posted on YouTube has had over one million views. *In 2010, the song was used in an episode of ''

Glee Glee means delight, a form of happiness. Glee may also refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...

'''s first season called "

Home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. H ...

", sung by

Kristin Chenoweth Kristin Dawn Chenoweth (; born Kristi Dawn Chenoweth; July 24, 1968)Kristin Cheno ...

. *In 2015, Shanice Williams performed this song live in the Broadway/television adaptation of both the film and Broadway version of The Wiz. *

Gladys Knight Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944), known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer, actress and businesswoman. A seven-time Grammy Award-winner, Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys Kn ...

performed the songs at a BET 85th Birthday Celebration Tribute to

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

in 2018. *In 2018, MJ Rodriguez and Billy Porter, as their characters Blanca Evangelista and Pray Tell, respectively, sang the song as a duet in the episode "Love Is The Message" of the television series '' Pose.'' *In 2019, Glennis Grace performed the song in a concert event ''Whitney: A Tribute by Glennis Grace (Live In Concert)'' in Rotterdam Ahoy (The Netherlands) and Lotto Arena (Belgium) with her tribute to Whitney Houston''.'' *In 2020, Johnny Manuel performed the song in the blind auditions of '' The Voice Australia Season 9'' giving Manuel a four chair turn but Kelly Rowland was blocked from being chosen to be given a chance coach Manuel.

Samples

*In 2003, this song was sampled in the song "Homies 2 Smoke With" by

Violent J Joseph Frank Bruce (born April 28, 1972), known by his stage name Violent J, is an American rapper, record producer, professional wrestler, and part of the hip hop duo Insane Clown Posse. He is a co-founder of the record label ''Psychopathic Re ...

recorded for his second EP called '' Wizard of the Hood''.

References

1975 songs 1989 singles Stephanie Mills songs Songs from musicals Songs written by Charlie Smalls Song recordings produced by Nick Martinelli Contemporary R&B ballads Soul ballads Diana Ross songs 1970s ballads {{1980s-R&B-song-stub