"Lies" is a 1987 song by South African singer-songwriter/guitarist

Jonathan Butler Jonathan Kenneth Butler (born 10 October 1961) is a South African singer-songwriter and guitarist. His music is often classified as R&B, jazz fusion or worship music. Biography Born and raised in Athlone, Cape Town, South Africa, during Ap ...

. It was co-written by Butler along with Jolyon Skinner. Issued as the leadoff single from his 1987 self-titled studio album, "Lies" became a breakthrough hit on the U.S.

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

, peaking at #27 and becoming what remains his only Top 40 Pop hit to date. However, the song achieved significantly more success on the U.S.

R&B chart 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 ...

, where it became his first of several top ten hits (cresting at #5), and also did well on the

Adult Contemporary chart The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on airplay data submitted to ''Billboard'' by sta ...

(#16). "Lies" also became a moderate hit in the UK (#18), and Ireland (#16), in addition to spending two weeks at #11 on the Canadian Adult Contemporary chart.

Personnel

- Lead vocals, lead guitar, backing vocals * Ira Siegel - Rhythm guitar *

Barry Eastmond Barry James Eastmond is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and record producer. Eastmond is an adjunct professor at New York University Steinhardt Performing Arts Department in songwriting and is part of the NYU Summer Songwriting Work ...

- Keyboards *Wayne Brathwaite - Bass * Buddy Williams - Drums *Charles Dougherty, Earl Gardner, Jeff Smith, Ron Tooley - Horns *Brenda White-King, Curtis King, Diane Green-Williams, Tom Flammia, Yolanda Lee-Lewis - Backing vocals

Chart history

References

External links

* 1987 songs 1987 singles Songs written by Jolyon Skinner {{1980s-song-stub