"Sail On" is a

Commodores Commodores are an American funk and soul band, which were at their peak in the late 1970s through the mid 1980s. The members of the group met as mostly freshmen at Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) in 1968, and signed with Motown in ...

song written by

Lionel Richie Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of funk band the Commodores; writing and recordi ...

from their 1979 album '' Midnight Magic''. Released as the first of three singles from the album, it was produced by both Commodores and

James Anthony Carmichael James Anthony Carmichael (born September 14, 1941) is an American Grammy-winning musician, arranger, and record producer. At first he started off in Los Angeles as an arranger and producer for Motown acts like The Temptations and the Jackson 5. ...

. The song reached the top ten on both the US and UK music charts that same year. Richie later recorded the song with

Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has released 16 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, four for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those album ...

for 2012's '' Tuskegee''. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' described it as "a sparkling ballad." ''

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 ...

'' called it "a surprising country flavored ballad" and said that "the subdued backing featuring prominent guitar and keyboards and the slick country intonations to Lionel Ritchie's vocal carry the melody."

Track listings

US 7" single #"Sail On" – 3:57 #"Thumpin' Music" – 3:24 UK 7" single #"Sail On" – 3:57 #"Captain Quick Draw" – 3:00

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

List of cover versions of "Sail On"
at SecondHandSongs.com {{Chanté Moore 1979 singles Commodores songs Songs written by Lionel Richie Pop ballads 1979 songs Motown singles Song recordings produced by James Anthony Carmichael Chanté Moore songs 1970s ballads Cashbox number-one singles