"Nothing from Nothing" is a song written by

Billy Preston William Everett Preston (September 2, 1946 – June 6, 2006) was an American keyboardist, singer and songwriter whose work encompassed R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel. Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, during which he ba ...

and

Bruce Fisher Bruce Fisher (born January 8, 1954) is an American songwriter, record producer, playwright best known for his collaborations with Billy Preston. Fisher's best-known songs include "You Are So Beautiful", "Will It Go Round In Circles", and " Nothin ...

and recorded by Billy Preston for his 1974 album ''

The Kids & Me ''The Kids & Me'' is the ninth studio album by Billy Preston, released in 1974, after his famous tour in Europe. This album included "You Are So Beautiful", later covered by Joe Cocker, and the hit single " Nothing from Nothing". The album's ded ...

''. The song reached #1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart for one week in October 1974, becoming Preston's second solo chart-topper in the United States (following his 1973 hit " Will It Go Round in Circles"). It spent four and a half months on the chart. Preston performed "Nothing from Nothing" on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves ...

'', the first musical performance ever on the show. The song was also used in late 2002 for all GM brand commercials and was also prominently featured in both the 1975 low-budget independent bank-heist caper "Flash and the Firecat" and the 2008 film '' Be Kind Rewind''.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Cover versions

Alternative rock band

Lazlo Bane Lazlo Bane is an alternative rock band from Santa Monica, California, United States. They are well known for collaborating with former Men at Work member Colin Hay, and providing the song "Superman" as the theme for the television show '' Scrubs ...

covered the song for their 2007

cover album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

'' Guilty Pleasures''. The artist

Mac Miller Malcolm James McCormick (January 19, 1992 – September 7, 2018), known professionally as Mac Miller, was an American rapper and record producer. Miller began his career in Pittsburgh's hip hop scene in 2007, at the age of fifteen. In 2010, h ...

covered the song for his 2018

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active use ...

session. This single was released posthumously. The Billy Preston version is featured in Season 2 of ''

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boysStan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand ...

'' in episode 6, "

The Mexican Staring Frog of Southern Sri Lanka "The Mexican Staring Frog of Southern Sri Lanka" is the sixth episode in the second season of the American animated television series ''South Park''. The 19th episode of the series overall, it originally aired on Comedy Central in the United State ...

," during a fictional interview of

Bob Denver Robert Osbourne Denver (January 9, 1935 – September 2, 2005) was an American comedic actor who portrayed Gilligan on the 1964–1967 television series ''Gilligan's Island'', and beatnik Maynard G. Krebs on the 1959–1963 series ''The Ma ...

on the talk show, Jesus and Pals. American folk band

The Ghost of Paul Revere The Ghost of Paul Revere are an American folk trio from Portland, Maine composed of Max Davis, Sean McCarthy and Griffin Sherry. The band made their national debut when they appeared as the musical guest on the TBS talk show, Conan, in January of ...

released a cover single, as well as the opening song to their 2019 album ''Field Notes, Vol. 2''.

References

External links

* {{authority control 1974 singles Billy Preston songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles Songs written by Billy Preston Songs written by Bruce Fisher 1974 songs A&M Records singles