"While You See a Chance" is a song performed by

Steve Winwood Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a keyboard player and vocalist prominent for his disti ...

in 1980, written by Winwood and

Will Jennings Wilbur H. "Will" Jennings (born June 27, 1944) is an American lyricist. He is popularly known for writing the lyrics for the songs "Tears in Heaven" and "My Heart Will Go On". He has been inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame and has won s ...

. It was released on his album ''

Arc of a Diver ''Arc of a Diver'' is the second solo studio album by singer/multi-instrumentalist Steve Winwood. Released in 1980, Winwood played all of the instruments on the album. Featuring his first solo hit, "While You See a Chance" (which peaked at numbe ...

'' and peaked at number 7 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in April 1981 and number 68 on the ''Billboard'' Top 100 for 1981. The song was a bigger hit in Canada, where it peaked at number 3. It reached number 45 in the UK. The song's well-known introduction primarily features the organ – apparently, the other instrumentation was accidentally erased.

Personnel

– lead and backing vocals, acoustic piano, organ, synthesizers, drums, tambourine,

conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest). ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Covers

Joe Cocker John Robert "Joe" Cocker (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014) was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances that featured expressive body movements. Most of his best known singles were recordings of son ...

covered the song on his 1999 album ''

No Ordinary World ''No Ordinary World'' is the seventeenth studio album by Joe Cocker, released on 9 September 1999 in Europe and on 22 August 2000 in USA. The US edition of the album features two bonus tracks and has different cover artwork. Notable songs on the ...

''. *

Petula Clark Petula Sally Olwen Clark, CBE (born 15 November 1932) is an English singer, actress, and composer. She has one of the longest serving careers of a British singer, spanning more than seven decades. Clark's professional career began during the ...

on 2016's ''From Now On''.

References

{{Steve Winwood 1980 songs 1980 singles Steve Winwood songs Songs with lyrics by Will Jennings Songs written by Steve Winwood Island Records singles