"That's What Friends Are For" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager. It was first recorded by

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer and songwriter. Known for his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold ...

in 1982 for the soundtrack of the film '' Night Shift'', but it is best known for the 1985 version by

Dionne Warwick Marie Dionne Warwick ( ; born Marie Dionne Warrick; December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host. During her career, Warwick has won many awards, including six Grammy Awards. She has been inducted into the Hollywood Wa ...

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

Gladys Knight Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys Knight & the Pips, which included her brother Merald "Bubba" Knight and cousins Will ...

, and

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

. This recording, billed as being by Dionne Warwick & Friends, was released as a charity single for

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

research and prevention. It was a massive hit, becoming the number-one single of 1986 in the United States, and winning the

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and Song of the Year. It raised more than $3 million for its cause.

Rod Stewart version

"That’s What Friends Are For" was included on the expanded edition of the 2008 remaster of the album '' Body Wishes''.

Personnel

– vocals * Jim Cregan – guitar, background vocals * Jimmy "Z" Zavala – saxophone * Kevin Savigar – keyboards * Jay Davis – bass * Tony Brock – drums, background vocals

Dionne Warwick version

's recording of "That's What Friends Are For" marked the first time she had worked with Bacharach since the 1970s, when Warwick felt abandoned by Bacharach and Hal David dissolving their partnership. Warwick said of their reconciliation: A one-off collaboration headed by Warwick and featuring

, and

, with a different second verse, was released as a charity single in the UK and the US in 1985. The song is in the key of

E major E major is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor and its parallel minor is E minor. Its enharmonic equivalent, F-flat maj ...

. It was recorded as a benefit for the American Foundation for AIDS Research, and raised more than US$3 million for that cause. Warwick, who had previously raised money for blood-related diseases such as sickle-cell anemia, wanted to help combat the then-growing AIDS epidemic because she had seen friends die painfully of the disease. John plays piano and Wonder plays harmonica on the song; the two had previously worked together on 1983's " I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues". In the US, the song held the number-one spot of the adult contemporary chart for two weeks, the number-one spot of the soul chart for three weeks, and the top spot of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for four weeks. It became ''Billboard''s number one single of 1986. It was certified Gold on January 15, 1986, by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA). It was the final US number one for all but John (John would have two more US number-ones during the 1990s). Due to Wonder's involvement, it also holds the distinction of being the last number-one song for anyone who had topped the charts before the

British Invasion The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when Rock music, rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of Culture of the United Kingdom, British culture became popular in the United States with sign ...

(his first number-one hit, " Fingertips", came in 1963). Outside the United States, the song topped the charts in Canada and Australia and reached the top 10 in Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, and Sweden. On the UK Singles Chart, the song debuted at number 49 and climbed to its peak of number 16 three weeks later, staying at that position for another week before descending the chart. It remained in the UK top 100 for a further five weeks, totaling 10 weeks on the chart altogether. The Dionne and Friends version of the song won the performers the

Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals The Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals was awarded between 1966 and 2011 (in its final year, it was awarded for recordings issued in 2010). The award had several minor name changes: *From 1966 to 1967, the award ...

, as well as Song of the Year for its writers, Bacharach and Bayer Sager. This rendition is also listed at number 75 on ''Billboard's Greatest Songs of all time.'' Warwick, John, Knight, and Wonder performed the song live together for the first time in 23 years at the 25th Anniversary amfAR gala in New York City on February 10, 2011.

Personnel

– vocals *

– vocals, piano *

– vocals *

– vocals, harmonica * Freddie Washington – bass * John Robinson – drums * Carlos Vega – drums *

Michael Landau Michael Christopher Landau (born June 1, 1958) is an American musician, audio engineer, and record-producer. He is a session musician and guitarist who has played on many albums since the early 1980s with Boz Scaggs, Minoru Niihara, Joni Mitchel ...

– guitar * Randy Kerber – keyboards * David Foster – synthesizer * Paulinho da Costa – percussion Source:

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

1990 benefit concert

On March 17, 1990, an AIDS benefit titled ''That's What Friends Are For: Arista Records 15th Anniversary Concert'' was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. One month later, CBS aired a two-hour version of the concert on television. The celebrity guests and performers were:

Luther Vandross Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American Soul music, soul and Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer. Over his career, he achieved eleven consecutive RIAA certification, RIAA-certified ...

, Air Supply,

Lauren Bacall Betty Joan Perske (September 16, 1924 – August 12, 2014), professionally known as Lauren Bacall ( ), was an American actress. She was named the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, 20th-greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema by the America ...

, Burt Bacharach, Eric Carmen,

Chevy Chase Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor, and writer. He became the breakout cast member in the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1976), where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment b ...

, Jane Curtin, Clive Davis, Taylor Dayne, Michael Douglas, Exposé, Whoopi Goldberg, Melanie Griffith, Hall & Oates, Jennifer Holliday,

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...

, Alan Jackson, Kenny G,

Melissa Manchester Melissa Manchester (born February 15, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Since the 1970s, her songs have been played by adult contemporary radio stations. She has also appeared on television, in films, and on stage. Early li ...

, Barry Manilow, Milli Vanilli, Jeffrey Osborne,

Carly Simon Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1943) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Billboard Hot 100, top 40 U.S. hits include "Anticipation (song), Anticipatio ...

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter, author, and photographer. Her 1975 debut album '' Horses'' made her an influential member of the New York City-based punk rock movement. Smith has fu ...

Lisa Stansfield Lisa Jane Stansfield (born 11 April 1966) is an English singer, songwriter, and actress. Her career began in 1980 when she won the singing competition ''Search for a Star''. After appearances in various television shows and releasing her first ...

, The Four Tops, and

. "That's What Friends Are For" was the finale song sung by Warwick and cousin Houston before being joined on the stage by the other guests of the event. More than $2.5 million was raised that night for the Arista Foundation which gave the proceeds to various AIDS organizations.

Other versions

In September 2023, British actor-singers Denise van Outen and Duncan James released a duet version in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support, which was recorded in tribute to their friend, singer

Sarah Harding Sarah Harding (born Sarah Nicole Hardman; 17 November 1981 – 5 September 2021) was an English singer, model and actress. Her professional career began in 2002 when she successfully auditioned for the ITV (TV channel), ITV reality series ''Po ...

, who died from breast cancer in 2021. In 2024, Warwick took part in a parody version of the song for a Capital One commercial celebrating the annual

NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as March Madness, or The Big Dance, is a single-elimination tournament played in the United States to determine the men's college basketball national champion of the NCAA Division I, Di ...

References

{{Authority control 1980s ballads 1985 singles 1982 songs 1986 singles All-star recordings Arista Records singles Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Charity singles Dionne Warwick songs Elton John songs Gladys Knight songs Grammy Award for Song of the Year Helen Reddy songs Number-one singles in Australia Pop ballads Rod Stewart songs RPM Top Singles number-one singles Stevie Wonder songs Songs about friendship Songs with music by Burt Bacharach Songs written by Carole Bayer Sager Songs written for films Soul ballads Vocal collaborations