"Lean on Me" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Bill Withers. It was released in April 1972 as the first single from his second album, "Still Bill". It was his first and only number one single on both the soul singles and the Billboard Hot 100. Billboard ranked it as the No. 7 song of 1972. It is ranked number 208 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Numerous cover versions have been recorded, and it is one of only nine songs to have reached No. 1 with versions recorded by two different artists.
The R&B group Club Nouveau covered the song and took it to number one for two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in 1987. It also reached number one on the dance charts, and number two on the Black Singles charts, kept out of the top spot by Jodi Watley's "Looking for a New Love". It won a Grammy award in 1987 for Bill Withers, as the writer, for Best R&B Song.
Last Updated: June 12, 2021
