“Stand by Me” (20) is a song originally performed in 1961 by American singer-songwriter Ben E. King and written by him, along with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who together used the pseudonym Elmo Glick. According to King, the title is derived from, and was inspired by, a spiritual written by Sam Cooke and J. W. Alexander called “Stand by Me Father,” recorded by the Soul Stirrers with Johnnie Taylor singing lead. The third line of the second verse of the former work derives from Psalm 46:2-3. King’s record went to number 1 on the R&B charts and was a Top Ten hit on the US charts twice—in its original release, entering the Billboard chart in May 1961 and peaking at number 4 in June 1961, and a 1986 re-release coinciding with its use as the theme song for the film of the same name following its appearance in the film, when it peaked at number 9 in December 1986. The song is also heard in the televised advertisement of Levi’s 501 jeans. In the commercial, a man wearing a black denim jeans is able to enter a nightclub whose policy is “no blue jeans”. The song also reached number one in the UK in 1987 after its re-release, mostly because of the jeans commercial, originally reaching number 27 on its first UK release.
There have been over 400 recorded versions of the song, performed by many artists, notably Otis Redding who covered the song for his 1964 debut album Pain in My Heart.
John Lennon recorded his version of the song for his 1975 album Rock ‘n’ Roll. Lennon’s remake became a single three weeks after the album’s release and was his last hit prior to his five-year retirement from the music industry. Lennon filmed a performance of the song for The Old Grey Whistle Test in 1975. Cash Box said of it that “John’s serenading guitar chords herald this bright new production of one of rockdom’s favorites,” and that it displays Lennon’s “magical, mysterious voice…at his finest.” In May 1975, his version peaked at number 20 on the US Hot 100. It spent seven weeks in the top 100 in the UK.
Documentary filmmaker Mark Johnson, who also created the Playing for Change project based on an idea he had in the late 1990s and established the eponymous Foundation, witnessed street performer Roger Ridley singing “Stand by Me” in Santa Monica, in March 2005. Johnson was inspired to film Ridley’s performance and another thirty-six musicians’ individual performances of the song “around the world” and then mix the clips into one music video. The music video was featured in an October 2008 episode of Bill Moyers Journal, where Johnson was promoting the documentary film Playing for Change: Peace Through Music, which includes the music video and was shown as part of the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City. The music video was uploaded via the Playing for Change You Tube channel in November 2008, garnering more than 142 million views by May 2020.
Prince Royce recorded a bachata version of the song as his debut single, changing parts of the lyrics into Spanish. This version peaked number eight on US Hot Latin Tracks and number one on US Tropical Airplay. At the Latin Grammy Awards of 2010, Royce performed the song live along with Ben E. King. Royce’s remake received a Lo Nuestro award for “Tropical Song of the Year”.
Florence and the Machine recorded the song for the soundtrack and trailer of Final Fantasy XV in 2016. The band released its EP Songs from Final Fantasy XV in August 2016, containing the band’s remake. The cover peaked at number fifteen on the Billboard Hot Rock Singles in December 2016. In February 2017, voice actors of Final Fantasy XV performed King’s song all together while streaming their FFXV playthrough in a Twitch livestream video, viewed by almost 800 users.
