# Lean on Me (song)
"Lean on Me" is a song written, produced, and recorded by the American singer-songwriter [Bill Withers](https://www.edgepedia.org/bill-withers), released in April 1972 as the lead single from his second album, *Still Bill*. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on July 8, 1972, the only Hot 100 chart-topper of Withers' career, and fifteen years later Club Nouveau's re-recording also reached No. 1, making it one of a handful of songs to top that chart in two different versions.[1](https://americansongwriter.com/on-this-day-in-1972-bill-withers-scored-his-only-no-1-hit-on-the-billboard-hot-100-with-lean-on-me/) • [2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2020-07-14/national-anthem-star-spangled-banner-lean-on-me)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Writer and original artist | Bill Withers, who wrote the song for his second album, *Still Bill* (1972)[1](https://americansongwriter.com/on-this-day-in-1972-bill-withers-scored-his-only-no-1-hit-on-the-billboard-hot-100-with-lean-on-me/) |
| US chart peak | No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending July 8, 1972; No. 1 on the US R&B chart; Withers' only Hot 100 No. 1[1](https://americansongwriter.com/on-this-day-in-1972-bill-withers-scored-his-only-no-1-hit-on-the-billboard-hot-100-with-lean-on-me/) • [3](https://www.musicvf.com/song.php?id=4791&title=Lean+on+Me+by+Bill+Withers) |
| Second No. 1 version | Club Nouveau's electro-R&B re-recording reached No. 1 on the Hot 100 fifteen years after the original[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2020-07-14/national-anthem-star-spangled-banner-lean-on-me) |
| Songwriter's Grammy | Withers received his ninth Grammy nomination and third Grammy as a songwriter in 1987 for the Club Nouveau re-recording[4](https://www.songhall.org/profiles/bill-withers) |
| UK chart history | Mud's 1976 cover peaked at No. 7 on the UK Official Singles Chart; Withers' version debuted on the UK chart on August 12, 1972, peaking at No. 18[5](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/mud-lean-on-me/) • [3](https://www.musicvf.com/song.php?id=4791&title=Lean+on+Me+by+Bill+Withers) |
| Honors | Grammy Hall of Fame induction for the original recording in 2007; No. 205 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs list[6](https://www.wvmusichalloffame.com/hof_withers.html) • [3](https://www.musicvf.com/song.php?id=4791&title=Lean+on+Me+by+Bill+Withers) |
| Signature performances | Performed by Michael Bolton at the 1992 Presidential Inauguration festivities for Bill Clinton and sung by Mary J. Blige for Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration; theme song of the 1989 Morgan Freeman film *Lean on Me*[4](https://www.songhall.org/profiles/bill-withers) • [7](https://americansongwriter.com/the-optimistic-meaning-behind-lean-on-me-by-bill-withers/) • [8](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/music-popular-and-jazz-biographies/bill-withers) |
## Origins
Bill Withers, a singer-songwriter born in the small coal-mining town of Slab Fork, West Virginia, wrote "Lean on Me" from the mutual-aid habits of his childhood. During lean times in the mining town, neighbors would help each other out, and he later said the song was inspired by those childhood experiences.[9](https://www.allmusic.com/song/lean-on-me-mt0002744372) • [10](https://www.grammy.com/news/bill-withers-visits-the-grammy-museum/) His biggest hit was written during a tour hiatus, and the simple ode to community and friendship became the centerpiece of his second album, *Still Bill*, released in 1972.[11](https://nmaahc.si.edu/about/news/statement-passing-soul-legend-and-songwriter-bill-withers)
**The piano.** Withers composed the song on a [Wurlitzer](https://www.edgepedia.org/wurlitzer) electric piano that he had bought with money earned from his first album. Without any training as a keyboard player, he simply found that arranging his fingers in a particular pattern produced a pleasing sound, and those chords brought to mind the hymns of his childhood churchgoing.[9](https://www.allmusic.com/song/lean-on-me-mt0002744372) The song sits inside the African American gospel tradition he absorbed growing up Baptist, including its call-and-response patterns; by the bridge, Withers stops singing solo melody and chants in call-and-response with himself.[12](https://songfable.com/en/lean-on-me-bill-withers/) Drummer James Gadson, known for his work on "Lean On Me" and "Use Me" in 1972, anchored the recording.[13](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/drummers/the-beat-goes-on-but-the-pocket-will-never-be-the-same-bandmates-friends-and-stars-pay-tribute-to-james-gadson)
Withers described his songwriting goal as lines people could understand and remember easily, calling the song's quality "complex simplicity"; it is often the first song children learn to play on the piano.[4](https://www.songhall.org/profiles/bill-withers)
## Chart record
Released in April 1972 in advance of the *Still Bill* album, the song entered the pop charts that month and was No. 1 on the Hot 100 three months later, for the week ending July 8, 1972, on the Sussex label (catalog number 235, distributed by Buddah). It also topped the US R&B chart, and *Still Bill* topped Billboard's R&B Albums chart.[1](https://americansongwriter.com/on-this-day-in-1972-bill-withers-scored-his-only-no-1-hit-on-the-billboard-hot-100-with-lean-on-me/) • [3](https://www.musicvf.com/song.php?id=4791&title=Lean+on+Me+by+Bill+Withers) • [10](https://www.grammy.com/news/bill-withers-visits-the-grammy-museum/)
**Two versions at No. 1.** In 1987, the Los Angeles group Club Nouveau took what the *Los Angeles Times* described as a spunky electro-R&B version to the top of the Hot 100, fifteen years after the original. The song is one of just a handful to reach No. 1 on the Billboard pop charts in two different versions; per the Billboard book of number-one hits, it was the fourth song of the rock era to be taken to No. 1 by two different artists.[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2020-07-14/national-anthem-star-spangled-banner-lean-on-me) • [14](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Radio-Programming/Billboard-Book-of-Number-One-Hits-1988--221117.pdf) The re-recording earned Withers his ninth Grammy nomination and his third Grammy as a songwriter in 1987.[4](https://www.songhall.org/profiles/bill-withers)
Covers charted elsewhere as well. The British band Mud took the song to No. 7 on the UK singles chart, over a nine-week run beginning November 27, 1976.[5](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/mud-lean-on-me/) Later charting versions include [Thelma Houston](https://www.edgepedia.org/thelma-houston) & The Winans (1989), [Michael Bolton](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-bolton) (1994), the Glee cast (2009), and [Sheryl Crow](https://www.edgepedia.org/sheryl-crow) (2010).[3](https://www.musicvf.com/song.php?id=4791&title=Lean+on+Me+by+Bill+Withers)
## Cultural use
The song has become what the [Songwriters Hall of Fame](https://www.edgepedia.org/songwriters-hall-of-fame) calls a staple in churches, children's choirs, and even prison choirs, and the *Los Angeles Times* describes it as among the most widely sung American songs of the past half century, performed by church and school choirs, college a cappella groups, street-corner doo-wop quintets, and the United States Navy Band. It has been covered by [Stevie Wonder](https://www.edgepedia.org/stevie-wonder), Al Green, Clara Ward, Jimmy Buffett, Bon Jovi, Shawn Mendes, and [Nick Jonas](https://www.edgepedia.org/nick-jonas), and was sung on the TV shows "Empire" and "Glee"; Hillary Clinton performed it on "Saturday Night Live" in a duet with Kate McKinnon.[4](https://www.songhall.org/profiles/bill-withers) • [2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2020-07-14/national-anthem-star-spangled-banner-lean-on-me)
It has served as a communal anthem at public moments: Michael Bolton performed it at the 1992 Presidential Inauguration festivities for [Bill Clinton](https://www.edgepedia.org/bill-clinton), and [Mary J. Blige](https://www.edgepedia.org/mary-j-blige) sang it to celebrate [Barack Obama](https://www.edgepedia.org/barack-obama)'s inauguration in 2009.[4](https://www.songhall.org/profiles/bill-withers) • [7](https://americansongwriter.com/the-optimistic-meaning-behind-lean-on-me-by-bill-withers/) After Withers died on April 3, 2020, a group of Canadian stars including Justin Bieber and Bryan Adams recorded the song in his honor to raise funds for the Canadian Red Cross, and during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 the song circulated widely on social media as an expression of collective resilience.[4](https://www.songhall.org/profiles/bill-withers) • [7](https://americansongwriter.com/the-optimistic-meaning-behind-lean-on-me-by-bill-withers/) • [15](https://wikihits.com/1970s/bill-withers-lean-on-me)
## The 1989 film
The song was the title theme of *Lean on Me*, a 1989 Warner Bros. drama directed by [John G. Avildsen](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-g-avildsen) and starring [Morgan Freeman](https://www.edgepedia.org/morgan-freeman) as [Joe Clark](https://www.edgepedia.org/joe-clark), the real-life principal who took over the decaying Eastside High School in Paterson, New Jersey. The film, released March 3, 1989 and rated PG-13, earned $28.9 million at the US box office; critics gave it a mixed-to-average Metascore of 58 while audiences responded more warmly.[16](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lean_on_me) • [17](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/lean-on-me/) • [8](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/music-popular-and-jazz-biographies/bill-withers)
## Recognition
Withers' original recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2007, and Rolling Stone placed the song at No. 205 on its 500 Greatest Songs list.[6](https://www.wvmusichalloffame.com/hof_withers.html) • [3](https://www.musicvf.com/song.php?id=4791&title=Lean+on+Me+by+Bill+Withers) Withers himself, inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005 and the [Rock and Roll Hall of Fame](https://www.edgepedia.org/rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame) in 2015, retired from the music business in 1985.[7](https://americansongwriter.com/the-optimistic-meaning-behind-lean-on-me-by-bill-withers/) • [4](https://www.songhall.org/profiles/bill-withers)
## References
1. [On This Day in 1972: Bill Withers Scored His Only No. 1 Hit on the 'Billboard' Hot 100 with "Lean on Me", American Songwriter](https://americansongwriter.com/on-this-day-in-1972-bill-withers-scored-his-only-no-1-hit-on-the-billboard-hot-100-with-lean-on-me/)
2. [Replace The Star-Spangled Banner with a new national anthem, Los Angeles Times (2020)](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2020-07-14/national-anthem-star-spangled-banner-lean-on-me)
3. [Lean on Me (song by Bill Withers), Music VF](https://www.musicvf.com/song.php?id=4791&title=Lean+on+Me+by+Bill+Withers)
4. [Bill Withers, Songwriters Hall of Fame](https://www.songhall.org/profiles/bill-withers)
5. [LEAN ON ME by Mud, Official Charts Company](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/mud-lean-on-me/)
6. [Bill Withers, West Virginia Music Hall of Fame](https://www.wvmusichalloffame.com/hof_withers.html)
7. [The Optimistic Meaning Behind "Lean On Me" by Bill Withers, American Songwriter](https://americansongwriter.com/the-optimistic-meaning-behind-lean-on-me-by-bill-withers/)
8. [Bill Withers, Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/music-popular-and-jazz-biographies/bill-withers)
9. [Lean on Me, Bill Withers song review by Ed Hogan, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/song/lean-on-me-mt0002744372)
10. [Bill Withers Visits The GRAMMY Museum, GRAMMY.com](https://www.grammy.com/news/bill-withers-visits-the-grammy-museum/)
11. [Statement on the Passing of Soul Legend and Songwriter Bill Withers, NMAAHC](https://nmaahc.si.edu/about/news/statement-passing-soul-legend-and-songwriter-bill-withers)
12. [Lean on Me, Bill Withers (1972): Meaning & Story, Songfable](https://songfable.com/en/lean-on-me-bill-withers/)
13. [Bandmates, friends and stars pay tribute to James Gadson, MusicRadar](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/drummers/the-beat-goes-on-but-the-pocket-will-never-be-the-same-bandmates-friends-and-stars-pay-tribute-to-james-gadson)
14. [Bill Withers entry, The Billboard Book of Number One Hits](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Radio-Programming/Billboard-Book-of-Number-One-Hits-1988--221117.pdf)
15. [Lean On Me by Bill Withers (1972) - Hot 100 Story, WikiHits](https://wikihits.com/1970s/bill-withers-lean-on-me)
16. [Lean on Me (1989 film), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lean_on_me)
17. [Lean on Me, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/lean-on-me/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Compositions and songs › Pop, rock, and metal songs*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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