Songs with famous background singers

A few immediately come to mind, right?

It’s the type of topic that comes up in a trivia night, or randomly chatting with friends who are a little more enthusiastic about the personnel on a song.

We found a bunch of songs from the 80s and 90s that feature well known background singers, check em out!

• Elton John – Nikita (George Michael)
• Steve Winwood – Higher Love (Chaka Khan)
• Tom Petty – Free Fallin’ (Jeff Lynne)
• Tevin Campbell – Round and Round (Prince)
• Foreigner – I Want To Know What Love Is (Jennifer Holiday, Mick Jones)
• Stevie Wonder – Part Time Lover (Luther Vandross, Syreeta Wright and Philip Bailey of Earth, Wind and Fire)
• Dire Straits – Money For Nothing (Sting)
• Glass Tiger – Don’t Forget Me (Bryan Adams)
• James Reyne – Hammerhead (Olivia Newton-John)
• Living Colour – Glamour Boys (Mick Jagger)
• Stevie Wonder – All I Do (Michael Jackson, Eddie Levert of The O’Jays)
• The Wallflowers – Sixth Avenue Heartache (Adam Duritz from Counting Crows)
• Phil Collins – Another Day In Paradise (David Crosby)
• Eric Clapton – Pretending (Chaka Khan)
• Rockwell – Somebody’s Watching Me (Michael Jackson)
• MCOJ & Rhythm Slave – Money Worries (Mikey Havoc)
• Madonna – Justify My Love (Lenny Kravitz)
• Netherworld Dancing Toys – For Today (Annie Crummer)
• Eddie Money – Take Me Home Tonight (Ronnie Spector)
• Clarence Clemons and Jackson Brown – You’re A Friend Of Mine (Daryl Hannah)
• Steve Winwood – Back In The High Life (James Taylor)
• Robbie Williams – No Regrets (Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys, Neil Hannon of Divine Comedy)
• Squeeze – Tempted (Elvis Costello)
• Lionel Richie – All Night Long (Richard Marx)
• Richard Marx – The Way She Loves Me (Lionel Richie, Luther Vandross)
• Billy Joel – All About Soul (Members of Color Me Badd)
• U2 – Pride (Chrissie Hynde)
• Tom Petty – I Won’t Back Down (Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, George Harrison)
• Martika – Toy Soldiers (Fergie, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Rahsaan Patterson)
• Michael Jackson – P.Y.T (Janet Jackson, La Toya Jackson, TV actress Mindy Cohn from The Facts of Life)
• INXS – Original Sin (Daryl Hall)
• Hootie and the Blowfish – Hold My Hand (David Crosby)
• Guns n Roses – Don’t Cry (Shannon Hoon from Blind Melon)
• Phil Collins – Take Me Home (Peter Gabriel, Sting)
• Eric Clapton – Bad Love (Phil Collins)

Feel free to add your own finds in the comments!

Michael McDonald’s contributions to the music world are duly noted, and we may create a separate article about Ride Like The Wind and many others!

You also gotta feel for Patti Labelle back in the ’90s, poor thing, her background singers were late for this performance….