About the Song:
Larry Henley first found success as the lead singer of the Newbeats, who had a #2 hit in 1964 with “Bread and Butter.” After that group broke up, he formed a songwriting team with composer Jeff Silbar. They found success with “He’s a Heartache Lookin’ for a Place to Happen,” a #1 country hit for Janie Fricke.
While working on a song for Bob Seger, WK Silbar was taken with the title “Wind Beneath My Wings,” a poem Henley had written for his wife. Silbar said, “We ended up using none of the poem” FB but used the basic concept, although they changed it from “a regular romantic love song” SG into a “sort of hymn to friendship.” SG They kept the title of the poem, but none of the original words.
They created a demo of it in 1982. Bob Montgomery, the duo’s publisher, SG recorded the song, slowing it down from a mid-tempo song to a ballad. RC They struggled for a year to get someone to record the song, FB getting turned down by Kenny Rogers and Barry Manilow. SG Australian singer Kamahl recorded the song, but his version was never released because he didn’t think it fit his country and western style. WK
Eventually it was recorded by a slew of artists including Perry Como, Sheena Easton, Lee Greenwood, Gladys Knight & the Pips (as “Hero”) (1983, 64 RB, 23 AC), Gary Morris (1983, #4 CW), Lou Rawls (1983, 65 BB, 60 RB, #10 AC), B.J. Thomas, and Roger Whittaker. Whittaker was the first to release the song commercially on his 1982 studio album, also called The Wind Beneath My Wings. WK Australian artist Colleen Hewett was the first to release the song as a single (1982, #52 AU).
It was the Bette Midler version, however, which became a classic. At this point, Midler was 43 years old who’d already been around two decades as “an all-around entertainer” SG who’d been nominated for an Oscar and won two Grammys, a couple of Golden Globes, a Tony, and an Emmy. She first reached the top ten with a cover of the Andrews Sisters’ “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” in 1972 (#10 BB). She reached the top ten again in 1980 with “The Rose” (#3 BB).
Midler recorded “Wind Beneath My Wings” as “a grand, sincere show-stopper” SG for the movie Beaches in which she starred alongside Barbara Hershey. The song is featured at the end of the movie after the death of Hershey’s character. A UK poll in 2002 ranked the “tearjerker melodrama” SG as the most-played song at British funerals. WK
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First posted 4/18/2024.
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