# Popular songs where the backup singers are more famous than the lead **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [June 2, 2021, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-where-the-backup-singers-are-more-famous-than-the-lead/943467 "2021-06-02T13:07:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2021, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-where-the-backup-singers-are-more-famous-than-the-lead/943467/81 "2021-06-03T13:44:11Z")
> [@TCMF-2L](#): > > left the drums to be a flamboyant front man No-one was more flamboyant than Gabriel in his Genesis days: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVyfj7-mHqs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVyfj7-mHqs) After leaving Genesis, Gabriel was way more subdued and everyday kinda guy. Also, and not generally known, Gabriel WAS a drummer in his early days, although not in Genesis. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2021, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-where-the-backup-singers-are-more-famous-than-the-lead/943467/82 "2021-06-03T14:00:31Z")
> [@TCMF-2L](#): > > Blimey! I (as you can obviously tell) was never a Genesis fan. All these years I thought Gabriel was the drummer and vocalist who left the drums to be a flamboyant front man. I’m not a big Genesis fan, but I’ve still got to say you’re missing some excellent music. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2021, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-where-the-backup-singers-are-more-famous-than-the-lead/943467/83 "2021-06-03T14:06:23Z")
“Higher Love” was Steve Winwood’s first #1 hit and earned him a couple of Grammys. His backup singer was none other than Chaka Khan, who by that time had been a star for probably 20 years. She also appears in the video. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/k9olaIio3l8/maxresdefault.jpg "Steve Winwood - Higher Love (Official Music Video)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9olaIio3l8) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2021, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-where-the-backup-singers-are-more-famous-than-the-lead/943467/84 "2021-06-03T14:20:27Z")
The Big Bopper wrote and sang backup on “Running Bear” by [Johnny Preston](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Preston). ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2021, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-where-the-backup-singers-are-more-famous-than-the-lead/943467/85 "2021-06-03T14:38:13Z")
I do really like **Turn It On.** Maybe a listen to **Follow You Follow Me** … But that’s about it. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2021, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-where-the-backup-singers-are-more-famous-than-the-lead/943467/86 "2021-06-03T15:10:00Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > “Higher Love” was Steve Winwood’s first #1 hit and earned him a couple of Grammys. His backup singer was none other than Chaka Khan, who by that time had been a star for probably 20 years. She also appears in the video. This is one of those cases where the backup _might_ have been more popular at the time that the song was released but at the height of her popularity, I think Chaka Khan still comes in below Winwood at the height of his. And I can’t believe that I never noticed that she was in this video. She’s one of my favorites. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2021, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-where-the-backup-singers-are-more-famous-than-the-lead/943467/87 "2021-06-03T15:27:44Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > “Veronica” was technically a duet between Elvis Costello and Paul McCartney, but it was on Costello’s album, so I’m counting it. McCartney was a co-writer and plays bass, but I don’t think he sings on “Veronica.” ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2021, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-where-the-backup-singers-are-more-famous-than-the-lead/943467/88 "2021-06-03T15:37:17Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > and now that I do, I can’t see how I missed that all these years. It’s a funny feeling. I had the same thing happen with Adam Duritz singing back-up on Jakob Dylan’s _6th Avenue Heartache._ It’s like, how did I not hear that? Which, come to think of it, is a good example for this thread. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2021, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-where-the-backup-singers-are-more-famous-than-the-lead/943467/89 "2021-06-03T15:38:01Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > “Higher Love” was Steve Winwood’s first #1 hit and earned him a couple of Grammys. His backup singer was none other than Chaka Khan, who by that time had been a star for probably 20 years. Winwood, too, had been a star for close to 20 years at that point, but as a member of various bands for most of that time, before starting his solo career in the late '70s. As a teenager, he was in the Spencer Davis Group from '64 to ‘67 (that’s him, at age 18, singing and playing keyboards in "Gimme Some Lovin’"); he was then in Traffic from '67 to '74, and in the short-lived Blind Faith in '69. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2021, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-where-the-backup-singers-are-more-famous-than-the-lead/943467/90 "2021-06-03T16:43:09Z")
Does Martha Wash count, considering that she sang uncredited in C + C Music Factory, Black Box, and others, but had scored a hit with [“It’s Raining Men?”](https://youtu.be/l5aZJBLAu1E) ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2021, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-where-the-backup-singers-are-more-famous-than-the-lead/943467/91 "2021-06-03T19:08:12Z")
Michael Jackson [backing up the great Joe “King” Carrasco.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYEF5go9uNU) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2021, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-where-the-backup-singers-are-more-famous-than-the-lead/943467/92 "2021-06-04T00:36:07Z")
Olivia Newton John sang banckup on John Denver’s [Fly Away.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY4F4ktOBig) ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2021, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-where-the-backup-singers-are-more-famous-than-the-lead/943467/93 "2021-06-04T00:57:34Z")
I mean, at that point didn’t he already have a handful of Billboard #1s? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2021, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-where-the-backup-singers-are-more-famous-than-the-lead/943467/94 "2021-06-04T01:17:12Z")
Yup, he had seven Top 10s, including four #1s by that point in 1975. Newton-John had had two #1s on the Billboard chart by then, among her five top 10 songs. So, in this case, at that time, I’d say that they were probably reasonably close to being on equal terms, as far as stardom/fame level, though he’d been recording for longer (going back to his days in the Chad Mitchell Trio). ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2021, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-where-the-backup-singers-are-more-famous-than-the-lead/943467/95 "2021-06-04T01:20:05Z")
It took a little time, but I believe that Jason Isbell today is more famous than Justin Townes Earle (Son of Steve), who lead the band on this night on Letterman’s show: (Jason Isbell on guitar) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/5LLqFF89UtU/hqdefault.jpg "Justin Townes Earle Performs "Harlem River Blues" on Letterman") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LLqFF89UtU) (Also, per the thread title, I don’t know how popular this song is, but I know how popular it should be.) ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2021, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-where-the-backup-singers-are-more-famous-than-the-lead/943467/96 "2021-06-04T01:36:18Z")
Sting sang backup on Dire Strait’s “Money Ain’t For Nothin”. I couldn’t tell you who the lead singer of Dire Straits is. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2021, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-where-the-backup-singers-are-more-famous-than-the-lead/943467/97 "2021-06-04T02:28:15Z")
Does The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s album _Will The Circle Be Unbroken_ count? They got pretty much everyone big in country music to be on the album. ---
**Author:** ![Kimble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimble/32/19185_2.png) [@Kimble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimble)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2021, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-where-the-backup-singers-are-more-famous-than-the-lead/943467/98 "2021-06-04T03:04:50Z")
We might be stretching the definition of popular a little bit (\<1M views on YouTube), but Bon Iver’s latest single, “AUATC,” includes the vocal stylings of Jenny Lewis. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/-DusRnF36UA/maxresdefault.jpg "Bon Iver - AUATC - Official Video") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DusRnF36UA) (Oh – also Bruce Springsteen.) ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2021, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-where-the-backup-singers-are-more-famous-than-the-lead/943467/99 "2021-06-04T03:36:47Z")
Neko Case often sings and tours with The New Pornographers, although it’s questionable as to which one is more popular. She sings backupmon some songs, lead on others. Does that count? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2021, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-where-the-backup-singers-are-more-famous-than-the-lead/943467/100 "2021-06-04T03:43:36Z")
My first thought was Tina Turner backing Frank Zappa but it’s been mentioned. After it was done Ike didn’t like the music so she was uncredited. Despite being in The Band and playing The Last Waltz I’m pretty sure his back up singers on his first solo album were more famous. Bono was singing back up on “Sweet Fire of Love” and “Testimony”. All of U2 was his backing band on both those songs. Peter Gabriel sang backup and played keyboards on “Fallen Angel” and added some vocals to “Testimony.” I love that album. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-where-the-backup-singers-are-more-famous-than-the-lead/943467.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-where-the-backup-singers-are-more-famous-than-the-lead/943467.md?page=6)