“Stand by Me” is a song originally recorded in 1961 by American singer-songwriter Ben E. King and written by him, along with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who used the pseudonym Elmo Glick. According to King, the title is derived from and was inspired by a number of “Spiritual” written by Sam Cooke and JW Alexander called “Stand by Me Father”, recorded by the Soul Stirrers with Johnnie Taylor singing. There have been over 400 recorded versions of the song, performed by a variety of artists.” Stand by Me” appeared on the soundtrack of the film of the same name in 1986, and a corresponding music video was released to promote the film. By 2012, the song’s royalties were estimated to have reached £17 million, making it the sixth-largest song to receive as of that time. 50% of royalties were paid to King. In 2015, King’s original version was inducted into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress, as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”, just under five weeks before his death. At the end of the year, the 2015 lineup of The Drifters recorded it, in King’s honor.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 before his five-year retirement from the music industry. Lennon filmed a performance of the song for The Old Gray Whistle Test in 1975. Billboard considered Lennon’s version the best version since the original. Pitchfork editor Marc Hogan found Lennon’s version “more moving” than the original due to Lennon’s fervent guitar and vocals.
