| "Guiding Lights" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Earth, Wind & Fire | ||||
| from the album Now, Then & Forever | ||||
| Released | 2012 | |||
| Genre | R&B | |||
| Length | 3:56 | |||
| Label | Sony Music/Legacy | |||
| Songwriter(s) |
| |||
| Producer(s) | Walt B. & Neal Pogue | |||
| Earth, Wind & Fire singles chronology | ||||
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"Guiding Lights" is a song by the band Earth, Wind & Fire, released as a single in 2012 by Sony Music/Legacy. The song reached No. 16 on the Billboard Smooth Jazz Songs chart and No. 30 on the Billboard Adult R&B Songs chart.
"Guiding Lights" was produced by Walt B. & Neal Pogue and composed by Philip D. Bailey, Austin Jacobs, Daniel McClain with Darrin Simpson. The song came from Earth, Wind & Fire's 2013 album Now, Then & Forever . [1]
Andy Kellman of Allmusic wrote, "My Promise and Guiding Light especially rise high enough to be slotted between classics without losing listener interest." [2] Elias Leight of Popmatters wrote that it was "a break-beat driven falsetto ballad that stretches the drama out past six minutes and includes a scream at the 4:18 mark that shouldn't be humanly possible for any man above the age of 30". Heo added, "The muted brass in "Guiding Lights" touches on the early '00s neo-soul that Earth, Wind & Fire helped inspire." [3] Emerys Baird of Blues & Soul wrote, "Ballad time, with the sultry "Guiding Lights", all replete with possibly the highest note ever hit by a human (even higher that Janet Kay on Silly Games!). It's a towering performance with the waffliest of synth solos, which nobody seems to do anymore, EWF at their best!" [4] Daryl Easlea of Record Collector described the song as a "big spiritual ballad". [5]
| Chart (2012) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Smooth Jazz Songs [6] | 16 |
| U.S. Billboard Adult R&B Songs [7] | 30 |
Earth, Wind & Fire is an American band whose music spans the genres of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, Latin, and Afro-pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million records worldwide.
That's the Way of the World is the sixth studio album by American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released on March 3, 1975, by Columbia Records. It was also the soundtrack for a 1975 motion picture of the same name. The album rose to No. 1 on both the Billboard 200 and Top Soul Albums charts. That's the Way of the World has also been certified Triple Platinum in the U.S. by the RIAA. In 2002, the band released live version of the album, recorded in 1975 – That's the Way of the World: Alive in '75.
Philip James Bailey is an American singer, songwriter and percussionist, best known as an early member and one of the two lead singers of the band Earth, Wind & Fire. Noted for his four-octave vocal range and distinctive falsetto register, Bailey was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame as a member of Earth, Wind & Fire. Bailey was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame for his work with the band.
"Shining Star" is a song by Earth, Wind & Fire's album That's the Way of the World, issued as a single in January 1975 on Columbia Records. The song rose to No. 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart, becoming their first single to top both charts. It has also been certified Gold in the US by the RIAA.
Open Our Eyes is the fifth studio album by American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released in March 1974 on Columbia Records. The album rose to No. 1 on the Billboard Top Soul Albums chart and No. 15 on the Top Pop Albums chart. Open Our Eyes has been certified Platinum in the US by the RIAA.
The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire is a compilation album by American band Earth, Wind & Fire issued in July 2002 by Columbia/Legacy. The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire has been certified Gold in the US by the RIAA.
Illumination is the nineteenth studio album by American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released in September 2005 on Sanctuary Records. The album rose to No. 8 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and No. 32 on the Billboard 200 chart. Illumination was also Grammy nominated within the category of Best R&B Album. It is the last Earth, Wind & Fire album to feature their founder and co-lead vocalist Maurice White.
"Serpentine Fire" is a single by Earth, Wind & Fire which was issued in October 1977 by Columbia Records. The single rose to numbers 1 and 13 on the Billboard Hot Soul Songs and Hot 100 charts, respectively.
Chinese Wall is the third solo album by American singer Philip Bailey, released on the Columbia Records label in October 1984. The album reached number 22 on the Billboard 200 and number 10 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts respectively. The album was Grammy nominated in the category of Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male. Chinese Wall has also been certified gold in the US by the RIAA.
"That's the Way of the World" is a song recorded by the band Earth, Wind & Fire, released as a single in June 1975 on Columbia Records. The song reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart and No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Devotion" is a single by R&B band Earth, Wind & Fire released in 1974 on Columbia Records. "Devotion" peaked at No. 23 on the Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart and No. 33 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
"Reasons" is a love ballad by Earth, Wind & Fire from their sixth studio album, That's the Way of the World. The song features the falsetto singing on lead vocals of Philip Bailey.
"Fool for You" is a song by American soul singer CeeLo Green from his third studio album, The Lady Killer. The song was solicited to radio as the album's third single on March 8, 2011. The single version of the track features guest vocals from Canadian singer Melanie Fiona; the album version, however, features vocals from American singer Philip Bailey. No music video was released for the song.
Now, Then & Forever is the twentieth studio album by American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released on September 10, 2013, by Legacy Recordings/Sony Music. The album reached No. 11 on the US Billboard 200 and No. 6 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
Neal H Pogue is an American producer, audio engineer and mixer originally from Roselle, New Jersey, and based in Los Angeles. Pogue is a multi-time Grammy Award winner, having first won for his engineering and mixing work on Outkast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2004) – which won the Album of the Year category, and his audio mixing work on Tyler, the Creator's Igor & Call Me If You Get Lost – which both records won the Best Rap Album category respectively in 2020 & 2022. Pogue has also produced for artists such as M.I.A, Nelly Furtado, Earth, Wind & Fire and has mixed for artists such as TLC, Pink, Nicki Minaj, Janelle Monáe, Tyler, the Creator, and Steve Lacy. Having engineered and mixed TLC's Grammy nominated 11-time platinum single "Waterfalls", Pogue also arranged the horns on "Waterfalls" under the pseudonym "Shock". Pogue has gone on to work with many prominent names in music.
Holiday is the twenty-first studio and the first Christmas album by the American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released in October 2014 by Sony/Legacy. The album reached No. 26 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums and No. 8 on the Billboard Holiday Albums charts.
"When Love Goes Wrong" is a song by R&B band Earth, Wind & Fire, released as a single in 1997 on Rhino Records from the album In the Name of Love. It reached No. 33 on the Billboard Adult R&B Airplay chart.
The Greatest Hits is a compilation album by the band Earth, Wind & Fire issued in 2010 on Sony Music. The album reached No. 9 on the UK Albums and No. 29 on the Scottish Albums chart.
Love Will Find a Way is a jazz album by Philip Bailey released in November 2019 on Verve Records. The album reached No. 1 on both the Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart and the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Albums chart.
"My Promise" is a song by the band Earth, Wind & Fire, released as a single in 2013 by Sony Music/Legacy. The song reached No. 28 on the Billboard Adult R&B Songs chart and No. 30 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Songs chart.
