Higher Love

For other uses, see Higher Love (disambiguation).

"Higher Love"
Single by Steve Winwood
from the album Back in the High Life
B-side	"And I Go"
Released	June 1986
Recorded	November 1985 – May 1986
Studio	Unique Recording Studio, New York
Genre	Soft rock [1] [2] blues rock [3] blue-eyed soul [4]
Length	5:51 (album version) 4:14 (single version)
Label	Island – IS 288
Songwriter(s)	Steve Winwood Will Jennings
Producer(s)	Russ Titelman Steve Winwood
Steve Winwood singles chronology
"Valerie" (1982) "Higher Love" (1986) "Freedom Overspill" (1986)

"Higher Love" is a 1986 song by English singer Steve Winwood. ^[5] It was the first single released from his fourth solo LP, Back in the High Life (1986). It was written by Winwood and Will Jennings and produced by Russ Titelman and Winwood. The background vocals were performed by Chaka Khan, who also appeared in the music video.

"Higher Love" was Winwood's first Billboard Hot 100 number-one song, topping the chart for one week beginning 30 August 1986. "Higher Love" also spent four weeks atop the US Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart and earned two Grammy Awards, for Record of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. It also peaked at number 13 in the United Kingdom, Winwood's highest charting solo entry there, and reached number one in Canada for a week.

Whitney Houston covered the song in 1990 and it was included as a bonus track on the Japanese edition of her third studio album I'm Your Baby Tonight . In 2016, Winwood made a version with his daughter Lilly Winwood, performing a duet for a Hershey commercial. ^[6] Norwegian DJ Kygo reworked Houston's cover into a tropical house track in 2019, which was released as a single worldwide ^[7] and hit number one on Billboard magazine's Dance Club Songs chart, making it Houston's highest-charting posthumous release to date.

Background

Music engineer Tom Lord-Alge had suggested moving one of John 'JR' Robinson's impromptu drum fills to the beginning of "Higher Love", by assigning a timing offset to one of two tape machines such that they first played the drum fill followed by the song coming in on the beat. ^[8] Titelman was happy with the result and decided to open the album with this drum fill. JR used a Latin rimshot technique across the top of his classic seamless brass Ludwig Black Beauty snare, unmuffled, with its snare wires disengaged, to emulate the sound of a timbale. He said, "it's one of the best drum intros I've ever played." ^[9]

Producer Russ Titelman remembered the fill being played ad lib by JR while his friend Chaka Khan was preparing to sing her background vocals on "Higher Love", causing Khan to exclaim "What is that shit? It sounds like voodoo shit!" ^[10] Tom Lord-Alge agreed that the drum fill was played as a lark after JR completed his drum overdubs for "Higher Love". Tom said, "It was one of those happy accidents, and it happened because Chris always taught me that if the tape is rolling and there's a musician in the studio, make sure the tape machine is in record!" ^[8]

Music video

The music video for the song was Winwood's first. It uses the shorter single version and was shot in June 1986 by directors Peter Kagan and Paula Greif. Kagan and Greif shot an almost identical video for Duran Duran's "Notorious" in November of that year; coincidentally, both videos were nominated for several awards at the 1987 MTV Video Music Awards though neither won. ^[11] Chaka Khan appears in the video, as does Nile Rodgers, who plays guitar with the backing band.

Track listings

7-inch: Island / IS 288 United Kingdom "Higher Love" – 4:14 "And I Go" – 4:12 7-inch: Island / 7-28710 United States "Higher Love" – 4:14 "And I Go" – 4:12

12-inch: Island / 12 IS 288 United Kingdom "Higher Love" (remix) – 7:45 "Higher Love" (instrumental) – 6:05 "And I Go" – 4:12 * Tracks one and two remixed by Tom Lord-Alge 12-inch: Island / PRO-A-2507 United States "Higher Love" (edit) – 4:08 "Higher Love" (LP version) – 5:45 US promo 12-inch

Personnel

• Steve Winwood – lead and backing vocals, synthesizer, sequencer programming, and Oberheim DMX programming
• Chaka Khan – backing vocals
• Nile Rodgers – rhythm guitar
• Robbie Kilgore – synthesizer and sequencer programming
• Andrew Thomas – PPG Waveterm synthesizer programming
• David Frank – synthesizer horns and synth horn arrangement
• Philippe Saisse – synthesizer bass
• Eddie Martinez – lead guitar
• John Robinson – drums
• Jimmy Bralower – Oberheim DMX programming
• Carole Steele – congas, tambourine

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1986–1987) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report) [12] 8 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) [13] 31 Canada Top Singles ( RPM ) [14] 1 Canada Adult Contemporary ( RPM ) [15] 7 Europe (European Hot 100 Singles) [16] 19 Finland (Suomen virallinen lista) [17] 13 Ireland (IRMA) [18] 11 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) [19] 24 Netherlands (Single Top 100) [20] 26 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) [21] 11 South Africa (Springbok Radio) [22] 17 UK Singles (OCC) [23] 13 US Billboard Hot 100 [24] 1 US Adult Contemporary ( Billboard ) [25] 7 US Mainstream Rock ( Billboard ) [26] 1 West Germany (Official German Charts) [27] 49

Year-end charts Chart (1986) Position Australia (Kent Music Report) [28] 68 Canada Top Singles (RPM) [29] 35 US Billboard Hot 100 [30] 20

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) [31]	Gold	400,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Kygo and Whitney Houston version

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External links

• Steve Winwood website album details
• Songfacts - Back In The High Life Again entry

"Higher Love"
Single by Kygo and Whitney Houston
from the album Golden Hour
Released	28 June 2019 (2019-06-28)
Recorded	December 1989 (Houston's vocals) December 2018 (Kygo's arrangement)
Genre	Tropical house [32]
Length	3:48
Label	RCA
Songwriter(s)	Steve Winwood Will Jennings
Producer(s)	Kygo Narada Michael Walden
Kygo singles chronology
"Kem kan eg ringe" (2019) "Higher Love" (2019) "Family" (2019)
Whitney Houston singles chronology
"Memories" (2016) "Higher Love" (2019) "How Will I Know (Whitney × Clean Bandit)" (2021)

v t e Steve Winwood
Albums	Steve Winwood Arc of a Diver Talking Back to the Night Back in the High Life Roll with It Refugees of the Heart Junction Seven About Time Nine Lives
Live albums	Live from Madison Square Garden
Compilations	Winwood Chronicles The Finer Things Revolutions – The Very Best of Steve Winwood
Singles	"While You See a Chance" "Valerie" "Higher Love" "Freedom Overspill" "Back in the High Life Again" "The Finer Things" "Roll with It" "Don't You Know What the Night Can Do?" "Holding On" "Hearts on Fire" "Dirty City"
Related articles	Discography Traffic Blind Faith The Spencer Davis Group Eric Clapton and the Powerhouse Ginger Baker's Air Force Go