Muscles (song)

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"Muscles"
Diana Ross Muscles.jpg
Single by Diana Ross
from the album Silk Electric
B-side "I Am Me"
ReleasedSeptember 17, 1982
Recorded1982
Studio Sunset Sound Recorders, (Los Angeles, California) [1]
Genre R&B, pop
Length3:59, 6:38
Label RCA
Songwriter(s) Michael Jackson
Producer(s) Michael Jackson
Diana Ross singles chronology
"It's Never Too Late"
(1982)
"Muscles"
(1982)
"So Close"
(1983)
Music video
"Muscles" on YouTube

"Muscles" is a 1982 hit single written and produced by Michael Jackson, and performed by American singer Diana Ross. It was released as the first single on September 17, 1982, by RCA from Ross's Gold-certified album Silk Electric . The single reached number No. 7 in Cash Box magazine and No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It climbed as high as No. 4 on the Billboard Soul chart, whilst hitting No. 2 for 2 weeks on the Cash Box Soul chart. The track featured prominent background vocals by Patti Austin with seasoned session singers Maxine and Julia Waters. It earned Ross a twelfth Grammy Award nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. (Although Ross has never won a competitive Grammy, she was awarded an honorary Lifetime Achievement Award from NARAS in 2012.) The song was originally intended to be an R&B answer to the massive Olivia Newton-John hit "Physical".

Contents

Music video

The single's erotic music video featured Ross in bed dreaming of muscular men. In one scene she is shown floating through the air over a landscape which turns out to be a man's musclebound body. [2] The video features a young Gil Birmingham ( The Twilight Saga film series) in one of his first-ever media appearances.

Track listing

Personnel

Charts

Chart (1982)Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report) [11] 50
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista) [12] 16
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [13] 10
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) [14] 10
Ireland (IRMA) [15] 23
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) [16] 18
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) [17] 6
UK Singles (OCC) [18] 15
US Billboard Hot 100 [19] 10
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs ( Billboard ) [20] 4
US Adult Contemporary ( Billboard ) [21] 36

Cover versions

Samples

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References

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