Wind Beneath My Wings

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"Wind Beneath My Wings"

Single by Bette Midler
from the album Beaches soundtrack
Released	1989
Format	CD single, cassette single
Genre	Pop
Length	4:15
Label	Epic
Writer(s)	Larry Henley and Jeff Silbar
Chart positions
#1 U.S.

"Wind Beneath My Wings" is a number-one single by Bette Midler from the soundtrack of the movie Beaches. Written by Larry Henley and Jeff Silbar,^[1] it has also been recorded by Perry Como, Lee Greenwood, Willie Nelson, Kiki Carter, Nana Mouskouri and Sonata Arctica, among many others. Also was performed on Season Three of the hit Fox television show American Idol by semi-finalist Marque Lynche and again on Season Five by finalist Paris Bennett, who was criticized after the song choice by judge Simon Cowell as, "sounding too old for your age."

It is often erroneously stated that the song was written for Midler; in reality, she was far from the first to record it. Sheena Easton and Roger Whittaker both released versions of the song in 1982, though neither had a hit with it. The song hit various U.S. charts the following year in versions by Gary Morris, Gladys Knight & the Pips and Lou Rawls.

In a recent UK poll, "Wind Beneath My Wings" was found to be the most played song at British funerals.^[2]

The song was chosen as one of the Songs of the Century by the RIAA.

Preceded by: "Rock On" by Michael Damian	Billboard Hot 100 number one single June 10, 1989	Succeeded by: "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)" by New Kids on the Block