We Are Family (song)

"We Are Family"
Side A of US 7-inch single
Single by Sister Sledge
from the album We Are Family
B-side"Easier to Love"
ReleasedApril 1979
StudioPower Station, New York City, New York, US
Genre
Length
  • 8:19 (12-inch/album version)
  • 3:36 (single version)
LabelCotillion
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Nile Rodgers
  • Bernard Edwards
Sister Sledge singles chronology
"He's the Greatest Dancer"
(1979) 		"We Are Family"
(1979) 		"Lost in Music"
(1979)
Music video
"We Are Family" on YouTube

"We Are Family" is a song recorded by American vocal group Sister Sledge. Composed by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers, they both offered the song to Atlantic Records; although the record label initially declined, the track was released in April 1979 as a single from the album of the same name (1979)[1] and began to gain club and radio play, eventually becoming the group's signature song.[2]

"We Are Family" went gold, becoming the number one R&B and number two pop song on the American charts in 1979 (behind "Hot Stuff" by Donna Summer).[3] Along with the tracks "He's the Greatest Dancer" and "Lost in Music", "We Are Family" reached number one on the Billboard Dance Club Songs.[4] It has been re-released two times in new remixes; in 1984 and 1993. In 2017, the song was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[5] Billboard magazine named the song number 20 on their list of "100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time" same year.[6] In 2023, the magazine included it in their "Best Pop Songs of All Time".[7]

  1. ^ Irvin, Jim; McLear, Colin (2000). The Mojo Collection. Edinburgh, Scotland: Canongate Books, Ltd. p. 421. ISBN 978-1-84195-973-3.
  2. ^ "Joni Sledge, member of the group Sister Sledge, dies aged 60". The Guardian. Associated Press. March 11, 2017. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  3. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004. Record Research. p. 530.
  4. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco: 1974–2003. Record Research. p. 236.
  5. ^ "National Recording Registry Picks Are "Over the Rainbow"". Library of Congress. March 29, 2016. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
  6. ^ "100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time: Critics' Picks". Billboard. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
  7. ^ "The 500 Best Pop Songs: Staff List". Billboard. October 19, 2023. Retrieved October 20, 2023.