"That's What Friends Are For" is a 1982 song written by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager and introduced by Rod Stewart for the soundtrack of the film Night Shift.

The song is far better known for its cover version by Dionne Warwick and Friends. A one-off collaboration featuring Gladys Knight, Elton John and Stevie Wonder released as a charity single in the United Kingdom and the United States in 1985, it was recorded as a benefit for American Foundation for AIDS Research, and raised over US$3 million for that cause. The tune peaked at number one for three weeks on the soul chart and for four weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1986 and became Billboard's number one single of 1986. In 1988, the Washington Post wrote, "So working against AIDS, especially after years of raising money for work on many blood-related diseases such as sickle-cell anemia, seemed the right thing to do. 'You have to be granite not to want to help people with AIDS, because the devastation that it causes is so painful to see. I was so hurt to see my friend die with such agony,' Warwick remembers. 'I am tired of hurting and it does hurt.'"

The Dionne and Friends version of the song won the performers the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, as well as Song of the Year for its writers, Bacharach and Bayer Sager. It also was ranked by Billboardmagazine as the most popular song of 1986.

Dionne and Friend's version also listed at #61 on Billboard's Greatest Songs of all time.[1]

On March 17, 1990 an AIDS benefit titled That's What Friends Are For: Arista Records 15th Anniversary Concertwas held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. One month later, CBS aired a two-hour version of the concert on television. The celebrity guests and Arista label performers were: Air Supply, Lauren Bacall, Burt Bacharach, Eric Carmen, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Clive Davis, Taylor Dayne, Michael Douglas, Exposé, Whoopi Goldberg, Melanie Griffith, Hall & Oates, Jennifer Holliday, Whitney Houston, Alan Jackson, Kenny G, Melissa Manchester, Barry Manilow, Milli Vanilli, Jeffrey Osborne, Carly Simon, Patti Smith, Lisa Stansfield, The Four Tops, and Dionne Warwick. "That's What Friends Are For" was the finale song sung by Warwick and cousin Houston before being joined on the stage by the other guests of the event. Over $2.5 million was raised that night for the Arista Foundation which gave the proceeds to various AIDS organizations.

The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie · Tribute to Uncle Ray · With a Song in My Heart · Stevie at the Beach · Up-Tight · Down to Earth · I Was Made to Love Her · Someday at Christmas · Eivets Rednow · For Once in My Life · My Cherie Amour · Signed, Sealed & Delivered · Where I'm Coming From · Music of My Mind · Talking Book · Innervisions · Fulfillingness' First Finale · Songs in the Key of Life · Hotter than July · In Square Circle · Characters · Conversation Peace · A Time to Love

Recorded Live: The 12 Year Old Genius · Stevie Wonder Live · Natural Wonder

Journey through the Secret Life of Plants · The Woman in Red · Jungle Fever

Looking Back · Stevie Wonder's Original Musiquarium · At the Close of a Century · The Definitive Collection · The Complete Stevie Wonder

"Fingertips - Part 2" · "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" · "Blowin' in the Wind" · "A Place in the Sun" · "I Was Made to Love Her" · "For Once in My Life" · "Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day" · "My Cherie Amour" · "Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday" · "Never Had a Dream Come True" · "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours" · "Heaven Help Us All" · "If You Really Love Me" · "Superstition" · "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" · "Higher Ground" · "Living for the City" · "He's Misstra Know it All" · "You Haven't Done Nothin'" · "Boogie On Reggae Woman" · "I Wish" · "Sir Duke" · "Send One Your Love" · "Master Blaster (Jammin')" · "I Ain't Gonna Stand for It" · "Lately" · "Happy Birthday" · "That Girl" · "Do I Do" · "Ebony and Ivory" · "Ribbon in the Sky" · "I Just Called to Say I Love You" · "Part-Time Lover" · " That's What Friends Are For " · "Go Home"

Discography · Syreeta Wright · KJLH · Motown · Soul music

Discography