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"Shining Star" is a song from Earth, Wind & Fire's album That's the Way of the World, issued as a single in January 1975 on Columbia Records.[4] The song rose to No. 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart, becoming their first single to top both charts (and only single to top the former).[5][6] It has also been certified Gold in the US by the RIAA.[7]
| "Shining Star" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Earth, Wind & Fire | ||||
| from the album That's the Way of the World | ||||
| B-side | "Yearnin' Learnin'" | |||
| Released | January 21, 1975 | |||
| Recorded | Autumn 1974 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 2:50 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) |
| |||
| Earth, Wind & Fire singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
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"Shining Star" was produced by Maurice White and composed by White, Larry Dunn and Philip Bailey.
The concept for the song came to Maurice White while strolling at night during the band's recording of That's the Way of the World at Caribou Ranch. He became inspired by looking up at the starry sky and took his ideas about the song to the other band members.[8]
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Vibe called Shining Star a "treasure".[9] Alex Henderson of Allmusic described the song as "sweaty funk".[2] Gordon Fletcher of Rolling Stone wrote that the song "glow(s) with an incendiary charge that once moved record producer Sandy Pearlman to term EW&F 'the closest thing to a black heavy-metal band'."[10] Daryl Easlea of the BBC found that "Shining Star can be seen as much an influence on Prince as anything by James Brown".[11] Stephen Curwood of The Boston Globe noted that the tune "shows off the fabulous range and coordination of this nine-man vocal ensemble and instrumental choir.[12]
"Shining Star" also won a Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.[13] In 2008, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[14]
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Shining Star has been sampled by hip hop artists MC Lyte, Snoop Dogg and Salt-N-Pepa. As well the tune has been covered by singers Chaka Khan, Ruben Studdard and Jump5. What's more, Shining Star has been interpolated on songs by hip hop groups The Roots and De La Soul.[15]
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- Maurice White – lead and backing vocals
- Phillip Bailey – lead and backing vocals, congas
- Verdine White – bass, backing vocals
- Ralph Johnson – percussion, drums
- Al McKay – lead guitar
- Johnny Graham – rhythm guitar
- Fred White – drums
- Larry Dunn – clavinet
- Andrew P. Woolfolk – soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone
- George Bohanon – trombone
- Oscar Brashear – trumpet
- Ernie Watts – additional saxophone
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| Chart (1975–1976) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles | 1 |
| Dutch Singles (Dutch Charts) | 14[16] |
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| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA)[17] | Gold | 1,000,000^ |
|
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
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| Publication | Country | Accolade | Year | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pause & Play | U.S. | Songs Inducted into a Time Capsule, One Album per Week[citation needed] | 2008 | * |
| The Recording Academy | U.S. | Grammy Hall of Fame[citation needed] | 2007 | * |
| Dave Marsh | U.S. | The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made[citation needed] | 1989 | 433 |
| Bruce Pollock | U.S. | The 7,500 Most Important Songs of 1944-2000[citation needed] | 2005 | * |
(*) designates lists that are unordered.
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"Shining Star" was featured in the soundtrack for Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, sung by American Idol winner Ruben Studdard.
"Shining Star" was featured in the soundtrack for The Lizzie McGuire Movie, sung by Jump5.
"Shining Star" was the song played when Elaine Benes did the infamous "little kicks" for the first time on the namesake Seinfeld episode "The Little Kicks".
"Shining Star" was featured in the opening scene of the pilot episode of Glee.
"Shining Star" was featured during the introductory scene of the character Doctor Strange (2016) (2016)
"Shining Star" was featured in the ending scene and credits of the movie Meet Dave (2008).
"Shining Star" was featured in the credits of the movie Semi-Pro (2008).
"Shining Star" was featured in Donkey Konga (US version; 2004) for the renew cover version of Jump5.
A remix of "Shining Star" was featured in the trailer for The Continental: From the World of John Wick.
"Shining Star" was featured in Austin Powers in Goldmember, when the titular character arrives at 1975 to find his missing father at Studio 69 owned by the titular villain "Goldmember".
The song was also featured as downloadable content for the Rock Band music video game series.
In 2019, the song was featured in Fox's closing montage for the 2019 MLB All-Star Game.[18]
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