Stand by Me (Ben E. King song)

"Stand by Me" is a song originally recorded by American singer-songwriter Ben E. King in 1961, and written by him, along with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who together used the pseudonym Elmo Glick. According to King, the title is derived from, and was inspired by, a spiritual written by Sam Cooke and J. W. Alexander called "Stand by Me Father", recorded by the Soul Stirrers with Johnnie Taylor singing lead.

There have been over 500 recorded versions of the song, performed by many artists, notably Otis Redding, John Lennon, Maurice White, Demis Roussos, Muhammad Ali, 4 the Cause, Tracy Chapman, musicians of the Playing for Change project, Florence and the Machine, Weezer, and the Kingdom Choir.