Songfacts®: You can leave comments about the song at the bottom of the page.
This is a tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr., a civil rights leader who was shot and killed in 1968. Proceeds raised money for the King foundation.
Artists who appeared on this include El DeBarge, Fat Boys, Full Force, Grandmaster Melle Mel, Whitney Houston, Kurtis Blow, Stacy Lattisaw, Lisa Lisa, Teena Marie, Menudo (with Ricky Martin), Stephanie Mills, New Edition, Run-D.M.C., James "J.T." Taylor, and Whodini.
Kurtis Blow wrote this with Phil Barnes and Melle Mel. Says Kurtis: "Dexter Scott King calls me up one day and says, 'This is Martin's son.' Dexter Scott King looks just like his dad and talks just like his dad. He calls me and says, 'Hello, can I speak to Kurtis Blow...' He started telling me this story, and I'm like, Yeah, right. I didn't believe this guy to save my life. He had to call me back, I hung up on him a couple of times. We finally got together and put all these people together."
This came out shortly after the Sun City project, an album and single that raised awareness about Apartheid in South Africa. That project was organized by "Little Steven" Van Zandt, who included Kurtis Blow and some of the other artists who were part of this. Steven was a little upset that he wasn't included in King Holiday. Kurtis felt bad about this, but once he set it up, Dexter Scott King's people took over and started calling everybody, so he didn't get to be a part of it. (thanks to Kurtis for speaking with us about this song)
Comments (1):
Charlie Benante of Anthrax
The drummer for Anthrax is also a key songwriter. He explains how the group puts their songs together and tells the stories behind some of their classics.
Dean Pitchford
Dean wrote the screenplay and lyrics to all the songs in
Footloose. His other hits include "Fame" and "All The Man That I Need."
Mark Arm of Mudhoney
When he was asked to write a song for the
Singles soundtrack, Mark thought the Seattle grunge scene was already overblown, so that's what he wrote about.
Brad Smith of Blind Melon
The Blind Melon bassist/songwriter tells the story of "No Rain," which he wrote before the band was formed.
Get the Ringtone
Get Song @ Amazon
Get the Sheet Music
