"How Do You Keep the Music Playing?" is a song composed by

Michel Legrand Michel Jean Legrand (; 24 February 1932 – 26 January 2019) was a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and jazz pianist. Legrand was a prolific composer, having written over 200 film and television scores, in addition to many son ...

, with lyrics by Alan and

Marilyn Bergman Alan Bergman (born September 11, 1925) and Marilyn Keith Bergman (November 10, 1928 – January 8, 2022) were an American songwriting duo. Married from 1958 until Marilyn's death, together they wrote music and lyrics for numerous celebrated telev ...

for the 1982 film '' Best Friends'', where it was introduced by

James Ingram James Edward Ingram (February 16, 1952 – January 29, 2019) was an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He was a two-time Grammy Award-winner and a two-time Academy Award nominee for Best Original Song. After beginning his career ...

and Patti Austin. The Austin/Ingram version became a single in 1983 and reached #45 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and #5 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. It was one of three songs with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman that were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the

55th Academy Awards The 55th Academy Awards were presented April 11, 1983, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles. The ceremonies were presided over by Liza Minnelli, Dudley Moore, Richard Pryor, and Walter Matthau. Louis Gossett Jr. became the first Africa ...

Notable versions

Susannah McCorkle Susannah McCorkle (January 1, 1946 – May 19, 2001) was an American jazz singer. Life and career A native of Berkeley, California, McCorkle studied Italian literature at the University of California at Berkeley before dropping out to move to ...

— ''How Do You Keep the Music Playing'' (1985) * Frankie Laine — ''Place in Time'' (1985) and ''Wheels of a Dream'' (1998) * Andy Williams — '' Close Enough for Love'' (1986) *

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birt ...

— '' The Art of Excellence'' (1986), '' Duets: An American Classic'' (with George Michael) (2006) and '' Duets II'' (with Aretha Franklin) (2011) *

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, play ...

with the

Count Basie Orchestra The Count Basie Orchestra is a 16 to 18 piece big band, one of the most prominent jazz performing groups of the swing era, founded by Count Basie in 1935 and recording regularly from 1936. Despite a brief disbandment at the beginning of the 195 ...

(with Carmen Bradford) — ''

Big Boss Band ''Big Boss Band'' is the 1990 studio album of George Benson on Warner Bros. featuring the Count Basie Orchestra. This is Benson's second consecutive album which returns to his jazz roots after his successful pop career in the 1980s, and also his d ...

'' (1990) * Shirley Bassey — '' Keep the Music Playing'' (1991) * Former Ladies of the Supremes — included in several compilation albums, including ''Baby Love'' and ''Live, Live, Live'' (1991) *

Steve Smith Stephen, Steve, Stevie, or Steven Smith may refer to: Academics * Steve Smith (political scientist) (born 1952), British international relations theorist and senior university manager * Stephen Smith (journalist) (born 1956), American journalist, ...

& Buddy's Buddies — ''Steve Smith & Buddy's Buddies * Johnny Mathis — '' How Do You Keep the Music Playing?'' (1993) * Pieces of a Dream — ''In Flight'' (1993) * Frank Sinatra — '' L.A. Is My Lady'' (1984), '' Duets II'' (with

Lorrie Morgan Loretta Lynn Morgan (born June 27, 1959) is an American country music singer and actress. She is the daughter of George Morgan, widow of Keith Whitley, and ex-wife of Jon Randall and Sammy Kershaw, all of whom are also country music singers. Mor ...

) (1994) *

Vocal Majority Vocal Majority (VM) is a Dallas, Texas-based men's chorus of over 150 singers, who bill themselves with the tagline "Pure Harmony." VM is the performing chorus of the Dallas Metro chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS). Vocal Majority h ...

— ''How Do You Keep the Music Playing'' (1996) * Carl Anderson — ''Why We Are Here!'' (1997) *

Maureen McGovern Maureen Therese McGovern (born July 27, 1949) is an American singer and Broadway actress, well known for her renditions of the songs " The Morning After" from the 1972 film '' The Poseidon Adventure''; " We May Never Love Like This Again" from '' ...

— ''The Music Never Ends: The Lyrics of Alan & Marilyn Bergman'' (1997) * The SuperJazz Big Band of Birmingham, Alabama recorded the song on the CD, '' UAB SuperJazz, Featuring Ellis Marsalis'' (2001) Arranged and sung by

Ray Reach Raymond Everett Reach, Jr. (born August 3, 1948) is an American pianist, vocalist, guitarist, composer, arranger, music producer, and educator, named by AL.com as one of "30 Alabamians who changed jazz history." He serves as President and CEO o ...

. *

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...

— '' The Movie Album'' (2003) * Rigmor Gustafsson — ''On My Way to You'' (2006) *

Salena Jones Salena may refer to: * Salena, Nepal Salena is a village development committee in Baitadi District in the Mahakali Zone of western Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census The 1991 Nepal census was a widespread national census conducted by th ...

— ''Salena sings pop favorites'' (orchestra and sax) (2009) * Martin Nievera (Featuring Kyla) — ''As Always'' (2010) *

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

— '' Loved Me Back to Life'' (Deluxe Edition) (2013) *

Bradley Walsh Bradley John Walsh (born 4 June 1960) is an English actor, comedian, singer, television presenter, and former professional footballer. Walsh is known for his roles as Danny Baldwin in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' (2004–2006), a ...

— '' Chasing Dreams'' (2016) * Faith Cuneta & Daniel Briones — '' Still The One (Album by Faith Cuneta) '' (2022) * The Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge directed by Stephen Layton recorded the song in 2015 in an arrangement by Alexander L'Estrange with soloist Helen Charlston. This recording was not officially released but it is available on YouTube.

Live versions

Thomas Anders Bernd Weidung (born 1 March 1963), known by his stage name Thomas Anders, is a German singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the lead vocalist of the pop duo Modern Talking. Starting his singing career while still in school ...

— '' Live Concert'' (1997) *

Kuh Ledesma Maria Socorro "Kuh" Hashim Ledesma (born March 16, 1955) is a Filipino singer and actress. Born in Manila, Philippines with a Lebanese lineage and Ilonggo parents, she moved to Bacolod for college where she met some of her future Music and Magi ...

— Performed live at the PICC Plenary Hall in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

(2002) *

Céline Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

— '' Celine'' - A holographic duet with herself (2011) *

Brian McKnight Brian Kelly McKnight (born June 5, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, radio host and multi-instrumentalist. He is most recognized for his strong head voice, high belting range and melisma. McKnight is known for h ...

& Kyla — Performed live at the

Araneta Coliseum The Araneta Coliseum, also currently known by naming rights sponsorship as Smart Araneta Coliseum, is an indoor multi-purpose sports arena that is part of the Araneta City in the Cubao area of Quezon City, Philippines. Nicknamed as "the Big Do ...

(2012) *

— Performed live on the PBS special "Cheek To Cheek LIVE!" and NBC special "Tony Bennett Celebrates 90" (2016) * Lea Salonga — '' Blurred Lines (2017)'' — Performed live on "Feinstein's/54 Below" (2016)

References

1982 songs 1983 singles Songs with lyrics by Alan Bergman Songs with lyrics by Marilyn Bergman Songs with music by Michel Legrand Barbra Streisand songs Frank Sinatra songs Andy Williams songs Male–female vocal duets 1980s ballads {{Pop-standard-stub