"Roll with It" is a song recorded by

Steve Winwood Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a guitarist, keyboard player, and vocalist prominent for his dis ...

for his album '' Roll with It'', released on

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

. It was written by Winwood and long-time collaborator

Will Jennings Wilbur Herschel Jennings (June 27, 1944 – September 6, 2024) was an American lyricist. He was known for writing the songs " Up Where We Belong", " Higher Love", " Tears in Heaven" and "My Heart Will Go On". He was inducted into the Songwriter ...

. Publishing rights organization BMI later had

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

songwriters Holland-Dozier-Holland credited with co-writing the song due to its resemblance to the Junior Walker hit " (I'm a) Roadrunner".

Release and reception

The single spent four straight weeks at No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart starting on the issue dating July 30, 1988. It topped the ''Billboard'' adult contemporary chart for two weeks, and also spent four weeks at No. 1 on the ''Billboard''

mainstream rock chart Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" fo ...

. In addition, the song reached No. 30 on the

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

.Hyatt, Wesley (1999). ''The Billboard Book of #1 Adult Contemporary Hits'' (Billboard Publications), page 336. In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, the song reached No. 53 on the UK Singles Chart. "Roll with It" was nominated for two

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

s in

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without re ...

and

Best Male Pop Vocal performance The Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance was a Grammy Award recognizing superior vocal performance by a male in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. It was discontinued after the 2011 Grammy season. The award wen ...

. The album ''Roll with It'' was also nominated as Album of the Year.

Music video

The music video, directed by

David Fincher David Andrew Leo Fincher (born August 28, 1962) is an American film director. Often described as one of the preeminent directors of his generation, David Fincher filmography, his films, of which most are psychological thrillers, have collectiv ...

and filmed in sepia-tone, depicts Winwood performing the song in a bar.

Track listings

7-inch: Virgin / VS 1085 United Kingdom # "Roll with It" – 4:30 # "The Morning Side" – 3:57 7-inch: Virgin / 7-99326 United States # "Roll with It" – 4:30 # "The Morning Side" – 5:12 12-inch and CD Single: Virgin / VST 1085, VSCD 1085 United Kingdom # "Roll with It" (12-inch remix) – 9:56 # "The Morning Side" – 3:57 # "Roll with It" (7-inch remix) – 4:30 * Track 1 remixed by Bruce Forest and Frank Heller 12-inch: Virgin / 7 96648-0 United States # "Roll with It" (12-inch remix) – 9:53 # "Roll with It" (Steve Testifies dub) – 6:44 # "The Morning Side" (7-inch version) – 3:57

Personnel

– lead and backing vocals, acoustic piano,

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

Fairlight CMI The Fairlight CMI (short for Computer Musical Instrument) is a digital synthesizer, music sampler, and digital audio workstation introduced in 1979 by Fairlight. — with links to some Fairlight history and photos It was based on a commerc ...

, bass, drums *

Mike Lawler Michael Vincent Lawler (born September 9, 1986) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for New York's 17th congressional district since 2023. From 2021 to 2022, he was a Republican member of the New York State Assembly fr ...

– keyboards * The Memphis Horns ** Wayne Jackson – trombone and trumpet ** Andrew Love – tenor saxophone * Tessa Niles – backing vocals * Mark Williamson – backing vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

Single release info at discogs.com
{{Authority control 1988 songs 1988 singles Steve Winwood songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles Music videos directed by David Fincher Songs with lyrics by Will Jennings Songs written by Steve Winwood Songs written by Holland–Dozier–Holland Virgin Records singles