"Sail On" is a

Commodores Commodores, often billed as The Commodores, are an American funk and Soul music, soul group. The group's most successful period was in the late 1970s and early 1980s when Lionel Richie was the co-lead singer. The members of the group met as m ...

song written by

Lionel Richie Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of the Motown group Commodores; writing and recor ...

from their 1979 album '' Midnight Magic''. Released as the first of three singles from the album, it was produced by both Commodores and James Anthony Carmichael. The song reached the top ten on both the US and UK music charts that same year. "Sail On" got as high as #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart while it made it all the way to #1 on the Cash Box Top 100 singles chart. Richie later recorded the song with

Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer and actor. He has released 17 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, five for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those albums have reached number one on ...

for 2012's '' Tuskegee''. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' described it as "a sparkling ballad." ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' called it "a surprising country flavored ballad" and said that "the subdued backing featuring prominent guitar and keyboards and the slick country intonations to Lionel Richie's vocal carry the melody." ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' called it a "beautiful, country-colored ballad."

Track listings

US 7" single #"Sail On" – 3:57 #"Thumpin' Music" – 3:24 UK 7" single #"Sail On" – 3:57 #"Captain Quick Draw" – 3:00

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

List of cover versions of "Sail On"
at SecondHandSongs.com {{Chanté Moore 1979 singles Commodores songs Songs written by Lionel Richie Pop ballads 1979 songs Motown singles Song recordings produced by James Anthony Carmichael Chanté Moore songs 1970s ballads Cashbox number-one singles