"Sailing" is a song written and recorded by American artist Christopher Cross. It was released in June 1980 as the second single from his eponymous debut album. The song was a success in the USA, winning Grammy Awards for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Arrangement of the Year, and helping Cross win the Best New Artist award. VH1 named this the greatest "softsational soft rock" music song of all time.
It was a number-one rated single in the United States. Since its debut, it has been covered by many artists, including Avant, Barry Manilow, Greenskeepers, 'N Sync,Phajja, Patrick Yandall and, as a duo, Moya Brennan & Cormac de Barra. The song was one of the first digitally recorded songs, utilizing the 3M digital recording system.[1] In his Grammy acceptance speech, Christopher acknowledged Sailing as his favorite song on the album and that originally it was not meant to be a single.
In popular culture[]
The Mexican airline AeroMéxico used the theme during the middle 1980s as a jingle for its advertisements; it was also used for the cigarette brand Winston.
"Sailing" has been sampled in several other songs, including Puff Daddy's "Best Friend" (1999) and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony's "Paradise" (2006), and Chris Brown's "Can't Let You Go." Dr. Octagon's song "Blue Flowers Revisited" (1996) contains a brief interpolation of the chorus.
Charts[]
| Chart (1980–81) | Peak
position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report) | 46 |
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[3] | 38 |
| Canadian Adult Contemporary (RPM) | 1 |
| Canadian Top Singles (RPM) | 1 |
| Ireland (IRMA)[4] | 21 |
| Italy (FIMI)[5] | 12 |
| Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[6] | 18 |
| New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[7] | 8 |
| Spain (AFYVE)[8] | 24 |
| UK Singles (The Official Charts Company) | 48 |
| U.S. BillboardHot 100 | 1 |
| U.S. BillboardAdult Contemporary | 10 |
Year-end charts[]
| Chart (1980) | Peak
position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 32 |
Chart successions[]
| Preceded by
"Magic" by Olivia Newton-John |
Billboard Hot 100 number-one single
August 30, 1980 (1 week) |
Succeeded by
"Upside Down" by Diana Ross |
| Preceded by
"Magic" by Olivia Newton-John |
Canadian RPM number-one single
October 11, 1980 – October 18, 1980 (2 weeks) |
Succeeded by |