Game: Songs With Guest Appearances From Other Artists

[smittykins]

Here’s a few to get you started:

Chicago’s “Wishing You Were Here” features backing vocals from Carl & Dennis Wilson and Al Jardine of The Beach Boys.

Billy Joel’s “My Life” has Peter Cetera and Donnie Dacus(Chicago’s then-guitarist)on backing vocals.

Billy Preston plays keyboards on the Beatles’ “Get Back.”

 

And...GO!

[BetterButter]

Sting appears on Money for Nothing

Mick Jagger appears on You're so Vain

[Popples]

Babyface's "Every Time I Close My Eyes" features Mariah Carey on background vocals and Kenny G has a sax solo.

[Bastet]

15 hours ago, BetterButter said:

Mick Jagger appears on You're so Vain

That's the first one I thought of.  The next was one of the weirdest and most wildly fantastic "featuring" performances: Tammy Wynette on ELF's "Justified and Ancient".  Then Aretha Franklin on The Eurythmics's "Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves"

I switched to pondering some great session collaborations:

- Kiki Dee (who'd dueted with him on "Don't Go Breaking My Heart") sang back-up on Elton's John's "Can You Feel the Love Tonight".  So did Rick Astley.

- Billy Corgan played bass on a few songs on Hole's "Celebrity Skin" album (he also collaborated with Courtney Love in writing some of the songs)

- Lou Gramm (Foreigner) sang back-up on several Bryan Adams songs on the Cuts Like a Knife album; they were recording in the same Vancouver studio, a couple of Adams's vocalists had called out sick, and Gramm stepped in to help the desperate young lad

- Janie Frickie sang back-up on Elvis Presley's cover of "My Way"

- Flea and Dave Navarro (Red Hot Chili Peppers) played bass and guitar, respectively, on Alanis Morissette's "Jagged Little Pill"

- George Harrison played guitar on Belinda Carlisle's "Leave a Light On"

- Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor sang back-up on Neil Young's "Heart of Gold"

- Eddie Van Halen did the guitar solo on Michael Jackson's "Beat It" for free, as a favor to Quincy Jones

 

[BetterButter]

Shannon Hoon appears on Don't Cry

[Annber03]

Some of these I did not know about. Neat to learn something new here :)!

Neil Finn of Crowded House does backing vocals on Sheryl Crow's "Everyday is a Winding Road" (and in that same vein, the drummer from Crowded House, Paul Hester, was the inspiration for the song). And Sheryl Crow later returned the favor and did some backing vocals and accordion work on Neil's album One Nil (or One All, as it was later known in the States). 

[KWalkerInc]

Chaka Khan sang backing vocals on Chicago's "Take Me Back to Chicago."

Cissy Houston sang backing vocals on Chaka's "I'm Every Woman," which was of course later covered by her daughter, Whitney.  (When Music Choice plays the song, they list among the facts that Whitney sang backing vocals on the original, but it doesn't look like she's credited that way.  She may have been uncredited, or sometimes Music Choice screws things up.)

[smittykins]

The Pointer Sisters sang backup on Chicago’s “Skinny Boy”(also the title track of keyboardist Robert Lamm’s first solo album), and the Chicago horn section played on Three Dog Night’s “Celebrate.”

[Popples]

On 7/8/2020 at 8:30 AM, smittykins said:

Billy Preston plays keyboards on the Beatles’ “Get Back.”

Billy Preston played piano and organ on the Rolling Stones' "Shine a Light."

[WendyCR72]

18 hours ago, BetterButter said:

Shannon Hoon appears on Don't Cry

By Guns N' Roses, just to clarify!  😉

I could hear him pretty clearly! (Versus some backup singers in songs.) Unsure if he also sang backup in the demo version, which was also released!

[KWalkerInc]

Bryan Adams sings backing vocals on "Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone)" by Glass Tiger.

June Pointer of the Pointer Sisters sings on the Bruce Willis cover of "Respect Yourself."

[smittykins]

The Bee Gees sang backup on Chicago’s “Little Miss Lovin’” from Hot Streets, and the horn section section repaid the favor by playing on “Too Much Heaven” and one other track on Spirits Having Flown.

[WendyCR72]

Bono appears on The Corrs' rendition of "When The Stars Go Blue".

 

[Annber03]

I love their version of that song. I didn't even know it was a cover at first, and I think I've only heard the original, like, once or twice since then. 

But yeah. Good version. 

[BetterButter]

David Letterman appears on Hit Somebody

[Blergh]

Rick James sang  background and appeared in the video of Eddie Murphy's Party All the Time! 

Let's just say that the late  Mr. James was not in his healthiest or least jaded state at the time  and, despite Mr. Murphy's vocal efforts, this was to be Mr. Murphy's one-hit wonder! 

[KWalkerInc]

Axl Rose sings on Don Henley's "I Will Not Go Quietly."

[WendyCR72]

23 hours ago, KWalkerInc said:

Axl Rose sings on Don Henley's "I Will Not Go Quietly."

That is one of the strangest/most surprising collaborations I've heard of.

[Dandesun]

Stevie Ray Vaughn does the guitar solo on 'Let's Dance' by David Bowie. Also, Nile Rodgers played guitar throughout the entire album. (As well as producing it.)

Nile Rodgers also plays guitar on 'Notorious' and 'Pressure Off' with Duran Duran. And Janelle Monae is on 'Pressure Off' as well.

Rockwell's 'Somebody's Watching Me' had Michael Jackson as back up. Possibly Jermaine as well.

 

[smittykins]

Stevie Nicks sang backup on John Stewart’s “Gold,” and Lindsey Buckingham played on the Bombs Away, Dream Babies album(Wikipedia claims that John played the guitar solo on “Gold,” though).

Edited September 2, 2020 by smittykins

[Twilight Man]

Both Sting and former Genesis bandmate Peter Gabriel are singing in the background of 

Phil Collin's "Take Me Home"

You ever wonder which Beach Boy sang the main refrain of "Barbara Ann"????   None of them.

Dean Torrence (from the group Jan and Dean, whom Brian Wilson wrote "Dead Man's Curve")  sang lead in the recording studio alongside the Wilson brothers.

On 7/9/2020 at 12:36 AM, Bastet said:

Eddie Van Halen did the guitar solo on Michael Jackson's "Beat It" for free, as a favor to Quincy Jones

and Slash (from Guns & Roses) performs guitar on "Black and White".

On 7/8/2020 at 8:30 AM, smittykins said:

Billy Preston plays keyboards on the Beatles’ “Get Back.”

 

On 7/9/2020 at 12:36 AM, Bastet said:

- George Harrison played guitar on Belinda Carlisle's "Leave a Light On"

 

On 7/29/2020 at 2:39 PM, Dandesun said:

Stevie Ray Vaughn does the guitar solo on 'Let's Dance' by David Bowie.

Being the daughters of SoCal rock royalty has some privileges; for example,

Joe Walsh of The Eagles played the guitar riff on Wilson Phillips "Hold On"

 

This is fun.

[WendyCR72]

Unsure if this applies to the album/studio version, but the late Chester Benningfield of Linkin Park fame sang background vocals in the live version of the Stone Temple Pilots song, "Wonderful".

 

[WendyCR72]

Another one: Back in the days of grunge's explosion, Alice In Chains released an EP called Sap. On a couple songs, Ann Wilson of Heart sang background vocals for "Am I Inside" and "Brother". Another track was credited as Alice Mudgarden, with a song called "Right Turn" that featured Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell of AIC, Chris Cornell of Soundgarden (and later, Audioslave), and Mike Arm of Mudhoney. Each got to sing a verse, kind of like a musical round robin. If you have never heard it, here:

 

[WendyCR72]

Finally, here's a rather strange collaboration: Elton John plays piano on the title track of Alice In Chains' comeback album (after the death of Layne Staley), "Black Gives Way To Blue" in 2010, which was a tribute to Staley:

 

[Popples]

13 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

Unsure if this applies to the album/studio version, but the late Chester Benningfield of Limp Biskit fame sang background vocals in the live version of the Stone Temple Pilots song, "Wonderful"

Chester Benningfield was in Linkin Park, not Limp Bizkit.

[WendyCR72]

5 minutes ago, Popples said:

Chester Benningfield was in Linkin Park, not Limp Bizkit.

You're right. Teach me to post in the dead of night as I did. I edited. Thanks!

[madmax]

"Country Boy" by Aaron Lewis features George Jones and Charlie Daniels

"Follow You Home" by Nickelback features Billy Gibbons of ZZTop singing and playing guitar.  Gibbons also sings on "Rock Star."

 

 

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

Tragedy !!!!

[Twilight Man]

A long time ago, James Taylor actually was the first American signed to the then strictly British label Apple Records.

Apple Records is most famous for originally having you-know-who as one of their groups.

Here is the 1968 version of "Carolina in My Mind".   It features Paul playing the bass guitar,

and John and George are singing backup.   Seriously.

[Lya167]

On 7/8/2020 at 11:08 PM, Popples said:

Babyface's "Every Time I Close My Eyes" features Mariah Carey on background vocals and Kenny G has a sax solo.

Another Kenny G sax solo is in Katy Perry's 'Last Friday Night'.

Tom Hanks is in Carly Rae Jepsen's 'I really like you', He lip syncs thru the whole song, too cool. And Justin Bieber also makes a quick appearance next to Carly by the end of it.