On This Day, Aug. 30, 1986: Steve Winwood hit #1 with “Higher Love”

Coronation concert WINDSOR, ENGLAND - MAY 07: Steve Winwood performs during the Coronation Concert on May 7, 2023 in Windsor, England. The Windsor Castle Concert is part of the celebrations of the Coronation of Charles III and his wife, Camilla, as King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the other Commonwealth realms that took place at Westminster Abbey yesterday. High-profile performers will entertain members of the royal family and 20,000 guests including 10,000 members of the public. (Photo by Yui Mok - WPA Pool/Getty Images) (Yui Mok/Getty Images)

By Jill Lances

August 30, 2024 at 7:00 am EDT

On This Day, Aug. 30, 1986 …

Former Traffic star Steve Winwood landed his first Billboard Hot 100 #1 with "Higher Love," from his fourth solo album, Back in the High Life.

The song, featuring backing vocals by Chaka Khan, spent one week on top of the chart. It went on to win Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Best Male Vocal Performance.

Winwood’s second and only other #1 single came less than two years later when “Roll With It," from the #1 album of the same name, topped the chart in July 1988.

Whitney Houston covered “Higher Love” in 1990, which was released on the Japanese version of her hit album I’m Your Baby Tonight. In 2019, Norwegian DJ Kygo released a remix of that version, which hit #1 on the Dance Club Songs chart.