Sexual Healing - Other Cover Versions

Other Cover Versions

Since its release, "Sexual Healing" has become one of the most influential singles in pop music, having been covered by several artists including Phish and blue-eyed soul singers such as Michael Bolton (2000). It has also become a staple for hip hop samples.

• In 1987, on the Moonlighting episode "Cool Hand Dave", Curtis Armstrong performed the song in its entirety.
• In 1988, George Michael performed the song live at the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute.
• Big Daddy Kane's 1989 song "Smooth Operator" samples a bit from "Sexual Healing" using interpolations of Gaye singing "operate" from the track and Erick Sermon (who sampled the song on his 2001 song "I'm Hot").
• Australian singer/songwriter Anita Lane covered the song on her first solo album Dirty Pearl in 1993.
• Rap group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony interpolated Gaye's "Get up, get up, get up, get up/Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up" chant for their 1995 hit "1st of tha Month".
• The backing beat is sampled for the instrumental of "Envy" by Fat Joe on his album Jealous One's Envy (1995).
• The song is sampled in the remix of Solo's 1995 song "Where Do You Want Me to Put It".
• American/Jamaican dance group Max-A-Million performed a modern version of "Sexual Healing", which was an R&B-type remix of the original reggae rendition Max-A-Million recorded. This version featured a more upbeat rhythm and rap-like verses. It was released in 1996.
• Kenyan artist Hardstone sampled the backing track for his 1996 hit single "Uhiki-a".
• The backing beat was sampled for a remix of Keith Sweat's 1996 hit "Twisted".
• Smooth jazz bassist Craig T. Cooper sampled the song on the backing beat for his song "When You Love Somebody" for the 1996 album, Romantic Letter.
• Master P used elements of the song on "Bourbon and Lacs" for 1997's Ghetto D, a song about the lives of "playas" in the New Orleans area.
• Jazz group Fourplay covered the song on their album 4 (1998).
• The song has been covered by Ben Harper in many of his live concerts and remains one of his most popular songs. One version appears on his 2001 live album Live from Mars.
• In 2002, Darren Hayes recorded a cover during a Capital Radio session.
• In 2005, English singer–songwriter Kate Bush released her Celtic-accented cover as the B-side to "King of the Mountain", her first new material in twelve years. That same year Clam (featuring VDC) released a cover.
• The song was covered by the English indietronica group Hot Chip as the B-side to their 2006 single, "Over and Over".
• The Hot 8 Brass Band recorded a version of the track on their debut album, Rock with the Hot 8 in 2007.
• In 2007, this song was remixed by Alibi vs. Rockefeller with a music video featuring three female dancers dressed as nurses (Lauren Ridealgh, Bayley Darling, and Stephanie Fitzpatrick). It charted at number 34 on the UK Singles Chart.
• R&B Artist CJ Hilton used elements of the song's chorus in his 2011 single "So Fresh" Featuring Nas.