The Greatest Love of All

"The Greatest Love of All"
One of A-side track labels of the US vinyl release
Single by George Benson
from the album The Greatest soundtrack
B-side	"Ali's Theme"
Released	June 1977
Recorded	1977
Genre	Smooth jazz R&B soul
Length	5:32 (full album version) 3:29 (edited single version)
Label	Arista
Songwriter(s)	Michael Masser (composition) Linda Creed (lyrics)
Producer(s)	Michael Masser
George Benson singles chronology
"Gonna Love You More" (1977) "The Greatest Love of All" (1977) "On Broadway" (1978)

"The Greatest Love of All" is a song written by Michael Masser, who composed the music, and Linda Creed, who wrote the lyrics. It was originally recorded in 1977 by George Benson, who made the song a substantial hit, peaking at number two on the US Hot Soul Singles chart that year, the first R&B chart top-ten hit for Arista Records. The song was written and recorded to be the main theme of the 1977 film The Greatest, a biopic of the boxer Muhammad Ali, and is performed during the opening credits.^[1]

Benson's original recording was released in 1977 in the United States, Japan, France, Germany, New Zealand, Australia, Italy, Brazil, Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Thailand, on an extended play (EP).^[2] He officially recorded the song four times; in addition to the studio single, Benson also recorded three live versions,^[3][4] the last time in a duet with Luciano Pavarotti in 2001.^[5] Since 1977, a great number of artists have recorded this song, including Shirley Bassey, Oleta Adams, Alexandra Burke, Deborah Cox, Ferrante & Teicher and Kevin Rowland.

Eight years after Benson's original recording, the song became even more well known for a version by Whitney Houston, whose 1985 cover (with the slightly amended title "Greatest Love of All") eventually topped the charts, peaking at number one in the United States, Australia, Canada and on the US R&B chart in early 1986.