Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter, and producer Amber Mark has shared a new cover of Bill Withers’ “Lovely Day.” Mark’s rendition of Withers’ iconic 1977 hit—the first ever to be officially sanctioned by the late musician’s estate—was produced by OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder, and distributed via PMR/Interscope Records.
Although “Lovely Day” peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 when it was first released as a single, it has become a celebrated industry standard. In 2021, Rolling Stone named the song No. 402 on its “Top 500 Best Songs of All Time” list. “Lovely Day” also holds the honor of featuring the longest note ever held on a Top 40 hit in the United States (18 seconds). Withers’ other major career hits included classics like “Ain’t No Sunshine,” “Just the Two of Us,” and “Lean on Me.” He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015, just five years before his death in 2020. Withers is also a member of the Songwriting Hall of Fame and the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Mark’s release of “Lovely Day” draws back to her early-pandemic Covered-19 series, wherein the R&B artist shared a variety of reimagined favorites ranging from Nirvana’s “Heart-Shaped Box” and Sisqo’s “Thong Song.” Her “Lovely Day” cover is her third standalone single of 2024. It follows May’s “Space and Time,” a dance-inflected cut, and April’s “Comin’ Around Again,” a pop anthem firmly rooted in the rhythm and blues tradition that has inspired much of Mark’s prior work. In 2022, she brought an intimate live performance of three tracks from her critically-acclaimed debut record Three Dimensions to NPR’s Tiny Desk.
