Chart Rewind: Vanessa Williams’ ‘Colors of the Wind’ Soared To Its Hot 100 Peak This Week in 1995

Readers of That Grape Juice know what avid music lovers we are – especially of hits past.

So, as our retrospective features ‘From the Vault’ and ‘TGJ Replay’ allow us the chance to re-spin the gems and jams of yesterday of one artist, our newest feature Chart Rewind – a variation of our current Retro Rewind assay – accedes salutes to an entire era of music history.

Next up? We’ll revisit Vanessa Williams’ last trip to the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100: ‘The Colors of the Wind.’ Meet us inside:
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For an entity that’s lifted some of movie history’s most memorable and beloved songs over the last century, Disney’s 1995 classic, ‘Pocahontas,’ easily stands among its greatest contributions thanks to ‘The Colors of the Wind.’ Written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz, the ballad – lauded for its lyrics that encouraged appreciation of racial diversity and environmentalism – acted as the theme song for the Irene Bedard-led film.

Keeping in line with its tradition of recruiting popular singers to re-record its films’ signature tunes, Disney secured Grammy-nominated R&B/Pop singer Vanessa Williams to lend her voice to the project. Reworking it from an anthemic power ballad to an Adult Contemporary cut, Williams’ version of the song was released as the soundtrack’s lead single in late May 1995. Not even three months later it shot to its Hot 100 peak of #4.

The chart placement of the song not only came as the second highest of the singer’s career (to date), but also helped lead it to a sweep of awards at the next year’s season. Nabbing honors for ‘Best Original Song’ at the 1996 Academy Awards and Golden Globe Awards respectively, it also took home honors at the Grammy Awards for ‘Best Song Written for a Motion Picture.’

As we celebrate the achievement some 24 years later, look below to see who joined her in the top 25 this week in 1995:

Hot 100 This Week in 1995

Hot 100 This Week

Click here to read the current chart’s full rankings on this week’s ‘TGJ Chart Check: Hot 100’ edition.