"Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves"
Single by Eurythmics and Aretha Franklin
from the album Be Yourself Tonight and Who's Zoomin' Who?
Released	October 1985
Format	7" single, 12" single, cassette single
Recorded	1985
Genre	Pop/Rock/R&B
Label	RCA
Producer	David A. Stewart
Eurythmics singles chronology
"There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart)" (1985) "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" (1985) "It's Alright (Baby's Coming Back)" (1986) Aretha Franklin singles chronology "Who's Zoomin' Who" (1985) "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" (1985) "Another Night" (1986) Natalia singles chronology "Ridin' By/You Are" (2005) "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" (2005) "Rid of You" (2006) The Pointer Sisters singles chronology "Christmas in New York" (2005) "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" (2005)

"Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" is a hit duet recorded between British pop duo Eurythmics (from their Be Yourself Tonight album) and American soul/R&B musician Aretha Franklin (from her Who's Zoomin' Who? album), released as a single in 1985.

"Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" was very successful as a dance song, reaching number 10 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. The single reached the Top 20 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart, peaking at number 18, and the Top 10 on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number nine.

The song is considered to be a modern feminist anthem^[who?]. Apart from the Eurythmics and Franklin, the original version features two of Tom Petty's Heartbreakers in Stan Lynch on drums and Mike Campbell on lead guitar, plus session bassist Nathan East.

[edit] Track listings

7"

• A: "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" [single edit]
• B: "I love you like a ball and chain"

12"

• A: "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" [album version]
• B1: "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" (E.T. Mix)
• B2: "I love you like a ball and chain"

[edit] Cover versions

• The song was performed by the cartoon character Lisa Simpson (as sung by actress Yeardley Smith) on The Yellow Album released in 1998.
• In 2005, The Pointer Sisters recorded a cover version of the song with Belgian singer Natalia. The single was released only in Belgium in October 2005 and reached number two on the Belgian singles chart.
• Dutch singer Raffaëla Paton, winner of the 3rd season of the reality series Idols Netherlands, recorded a cover of the song with Idols runner-up Floortje Smit. Their rendition was included on Paton's 2006 debut album Raffaëla.

[edit] Live cover performances

• In 1998, the Spice Girls performed a live cover version of the song on their Spiceworld Tour, as a duet between Melanie C (Sporty Spice) and Melanie B (Scary Spice).

[edit] References in other media

• On an episode of The Simpsons, Milhouse Van Houten sang a line from the song while playing with Bart Simpson in drag.
• The song was performed by Xena (as played by Lucy Lawless) and the Amazons on the Xena, Warrior Princess episode, "Lyre, Lyre, Hearts on Fire".
• The song is used during a scene in the film The First Wives Club.

[edit] Chart performance

[edit] External links

• Youtube - Music video