WATCH: The breathtaking royal wedding performance of ‘Stand By Me’
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Almost 30 million people in America watched the royal wedding between Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Saturday. For many, the performance of Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me” by Karen Gibson and The Kingdom Choir was the defining moment of the celebration.
The song was released to streaming services less than 24 hours after the performance as part of Decca’s official album of the wedding, which is already number two in Amazon’s classical music charts.
The album is reportedly on course to reach the top of the UK charts and it wouldn’t be the first time a Royal Wedding album has achieved such musical success. Decca’s album for the 1981 nuptials of Prince Charles and Diana Spencer was number one for two weeks.
“Stand By Me” was once a hymn that adapted the psalm, “Therefore will not we fear, though the Earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.”
In the 1960s, Ben E. King got a recording contract and, at the end of a studio session, his producers asked whether he had any music they could fool around with. He sang “Stand By Me” acapella and the rest is history.
The hit was inducted into the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry in 2015 for its impact on modern society, something that King called “one of the greatest moments of my life” shortly before his passing.
The performance of the song by a gospel choir inside St. George’s Chapel only further solidifies its place in history.