"Upside Down" is a song written and produced by Chic members Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards. It was recorded by American singer Diana Ross. The song was issued as a single through the Motown label in 1980, as the lead single from her tenth studio album, Diana. "Upside Down" hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on September 6, 1980. It also hit number one on the BillboardDisco and Soul charts. The single was released a full four weeks after the album was released. It held down the number one spot for four weeks. "Upside Down" was also a big hit internationally, topping the singles charts in Sweden, Italy, Norway, and Switzerland, while reaching number five in Canada. It also rose to number two on the UK Singles Chart, marking the highest peak performance from Ross as a solo artist since "I'm Still Waiting" in 1971. It also earned her a British Phonographic Industrysilver disc award for sales in excess of 250,000 copies. The single earned Ross her ninth career Grammy Award nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, losing to "Never Knew Love Like This Before" by Stephanie Mills at the 1981 Grammy Awards. "Upside Down" is listed at number 77 on Billboard's "Greatest Hot 100 Songs of All Time".
Background and recording
The song was written by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers. In a 2011 interview, Nile Rodgers said "Diana Ross was the first big star we ever worked with and we took it very seriously." Rodgers and Edwards interviewed her for several days. "This was the first time in her life somebody cared about who she was; what she was — everyone previously had treated her the way we had treated Sister Sledge — they got her in and said 'Sing this'. We." As would be widely reported later, their studio liaison with Ross was not a success. She disliked the results of their sessions and gave them specific remixing instructions; they made slight changes and suggested that if she still did not like them, she could get them remixed herself. Ross did so, reworking the whole album with Motown producer Russ Terrana to downplay the funk element and make her voice more prominent. Rodgers and Edwards were initially furious, and considered having their production credit removed. They eventually decided to leave the track unedited, as the sound they used for Chic remained heavily influential on the album. The LP became a platinum-selling No. 2 that spent a year on the American chart. Ross left Motown soon afterwards for RCA.
Ross performed the song live in 1981 during her television special Diana, with Michael Jackson joining her onstage towards the end of the song. In 1997, Ross performed the song live with British band Jamiroquai at the Brit Awards ceremony.
In film, television and videos
In 2013, the song was used in a Mercedes-Benz commercial featuring chickens being moved around while their heads remain stationary as an example of the car brand's "magic body control." It was also used by Jaguar Cars in a parody of the Mercedes-Benz commercial.
In 1998, the music group Risquée covered the song. Their cover version appears on the compilations Fan Club Vol. 3, Dance 99 and Funky Party Connection.
