Phil Collins & Philip Bailey – Easy Lover
A lightning-in-a-bottle duet
Released on 6 November 1984 in the U.S. and 21 February 1985 in the UK, “Easy Lover” was a standalone single that anchored Philip Bailey’s third solo album, Chinese Wall. Produced by and co-written with Phil Collins, the track wasn’t just a hit — it became a juggernaut. The blend of rock punch and R&B finesse made for an instant classic and one of the most iconic collaborations of the decade.
Studio Spark to Chart Smash
The song was born during a jam session while Bailey, best known as a falsetto force in Earth, Wind & Fire, was recording with Collins and bassist Nathan East. Bailey initially riffed the phrase “Choosy Lover” over the groove, but the trio quickly morphed that into “Easy Lover” — spinning out the lyrics and arrangement in a matter of hours.
The decision to keep the song as a duet was natural: Bailey’s high-register smoothness met Collins’s raspy power head-on, and the result was electric.
Catchy, Cautionary, Cool
Lyrically, “Easy Lover” reads like friendly advice — a warning about a woman who turns heads and breaks hearts with equal ease: “She’s an easy lover / She’ll take your heart but you won’t feel it.” It’s cheeky without being cynical, and its universal theme — love and caution in the fast lane — hits across genres.
Musically, the song is a buoyant fusion of pop-rock, funk, and soul, driven by Collins’s signature drumming and a ripping guitar solo by Daryl Stuermer. The tight groove, big chorus, and vocal interplay give it the kind of momentum that just doesn’t age.
Chart Reign and Cultural Reach
“Easy Lover” was a commercial slam dunk. It topped charts in the UK, Canada, Ireland, and the Netherlands, and climbed to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S., where it stayed for two weeks behind Foreigner’s “I Want to Know What Love Is.” It spent seven weeks in the U.S. Top 10 and 23 weeks total on the Hot 100. The song went Platinum in the UK and Canada and earned a Gold certification in the U.S.
In 1985, the track won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Overall Performance, with a fun, self-aware video that showed the two stars rehearsing, joking, and goofing off on a music video set. It also became the theme for the very first WrestleMania and later popped up in games like Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories.
It received a Grammy nomination in 1986 for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals — a nod to the sheer chemistry captured on tape.
Why It Still Hits
“Easy Lover” is more than a duet — it’s a sonic collision of talent, timing, and genre that just worked. Somehow playful and powerful at once, it sounds just as tight and thrilling today as it did in 1984. Bailey and Collins didn’t just share a song; they shared a moment. And four decades later, we’re still moving to it.