"You Are My Friend" is a ballad co-written and recorded by American singer Patti LaBelle, released as the second single off her self-titled debut album, in 1978 on the Epic label. While it only reached as high as number sixty-one on the Billboard Hot-Selling Soul Singles chart upon its initial release, it has gone on to become one of the singer's signature anthems. Overview Background Patti LaBelle ended an eighteen-year association with Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash as their group Labelle had decided to break up. LaBelle reluctantly carried on with a solo career with the support of then-husband Armstead Edwards, who signed on as her personal manager. In the middle of recording her debut album in New Orleans with Chameleon producer David Rubinson, Labelle and Edwards wrote lyrics to a James "Budd" Ellison composition they called "You Are My Friend". The song was a tribute to the couple's only child, Zuri Edwards. The song was one of the last to be recorded for LaBelle's debut self-titled solo album. Background and composition "You Are My Friend" was musically composed by James Ellison, otherwise known as "Budd". Ellison was a longtime background musician for Labelle and had befriended the singer following Labelle's split. Prior to recording the song, Ellison and another Labelle musician, Edward Batts, co-wrote the song, "What Can I Do For You", for Labelle's 1974 album, Nightbirds, which became a modest hit. The lyrics were by Edwards and LaBelle themselves. Edwards and LaBelle wrote on previous Labelle albums together. The majority of the song was recorded under E major. Rubinson, who produced the song, included rhythm guitar, bass, drums and strings. Ellison played piano on the song and some of the background vocals were handled by The Waters and members of The Valentinos (Bobby Womack's former family group). One of its members, Cecil Womack, would later collaborate with LaBelle on her material with Philadelphia International Records in the early eighties. While the majority of the song was arranged as a pop ballad, gospel elements were included. This inclusion wouldn't be noticed until LaBelle's live performances of the song, which she and Ellison arranged. Reception Released in early 1978 as the second single from Patti LaBelle, the song was a relative failure on the R&B chart only peaking as high as number 61 and failing to even enter the Billboard Hot 100. The success of the song in its early