"Cupid" is a song by American singer
Sam Cooke, released on May 16, 1961. It charted at number 17 on the
Billboard Hot 100 and number 20 on the
Hot R&B Sides chart; the track performed best in the
United Kingdom, peaking at number seven on the
UK Singles Chart. The song is featured on Cooke's greatest hits album, The Best of Sam Cooke (1962). Cooke's producers had asked him to write a song for a girl they had seen on a Perry Como TV show—but once they heard her sing, they kept "Cupid" for Cooke himself.
Personnel on the recording included Cooke's session regulars Clifton White and
Rene Hall on guitar, Clifford Hills on bass,
Earl Palmer on drums and Joseph Gibbons on guitar and banjo.
"Cupid" was ranked at number 452 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "
500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004 and at number 458 in 2010. An
AllMusic critic described the track as a "perfect pop song" which combines "Latin, R&B, jazz, and mainstream pop elements".[1]
In 1969, the song was covered by a Swedish group,
Lucas
In 1970,
Johnny Nash's
rocksteady and
reggae version, released in late 1969, peaked at number 39 on the
Hot 100 on January 24, 1970. In the United Kingdom, this version peaked at number 6 in May 1969.[21] It was the
B-side to his hit song "
Hold Me Tight".
In 1976,
Dawn's cover peaked at number 22 on the Hot 100 on March 20–27, 1976 and number two on the
Easy Listening chart.
In 1980, the song was covered, in a medley with
Michael Zager's "I've Loved You For a Long Time", by
The Spinners. This version went to number four on July 19 - August 2, 1980, on the Hot 100, thus becoming the highest-charting version on the Hot 100, and number five on the R&B chart.[22]