Ben E. King scored lasting hits with records like “Spanish Harlem” and the Drifters’ “Under the Boardwalk,” but the recently-deceased New York native will always be best known for “Stand by Me,” a Psalm-inspired ballad co-written with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Fifty-five years after its release, the song has become a modern standard, reinterpreted countless times across genre, era and culture. Many artists and personalties from Otis Redding to Muhammad Ali and even Stephen King to Miley Cyrus have sung their own version of the classic hit. The Beatles even rambled through a shambolic version of “Stand by Me” during the never-ending Get Back sessions.
