Born Cheryl Lau Sang, the pop icon began flexing her tonsils at 8. Performing as Cheryl Gray, she rose to fame with early hits like “You Made Me What I Am.” She was the “little girl with the big voice,” but soon became Samantha Sang, the voice that turned a Bee Gees ballad into a generational hit.
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In 1977, Barry Gibb invited Sang to Miami to cut a track he and his brother Robinwrote just for her. That song was “Emotion,” a heartbreaking ballad about a broken relationship that contrasts gloomy lyrics with lush melodies and the Bee Gees’ signature high-pitched falsetto backing harmonies.
Initially declining to produce the song with Sang because of his workload, the Bee Gee later gave in: “She came to Miami for a week, we cut it, and that was it.”
The song proved to be the perfect vehicle for Sang’s breathy lead vocals. It was so perfect that critics endearingly crowned her the female Bee Gee, although Sang said the seamless harmonizing and gentle vocalizations weren’t originally intended.
The track was reportedly considered for the soundtrack of the disco-dancing movie starring John Travolta, but was ultimately left off. It later found the screen, though, via Joan Collins’ 1978romantic drama The Stud. The springboard didn’t matter; the song was destined to be a rising hit no matter the picture.
In March 1978, “Emotion” climbed to its peak of No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song’s success also helped send its parent album of the same name to No. 29 on the Billboard 200 the following month. Riding the wave of “Emotion,” Sang watched her follow-up single, “You Keep Me Dancing,” rise on the all-genre chart, peaking at No. 56, as well as her cover of Wilson Pickett’s classic "In the Midnight Hour," which hit No. 88 in 1979.
View this post on InstagramOver the years, “Emotion” has been covered more than 20 times, with notable renditions including those from Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams in 1978, the Bee Gees themselves in 1994, and the Beyoncé-fronted Destiny’s Child in 2001.
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