who wrote the song i'll keep holding on
I'll Keep Holding On "I'll Keep Holding On" is a song composed by Mickey Stevenson and Ivy Jo Hunter and recorded by Motown singing group The Marvelettes, who released the single on the Tamla imprint in 1965. Peaking at #34 on the Billboard Hot 100 (and #11 on the R&B charts),[1] the single returned the group to the top forty after a year recording songs that performed below the top forty.[2] This was among the first A-side singles that longtime Marvelettes member Wanda Young sung lead on. Before 1965, the majority of the leads in Marvelettes songs had belonged to original member Gladys Horton. The single features a woman determined to win the love of an unknowingly conquest telling him that she'll convince him to love her "until my will to resist is gone". Her Marvelettes band mates Gladys Horton and Katherine Anderson egg her on with her ad-libbing "oh yeah/sho' nuff" in the bridge leading up to the chorus. The single was covered by British mod-pop act, The Action in 1966, released as "I'll Keep On Holding On". It then returned across the Atlantic in 1998 to be released on Mink Rat or Rabbit by the Detroit Cobras.
Hold My Hand (Michael Jackson and Akon song) Co-writer Claude Kelly told HitQuarters that "Hold My Hand" was originally written with Whitney Houston in mind.[2] Akon and Kelly had been in the studio working on songs for Houston's I Look to You album and while on his own Kelly completed the song from a track Akon had left. After hearing the song later, Akon said that he loved it and wanted to keep it for himself, so he wanted to record his own version of it. Shortly afterwards Akon went to Las Vegas to work on what would have been Michael Jackson's next album. While there Jackson heard the song and loved it, and decided he wanted to contribute to it. When Kelly was asked what he thought it was about the song that struck a chord with both Akon and Jackson, he said that it was the song's theme of friendship and togetherness.[2] "Hold My Hand" was recorded by Jackson and Akon in 2008.[1] Akon finished the rest of his vocals for the song in 2010, a few days before the release.[1] A handwritten note from Jackson belonging to his Estate indicated his desire that “Hold My Hand” be the first single on his next project.[1] However, in its unfinished state, the song leaked out in 2008.[1] This would be the last new song leaked during Jackson's lifetime. Due to the leak, the song was subsequently pulled from Akon's track listing for his 2008 album, Freedom.[3][4]