‘The Greatest Love of All’ among songs inspired by Ali (The Associated Press)

Before he was even heavyweight champion or had changed his name from Cassius Clay, Muhammad Ali was a force in the music world. Written by Michael Masser and Linda Creed for a movie few remember, the 1977 Ali biopic ”The Greatest,” this soaring, self-affirming ballad would conquer the world, first as a hit for George Benson, then as a standard performed by Whitney Houston. Snippets of the band’s hit songs were interspersed with insults exchanged between lead singers Mike Love and Brian Wilson, cousins who would feud for real in subsequent years.