- Aretha Franklin – lead vocals, piano, background vocals
- Paul Jackson Jr. – guitar
- Peter Schwartz – additional keyboards
- Michel Legrand – synthesizer
- Franck Thore – Pan pipes
- Dean Parks – guitar
- Burt Bacharach – keyboards
- Marcus Miller – bass guitar
- Thierry Eliez – piano
- Elliot Wolff – keyboards, drum programming
- Teddy F. White – guitar
- Al Turner – bass guitar
- Buster Marbury – drums
- Michael Boddicker – keyboards, programming
- Larry Fratangelo – percussion
- Hubert Eaves III – keyboards, drum programming
- Charles Scales – synthesizer
- Rick Iantosca – acoustic guitar
- Oliver Leiber – keyboards, drum programming, guitar
- Jason Miles – keyboards
- Dominique Bertram – bass guitar
- Joshua Thompson – keyboards, guitar, synthesizer
- Vernon Black – guitar
- Randy Waldman – keyboards
- Onita Sanders – harp
- André Ceccarelli – drums
- Louis Biancaniello – keyboards, programming
- Larry Williams – programming
- David Foster – keyboards, programming
- Paulinho da Costa – percussion
- Candy Dulfer – saxophone
- Guy Vaughn – drum programming
- David Townsend – guitar
- Narada Michael Walden – drums, programming
- Nat Adderley Jr. – keyboards
- Bobby Wooten – keyboards, electric piano, drum programming, synthesizer
- David Boruff – saxophone
- Rudolph Stansfield – piano
- Jean-Marc Benais – guitar
- Gene Lennon – programming
- Skip Anderson – keyboards
- Cindy Mizelle – background vocals
- Jesse Richardson – background vocals
- Sandra Feva – background vocals
- Brenda Corbett – background vocals
- Fonzi Thornton – background vocals
- Diane Green – background vocals
- Sherry Fox – background vocals
- Portia Griffin – background vocals
- Margaret Branch – background vocals
- Jarvis Barker – background vocals
- Nikita Germaine – background vocals
- Skyler Jett – background vocals
- Jeanie Tracy – background vocals
- Tony Lindsay – background vocals
- Gwen Guthrie – background vocals
- Tawatha Agee – background vocals
- Donna Davis – background vocals
- Marj Haber – background vocals
- Esther Ridgeway – background vocals
- Gloria Ridgeway – background vocals
- Gracie Ridgeway – background vocals
- ^ Unterberger, Richie. "Aretha Franklin – Artist Biography". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
- ^ AllMusic review
- ^ Obee, Dave (July 28, 1991). "Recent Releases". Calgary Herald.
- ^ Linden, Amy (July 26, 1991). "What You See Is What You Sweat". Entertainment Weekly.
- ^ Quantick, David (August 10, 1991). "Long Play". NME. p. 30. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
- ^ "Picks and Pans Review: What You See Is What You Sweat". People Magazine. August 5, 1991.
- ^ "Austriancharts.at – Aretha Franklin – What You See Is What You Sweat" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
- ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Aretha Franklin – What You See Is What You Sweat". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
- ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Aretha Franklin – What You See Is What You Sweat". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
- ^ "Swisscharts.com – Aretha Franklin – What You See Is What You Sweat". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
- ^ "Aretha Franklin Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
- ^ "Aretha Franklin Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 19, 2018.