Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now

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"Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now"
Single by Starship
from the album No Protection
B-side "Layin' It on the Line"
Released January 1, 1987[1]
Format 7" single & 12" single
Recorded November 1986
Genre Pop rock
Length 4:30
Label Grunt
Writer(s) Albert Hammond, Diane Warren
Producer Narada Michael Walden
Starship singles chronology
"Before I Go"
(1986)
"Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now"
(1987)
"It's Not Over Til It's Over"
(1987)

"Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" is a No. 1 hit song co-written by Albert Hammond and Diane Warren,[2] recorded by the American rock band Starship. Featured as the theme to the romantic comedy film Mannequin,[3] it hit No. 1 in the Billboard Hot 100 on April 4, 1987 and reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart for four weeks the following month and became the UK's 2nd biggest selling single of 1987. At the time, it made Grace Slick the oldest female artist to have a number one single in the United States[4] though the record was later broken by Cher's "Believe" in 1999. The song also received an Oscar nomination for "Best Original Song" at the 60th Academy Awards. In addition to appearing on the Mannequin soundtrack, the song was also released on Starship's album No Protection in 1987.

Contents

Background and writing[edit]

In a radio interview, Albert Hammond said that the idea for the song came from his impending marriage to his live-in girlfriend of seven years, after his divorce from his previous wife was finalized. He had said to Diane Warren, "It's almost like they've stopped me from marrying this woman for seven years, and they haven't succeeded. They're not gonna stop me doing it."[5] The song in recent years has been played as a "backing song" on the show The X Factor when reviewing some of acts back to the viewers. The song has been considered "feel good" propelled by a strong synthesizer beat while the lyrics "banal yet effective."[6]

In popular culture[edit]

The song had played a major role in 1993 for the Montreal Canadiens NHL team during their 24th conquest of the Stanley Cup. While driving home after a lost game, head coach Jacques Demers heard the song playing on the radio and realised it was an empowering song. The next day, he brought to the Montreal Forum a cassette tape with the song on it and distributed among players a small card saying "We're on a mission, nothing's gonna stop us". They soon started to win. He played the song throughout all the playoff games and they eventually won the Stanley Cup that year.[7]

Track listings[edit]

7" single
  1. "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" – 4:29
  2. "Layin' It on the Line" (live at Stopher Gym, Louisiana State University) – 4:15
12" single
  1. "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" – 4:29
  2. "Layin' It on the Line" (live at Stopher Gym, Louisiana State University) – 4:15

Charts and sales[edit]

Peak positions[edit]

Chart (1987) Peak
position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[8] 3
Canada (RPM)[9] 1
France (SNEP)[10] 16
Germany (Media Control AG)[11] 3
Ireland (IRMA)[12] 1
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[13] 5
New Zealand (RIANZ)[14] 21
Norway (VG-lista)[15] 2
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[16] 2
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[17] 4
United Kingdom (The Official Charts Company)[18] 1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[19] 1
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks[19] 1
U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks[19] 16

Year-end charts[edit]

Chart (1987) Position
Austrian Singles Chart[20] 17
Dutch Top 40[21] 9
Swiss Singles Chart[22] 8
UK Singles Chart[23] 2
US Billboard Top 100[24] 5

Certifications[edit]

Country Certification Date Sales certified
Canada[25] Gold April 22, 1987 50,000
Sweden[26] Gold September 7, 1987 10,000
UK[27] Gold June 1, 1987 500,000
U.S.[28] Gold February 24, 1989 500,000

Chart successions[edit]

Preceded by
"Lean on Me" by Club Nouveau
Billboard Hot 100 number-one single
April 4 – 11, 1987
Succeeded by
"I Knew You Were Waiting (for Me)"
by George Michael and Aretha Franklin
Preceded by
"Mandolin Rain" by Bruce Hornsby and The Range
Billboard Adult Contemporary number-one single
April 11, 1987
Succeeded by
"The Finer Things" by Steve Winwood
Preceded by
"The Irish Rover" by The Pogues and The Dubliners
Irish IRMA number-one single
May 2 – 9, 1987
Succeeded by
"Hold Me Now" by Johnny Logan
Preceded by
"La Isla Bonita" by Madonna
UK Singles Chart number-one single
May 10 – 31, 1987
Succeeded by
"I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)"
by Whitney Houston

Cover versions[edit]

Live cover performances[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ RIAA Gold and Platinum Database [1]
  2. ^ Nothing's gonna stop us now and the hit songs of Diane Warren MUSIC SCORE.D WARREN – 1991
  3. ^ King, Alex P. (2004). Hit-parade – 20 ans de tubes (in French). Paris: Pascal. p. 340. ISBN 2-35019-009-9. 
  4. ^ Gotta revolution, 1987: Grace slick, Paul Kantner, and “volunteers of America” W Glausser – Popular Music & Society, 1988 – Taylor & Francis
  5. ^ Song details: Nothing's gonna stop us now – Albert Hammond
  6. ^ The when, where, and who of pop lyrics: the listener's prerogative. T Murphey. Popular Music, 1989 – Cambridge Univ Press
  7. ^ Leclerc, Mario (2005) (in French). Jacques Demers – En toutes lettres. Quebec: Stanké. p. 472. ISBN 2-7604-0976-7
  8. ^ "Starship – Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now – Austriancharts.at" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Hung Medien.
  9. ^ Lwin, Nanda. Top 40 Hits: The Essential Chart Guide (2000).
  10. ^ "Lescharts.com – Starship – Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" (in French). Les classement single. Hung Medien.
  11. ^ "Die ganze Musik im Internet: Charts, News, Neuerscheinungen, Tickets, Genres, Genresuche, Genrelexikon, Künstler-Suche, Musik-Suche, Track-Suche, Ticket-Suche – musicline.de" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH.
  12. ^ Irish Single Chart Irishcharts.ie (Retrieved April 10, 2008)
  13. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Starship search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40. Stichting Nederlandse Top 40.
  14. ^ "Charts.org.nz – Starship – Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". Top 40 Singles. Hung Medien.
  15. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Starship – Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". VG-lista. Hung Medien.
  16. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Starship – Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". Singles Top 60. Hung Medien.
  17. ^ "Starship – Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now – swisscharts.com". Swiss Singles Chart. Hung Medien.
  18. ^ UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved April 10, 2008)
  19. ^ a b c Billboard Allmusic.com (Retrieved September 3, 2008)
  20. ^ 1987 Austrian Singles Chart Austriancharts.at (Retrieved September 3, 2008)
  21. ^ "Single top 100 over 1987" (pdf) (in Dutch). Top40. Retrieved September 21, 2010. 
  22. ^ 1987 Swiss Singles Chart Hitparade.ch (Retrieved September 3, 2008)
  23. ^ 1987 UK Singles Chart [2] (Retrieved March 4, 2009)
  24. ^ 1987 Billboard Singles Chart [3] (Retrieved February 19, 2011)
  25. ^ Canada certifications cria.ca (Retrieved September 3, 2008)
  26. ^ Swedish certifications Ifpi.se (Retrieved September 11, 2008)
  27. ^ UK certifications Bpi.co.uk (Retrieved September 3, 2008)
  28. ^ U.S. certifications riaa.com (Retrieved September 1, 2008)
  29. ^ Performance on YouTube
  30. ^ MYMP Discography
  31. ^ "Albert Hammond Returns with "Legend"". Retrieved 2010-11-21. 
  32. ^ Performance on YouTube

External links[edit]