Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now
"Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" | |
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Song | |
B-side | "Layin' It on the Line" |
Music video | |
"Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" on YouTube |
"Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" is a song co-written by Albert Hammond and Diane Warren,[2] recorded by the American rock band Starship in 1986. It is a duet featuring Starship vocalists Grace Slick and Mickey Thomas. Featured as the theme to the romantic comedy film Mannequin,[3][4] 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. The song also reached the top 10 in six European countries. The single became the first number one single by songwriter Diane Warren.[5] At the time, it made Grace Slick (aged 47) the oldest woman to have a number one single in the United States[6] though the record was later broken by Cher's "Believe" in 1999 (aged 52).
The power ballad[7] also received an Academy Award 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 July 1987. The music video was released in late 1986 to promote Mannequin.
Background and writing
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."[8] The song has been considered "feel good" propelled by a strong synthesizer beat.[9]
Music video
A music video (released in 1987) was produced for the song. It shows Mickey Thomas pursuing a mannequin come to life, played by Grace Slick, wrapped around footage from the film. Meshach Taylor, who plays window dresser Hollywood Montrose in the film, makes a cameo. It has more than 35 million views on YouTube as of March 12, 2018.
In popular culture
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 realized 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, over Wayne Gretzky and the Los Angeles Kings in the Finals.[10]
In 2006, the song was used in the Family Guy episode Mother Tucker. In a cutaway gag, the song plays when Peter Griffin watches a VHS tape supposedly containing The Ring, despite being warned that he would die if he did so. It turns out that the tape was actually a copy of Mannequin. The song continues to play as Griffin is shown collapsed sideways on the floor with his eyes crossed, mouth gaping, and hair disheveled.
In 2013, the song was used in an advertising campaign by UK telecommunication company Talk Talk. As a result, on September 8, 2013 (Sunday), it charted at number 39 on the Official UK Chart.[11]
In the 2014 film, The Skeleton Twins, a brother and sister, Milo and Maggie (played by Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig) lip-sync the song together.[12][13]
The song was licensed for use in a commercial for Chick-fil-A that first aired during the 59th Annual Grammy Awards in February 2017. Grace Slick later wrote that she agreed to the licensing so she could donate her proceeds to Lambda Legal "in direct opposition to Chick-fil-A’s causes" against the LGBTQ community.[14]
Track listing
- "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" – 4:29
- "Layin' It on the Line" (live at Stopher Gym, Louisiana State University) – 4:15
Charts and certifications
Weekly charts
|
Year-end charts
Certifications
|
Chart successions
Personnel
- Mickey Thomas – Vocals
- Grace Slick – Vocals
- Donny Baldwin – Drums, Vocals
- Craig Chaquico – Guitar
- Pete Sears - Bass
- Additional personnel
- Walter Afanasieff – keyboards, additional synth bass
- Narada Michael Walden – additional drums
- Corrado Rustici – charvel MIDI guitar synthesizer
- Robert "Bongo Bob" Smith – drum sampling and percussion
- Karen "Kitty Beethoven" Brewington, Jim Gilstrap – additional background vocals
References
- ^ "Gold & Platinum Searchable Database - May 02, 2014". RIAA. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
- ^ Nothing's gonna stop us now and the hit songs of Diane Warren MUSIC SCORE.D WARREN – 1991
- ^ King, Alex P. (2004). Hit-parade – 20 ans de tubes (in French). Paris: Pascal. p. 340. ISBN 2-35019-009-9.
- ^ theguardian, 28 March 2014, Dave Eggers article, [1]
- ^ Hung, Steffen. "Starship - Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now - hitparade.ch". hitparade.ch.
- ^ Gotta revolution, 1987: Grace slick, Paul Kantner, and "volunteers of America" W Glausser – Popular Music & Society, 1988 – Taylor & Francis
- ^ "The 21 best power ballads".
- ^ [2] Archived October 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ The when, where, and who of pop lyrics: the listener's prerogative. T Murphey. Popular Music, 1989 – Cambridge Univ Press
- ^ Leclerc, Mario (2005) (in French). Jacques Demers – En toutes lettres. Quebec: Stanké. p. 472. ISBN 2-7604-0976-7
- ^ "Starship's sales rocket following X Factor ad campaign". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved March 30, 2014.
- ^ Buchanan, Kyle (April 14, 2014). "Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig's Epic Lip-Synch". Vulture. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
- ^ "Sundance 2014: Bill Hader & Kristen Wiig Make 'Skeleton Twins' a Hit". FirstShowing.net. January 19, 2014. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
- ^ "Jefferson Airplane's Grace Slick Diverts Earnings From Chick-fil-A Commercial to LGBTQ Cause".
- ^ "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – CHART POSITIONS PRE 1989". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Archived from the original on October 20, 2013. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|deadurl=
ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help) - ^ "Starship – Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
- ^ "Starship – Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
- ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 0796." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
- ^ "Starship – Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
- ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
- ^ "Starship – Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
- ^ "Starship – Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
- ^ "Starship – Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". VG-lista. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
- ^ "Starship – Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
- ^ "Starship – Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
- ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
- ^ "Starship Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
- ^ "starship". wweb.uta.edu.
- ^ a b "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now (song by Starship) ••• Music VF, US & UK hits charts". www.musicvf.com.
- ^ 1987 Austrian Singles Chart Austriancharts.at (Retrieved September 3, 2008)
- ^ "Single top 100 over 1987" (PDF) (in Dutch). Top40. Retrieved September 21, 2010.
- ^ Hung, Steffen. "lescharts.com - Starship - Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". www.lescharts.com.
- ^ Hung, Steffen. "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1987". hitparade.ch. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
- ^ "1980s Singles Chart Archive". everyHit.com. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
- ^ "1987". Longbored Surfer. Archived from the original on January 4, 2016. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|deadurl=
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suggested) (help) - ^ "Gold and Platinum". Cria.ca. April 1, 2014. Archived from the original on April 12, 2009. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|deadurl=
ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help) - ^ [3] Archived February 11, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ [4] Archived September 24, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Copsey, Rob (September 19, 2017). "The UK's Official Chart 'millionaires' revealed". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
- ^ "Gold & Platinum Searchable Database - May 02, 2014". RIAA. Archived from the original on June 26, 2007. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
{{cite web}}
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External links
- Single chart usages for Germany2
- 1987 songs
- 1987 singles
- Albert Hammond songs
- Bonnie Tyler songs
- Jefferson Starship songs
- Billboard Adult Contemporary number-one singles
- Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
- Irish Singles Chart number-one singles
- RPM Top Singles number-one singles
- UK Singles Chart number-one singles
- Rock ballads
- RCA Records singles
- Song recordings produced by Narada Michael Walden
- Songs written by Albert Hammond
- Songs written by Diane Warren
- Songs written for films
- Vocal duets