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Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now

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Not to be confused with Nothing's Gonna Stop Us or Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now.

"Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now"
Song
B-side"Layin' It on the Line"

"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. It is a duet featuring Starship vocalists Mickey Thomas and Grace Slick. 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 was also a Top 10 success in numerous European countries[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 song 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.

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."[7] 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.[8]

Music video

A music video (released in 1986) 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.

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, over Wayne Gretzky and the Los Angeles Kings in the Finals.[9]

The song was also used frequently during the Portland Trail Blazers' 1990 NBA playoff run to the NBA finals. It was usually played during critical time outs during the 4th quarter of home games at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.

In 2013, the song was used in an advertising campaign by UK telecommunication company Talk Talk. As a result, on Sunday 8 September 2013, it charted at number 39 on the Official UK Chart.[10]

The song was used in the final scene of the 2014 Korean film Hot Young Bloods.

In the 2014 film, The Skeleton Twins, a brother and sister (played by Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig) lip-sync the song together.[11][12]

Track listing

  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

Year-end charts

Chart (1987) Position
Austrian Singles Chart[13] 17
Canadian RPM Top Singles 5
Dutch Top 40[14] 9
French Top 50[15] 16
Swiss Singles Chart[16] 8
UK Singles Chart[17] 2
US Billboard Top 100[18] 5

Certifications

Country Certification Date Sales certified
Canada[19] Gold April 22, 1987 50,000
Sweden[20] Gold September 7, 1987 10,000
UK[21] Gold June 1, 1987 500,000
U.S.[22] Gold February 24, 1989 500,000

Chart successions

Preceded by Billboard Hot 100 number-one single
April 4 – 11, 1987 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
"Mandolin Rain" by Bruce Hornsby and The Range
 Billboard Adult Contemporary number-one single
April 11, 1987 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Irish IRMA number-one single
May 2 – 9, 1987 		Succeeded by
Preceded by UK Singles Chart number-one single
May 10 – 31, 1987 		Succeeded by

Personnel

Additional personnel

Cover versions

References

  1. ^ "Gold & Platinum Searchable Database - May 02, 2014". RIAA. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  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. ^ theguardian, 28 March 2014, Dave Eggers article, [1]
  5. ^ [2]
  6. ^ Gotta revolution, 1987: Grace slick, Paul Kantner, and "volunteers of America" W Glausser – Popular Music & Society, 1988 – Taylor & Francis
  7. ^ [3] [dead link‍]
  8. ^ The when, where, and who of pop lyrics: the listener's prerogative. T Murphey. Popular Music, 1989 – Cambridge Univ Press
  9. ^ Leclerc, Mario (2005) (in French). Jacques Demers – En toutes lettres. Quebec: Stanké. p. 472. ISBN 2-7604-0976-7
  10. ^ "Starship's sales rocket following X Factor ad campaign". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved March 30, 2014.
  11. ^ Buchanan, Kyle (April 14, 2014). "Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig's Epic Lip-Synch". Vulture. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  12. ^ "Sundance 2014: Bill Hader & Kristen Wiig Make 'Skeleton Twins' a Hit". FirstShowing.net. January 19, 2014. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  13. ^ 1987 Austrian Singles Chart Austriancharts.at (Retrieved September 3, 2008)
  14. ^ "Single top 100 over 1987" (PDF) (in Dutch). Top40. Retrieved September 21, 2010.
  15. ^ 1987 French Singles Chart [4]
  16. ^ Steffen Hung. "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1987". hitparade.ch. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  17. ^ "1980s Singles Chart Archive". everyHit.com. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  18. ^ "1987". Longbored Surfer. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  19. ^ "Gold and Platinum". Cria.ca. April 1, 2014. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  20. ^ [5][dead link‍]
  21. ^ [6][dead link‍]
  22. ^ "Gold & Platinum Searchable Database - May 02, 2014". RIAA. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  23. ^ Performance on YouTube
  24. ^ "Albert Hammond Returns with "Legend"". Retrieved November 21, 2010.
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