Hero (Mariah Carey song)

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“Hero”
“Hero” cover
Single by Mariah Carey
from the album Music Box
B-side "Everything Fades Away"
Released October 19, 1993 (U.S.)
Format CD single, CD maxi single, cassette single, cassette maxi single, 7" single, 12" maxi single
Genre Pop
Length 4:19
Label Columbia
Writer(s) Mariah Carey
Producer Mariah Carey, Walter Afanasieff
Certification Platinum (RIAA)
Mariah Carey singles chronology
"Dreamlover"
(1993)		 "Hero"
(1993)		 "Without You"/"Never Forget You"
(1994)
Music Box track listing
"Dreamlover"
(1)		 "Hero"
(2)		 "Anytime You Need a Friend"
(3)
#1's track listing
"Fantasy"
(8)		 "Hero"
(9)		 "Dreamlover"
(10)
Greatest Hits (CD #1) track listing
"Dreamlover"
(9)		 "Hero"
(10)		 "Without You"
(11)

"Hero" is a song written and produced by American singer Mariah Carey and Walter Afanasieff, and recorded for Carey's fourth album, Music Box (1993). Its protagonist declares that even though we may feel discouraged or down at times, in reality we are "heroes" if we look inside ourselves and see our own inner strength; in time, this will help us "find the way". It was released as the album's second single in the fourth quarter of 1993 (see 1993 in music) and became a worldwide commercial success. "Hero" is considered one of Carey's signature songs, and she regularly performs it when invited to charity events and closes most concerts with it. The song was nominated for the 1995 Grammy Award for "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance", losing to Sheryl Crow's "All I Wanna Do". Hero is Mariah Carey's 10th single to chart in the top 10.

Contents

[edit] Writing

"Hero" was not originally intended to have been recorded by Carey. She and Afanasieff had been asked by producers of the Dustin Hoffman film Hero (1992) to write a song for its soundtrack to be recorded by Gloria Estefan. During the studio recording of "Hero", Sony/Columbia executive Tommy Mottola (who had, by then, become Carey's husband) heard the track and encouraged Carey to save it for herself. Carey was initially reluctant, as she had written the lyrics of the song for someone else and made them, in her words, "schmaltzy".

[edit] Copyright issues

"Hero" was the subject of one of the most infamous copyright plagiarism cases of all time. Christopher Selletti, a former limo driver for Sly Stone, said that the lyrics were based on a poem that he showed Stone in 1991 (and that he believed Stone had shown to Carey). Carey defended herself with entries from her personal lyrics notebook, but the lyrics from the notebook were dated six weeks after the release of the film Hero. The $20 million lawsuit was eventually dismissed, and Selletti was forced to pay a fine to Carey. Years later Selleti launched a second lawsuit, which was also dismissed, but he has stated that he will try a third time.[1]

[edit] Chart performance

"Hero" became Carey's eighth number-one single on the U.S Billboard Hot 100, and it was her first Christmas number-one on the chart. It reached number one in its tenth week and spent four weeks at the top, from December 19, 1993 to January 15, 1994. It replaced "Again" by Janet Jackson, and was replaced by Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting's "All for Love". It remained in the top forty for twenty-five weeks, with fourteen of those spent in the top ten. It received heavy radio airplay and was certified platinum by the RIAA. It was one of the year's biggest hits, being ranked fifth on the Hot 100 1994 year-end chart. It sold 3,000,000 copies worldwide.[citation needed]

"Hero" became a major hit outside the U.S., reaching the top ten in the UK (where it peaked higher than "Dreamlover", the previous single from Music Box) France, and Australia. It became Carey's first number-one in Brazil since her debut single, "Vision of Love" (1990), and was a radio hit there. It was more successful across Continental Europe than "Dreamlover" by reaching the top ten in most markets, but it performed moderately in Canada compared to Carey's previous singles.

As one of Carey's signature songs, "Hero" is known for being one of the most frequently performed songs at her concerts next to "Vision of Love".

[edit] Music video and other versions

Carey in the music video for "Hero".
Carey in the music video for "Hero".

The single's video, directed by Larry Jordan, is derived from Carey's 1993 concert at Proctor Theatre, which became a television special and was later released on the home video Here Is Mariah Carey (1994). The live performance of the song at Proctor Theatre was officially released.

Carey also re-recorded the track in Spanish from a translation by Jorge Luis Piloto, and the Spanish language version ("Héroe") was included as a B-side on various Carey singles released outside the U.S. between 1994 and 1997, and it achieved a huge success in Spain.

Parts of "Hero" were incorporated into Carey's charity single "Never Too Far/Hero Medley" (2001).

One of Carey's most widely seen performances of "Hero" was at the 2005 London Live 8 concert, during which she sang the song with the African Children's Choir. Later that year a cover of the song by operatic pop vocal group Il Divo was released on their album Ancora.

"Hero" is included on Voices from the FIFA World Cup, an album comprising songs featured in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. On CBC's Hockey Night in Canada coverage of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the song was played in the collabarate footage, following the New York Rangers 1994 Stanley Cup championship season.

On the "Mariah Carey Week" on American Idol, Brooke White chose this song to perform.

  • "Hero"
    Produced by Mariah Carey and Walter Afanasieff.
  • Problems playing the files? See media help.

[edit] Track listings

U.S. CD single (cassette single/7" single)
  1. "Hero" (album version)
  2. "Everything Fades Away" (album version)
U.S. CD maxi single
  1. "Hero" (album version)
  2. "Hero" (live)
  3. "Everything Fades Away" (album version)
  4. "Dreamlover" (Club Joint mix)
UK cassette single
  1. "Hero" (album version)
  2. "Hero" (live)
  3. "Everything Fades Away" (album version)
  4. "Dreamlover" (Club Joint mix)

[edit] Charts

Chart (1993) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 1
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks 5
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream 1
U.S. Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 2
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary 2
U.S. ARC Weekly Top 40 1
Australian ARIA Singles Chart 7
Brazil Singles Chart 1
Canadian Singles Chart 10
French Singles Chart 5
German Singles Chart 58
Israeli Singles Chart 7
Norwegian Singles Chart 2
UK Singles Chart 7
Preceded by
"Again" by Janet Jackson		 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 number-one single
December 25, 1993 – January 15, 1994		 Succeeded by
"All for Love" by Bryan Adams / Rod Stewart / Sting

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ 'Mariah Carey's 'Hero': The Envelope Please'. Friedman, Roger. "Mariah Carey's 'Hero': The Envelope Please". (Tuesday, June 26, 2001).

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Mariah Carey singles discography
Mariah Carey
Emotions
MTV Unplugged
Music Box
Merry Christmas
Daydream
Butterfly
#1's
Rainbow
Glitter
Charmbracelet
The Emancipation of Mimi
E=MC²
Other collaborations
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