Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now

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

"Before I Go"
(1986)		 "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now"
(1987)		 "It's Not Over Til It's Over"
(1987)
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 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. It has more than 21 million views on YouTube as of July 11, 2017.

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.[10]

The song was featured in 1987 episodes of the US daytime soap operas Another World and The Young and the Restless, as well as a 1988 episode of General Hospital

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 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]

It was also featured in the 2015 Filipino movie Crazy Beautiful You starring Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla.

It was used in an episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine in late 2016.

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]

In June 2017, the song was used in the Season 6 finale of Veep in a flashback scene depicting Selina Meyer's concession speech ending her first campaign for president.

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 and certifications

Chart successions

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

Personnel

Additional personnel

References

  1. ↑ "Gold & Platinum Searchable Database - May 02, 2014". RIAA. Retrieved 2014-05-02.
  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,
  5. ↑ Hung, Steffen. "Starship - Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now - hitparade.ch". hitparade.ch.
  6. ↑ Gotta revolution, 1987: Grace slick, Paul Kantner, and "volunteers of America" W Glausser – Popular Music & Society, 1988 – Taylor & Francis
  7. ↑ "The 21 best power ballads".
  8. ↑ Archived October 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
  9. ↑ The when, where, and who of pop lyrics: the listener's prerogative. T Murphey. Popular Music, 1989 – Cambridge Univ Press
  10. ↑ Leclerc, Mario (2005) (in French). Jacques Demers – En toutes lettres. Quebec: Stanké. p. 472. ISBN 2-7604-0976-7
  11. ↑ "Starship’s sales rocket following X Factor ad campaign". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2014-03-30.
  12. ↑ Buchanan, Kyle (2014-04-14). "Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig’s Epic Lip-Synch". Vulture. Retrieved 2014-05-02.
  13. ↑ "Sundance 2014: Bill Hader & Kristen Wiig Make 'Skeleton Twins' a Hit". FirstShowing.net. 2014-01-19. Retrieved 2014-05-02.
  14. ↑ "Jefferson Airplane's Grace Slick Diverts Earnings From Chick-fil-A Commercial to LGBTQ Cause".
  15. ↑ "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – CHART POSITIONS PRE 1989". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Archived from the original on October 20, 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  16. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Starship – Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  17. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Starship – Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  18. ↑ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 0796." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  19. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Starship – Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  20. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Starship – Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  21. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  22. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Starship – Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  23. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Starship – Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  24. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Starship – Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". VG-lista. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  25. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Starship – Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  26. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Starship – Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  27. ↑ "Archive Chart: 1987-05-03" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  28. ↑ "Starship – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Starship. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  29. ↑ "starship". wweb.uta.edu.
  30. 1 2 "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now (song by Starship) ••• Music VF, US & UK hits charts". www.musicvf.com.
  31. ↑ 1987 Austrian Singles Chart Austriancharts.at (Retrieved September 3, 2008)
  32. ↑ "Single top 100 over 1987" (PDF) (in Dutch). Top40. Retrieved September 21, 2010.
  33. ↑ Hung, Steffen. "lescharts.com - Starship - Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". www.lescharts.com.
  34. ↑ Hung, Steffen. "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1987". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2014-05-02.
  35. ↑ "1980s Singles Chart Archive". everyHit.com. Retrieved 2014-05-02.
  36. ↑ "1987". Longbored Surfer. Archived from the original on January 4, 2016. Retrieved 2014-05-02.
  37. ↑ "Gold and Platinum". Cria.ca. 2014-04-01. Archived from the original on April 12, 2009. Retrieved 2014-05-02.
  38. ↑ Archived February 11, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
  39. ↑ Archived September 24, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
  40. ↑ "Gold & Platinum Searchable Database - May 02, 2014". RIAA. Archived from the original on June 26, 2007. Retrieved 2014-05-02.
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