Released January 30, 1987 Recorded 1986 Length 4:30 | Format 7" single & 12" single Genre Rock | |
B-side "Layin' It on the Line" | ||
"Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" is a song co-written by Albert Hammond and Diane Warren, 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, 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. At the time, it made Grace Slick (aged 47) the oldest woman to have a number one single in the United States though the record was later broken by Cher's "Believe" in 1999 (aged 52).
Contents
- Background and writing
- Music video
- In popular culture
- Track listing
- Personnel
- Additional personnel
- References
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. 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." The song has been considered "feel good" propelled by a strong synthesizer beat.
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 15 million views on YouTube as of March 11, 2017.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
Track listing
- "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" – 4:29
- "Layin' It on the Line" (live at Stopher Gym, Louisiana State University) – 4:15