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	December 19, 1987 [1]
Format	7" single
Recorded	November 1987
Genre	Pop/Rock
Length	4:29
Label	Grunt
Writer(s)	Albert Hammond/Diane Warren
Producer	Narada Michael Walden
Starship singles chronology
"Before I Go" (1986) "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" (1987) "It's Not Over Til It's Over" (1987)

"Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" is a #1 hit song co-written by Albert Hammond and Diane Warren, recorded by Starship. Featured as the theme to the romantic comedy film Mannequin,^[2] it hit #1 in the Billboard Hot 100 on April 4, 1987 and reached #1 on the UK Singles Chart for four weeks the following month and became the UK's 2nd biggest selling single of 1987. At the time, it made Grace Slick the oldest female artist to have a number one single in the United States, though the record was later broken by Cher's "Believe" in 1999. The song also received an Oscar 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 1987.

History

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."^[3]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 while the lyrics "banal yet effective."^[4]

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.^[5]

Track listings

7" single

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 sales

Peak positions Chart (1987) Peak position Austrian Singles Chart[6] 3 Canadian Singles Chart[7] 1 French SNEP Singles Chart[6] 16 German Singles Chart[8] 3 Irish Singles Chart[9] 1 Norwegian Singles Chart[6] 2 Swedish Singles Chart[6] 2 Swiss Singles Chart[6] 4 UK Singles Chart[10] 1 U.S. Billboard Hot 100[11] 1 U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks[11] 1 U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks[11] 16

End of year charts End of year chart (1987) Position Austrian Singles Chart[12] 17 Dutch Top 40[13] 9 Swiss Singles Chart[14] 8 UK Singles Chart[15] 2 US Billboard Top 100[16] 5 Certifications Country Certification Date Sales certified Canada[17] Gold April 22, 1987 50,000 Sweden[18] Gold September 7, 1987 10,000 UK[19] Gold June 1, 1987 500,000 U.S.[20] Gold February 24, 1989 500,000

Chart successions

Preceded by "Lean on Me" by Club Nouveau	Billboard Hot 100 number-one single April 4 – April 11, 1987 (2 weeks)	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 (chart) number-one single April 11, 1987 (2 weeks)	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 – May 9, 1987 (2 weeks)	Succeeded by "Hold Me Now" by Johnny Logan
Preceded by "La Isla Bonita" by Madonna	UK Singles Chart number-one single May 10 – May 31, 1987 (4 weeks)	Succeeded by "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)" by Whitney Houston

Cover versions

• George Lam, a Hong Kong singer, recorded a cover version in Cantonese for his album in 1987.(Chinese name of the song:敢愛敢做)^[21]
• Liliane Saint-Pierre recorded a Flemish-language cover version of this song, titled Eeuwig Van Je Houden.
• This song was covered by American Pop-punk band 'The Losers Bracket' in 2002.
• The Shadows did an instrumental version on their album Reflection (1990).
• This song has been covered by American pop punk band The Starting Line on their 2001 EP With Hopes of Starting Over on the Drive-Thru Records label.
• Pop project Mandy & Randy covered the song in 2003 with a music video featuring a small cartoonish CGI couple at the beach.
• This song was covered by Filipino acoustic band MYMP on their 2006 album New Horizon^[22]
• Same Difference included a cover of the song on their debut album: Pop in 2008.

Live cover performances

• The song was performed by Anthony Kavanagh and Alison Crawford during the UK talent-search show Grease is the Word.^[23]
• The song was performed on The X Factor by Same Difference, who later featured the song on their debut album: Pop.

References

1. ^ RIAA Gold and Platinum Database [1]
2. ^ King, Alex P. (2004) (in French). Hit-parade — 20 ans de tubes. Paris: Pascal. p. 340. ISBN 2-35019-009-9. 
3. ^ Song details: Nothing's gonna stop us now – Albert Hammond
4. ^ The when, where, and who of pop lyrics: the listener's prerogative. T Murphey. Popular Music, 1989 - Cambridge Univ Press
5. ^ Leclerc, Mario (2005) (in French). Jacques Demers - En toutes lettres. Quebec: Stanké. p. 472. ISBN 2-7604-0976-7
6. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now", in various singles charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved April 10, 2008)
7. ^ Lwin, Nanda. Top 40 Hits: The Essential Chart Guide (2000).
8. ^ German Singles Chart Charts-surfer.de (Retrieved April 10, 2008)
9. ^ Irish Single Chart Irishcharts.ie (Retrieved April 10, 2008)
10. ^ UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved April 10, 2008)
11. ^ ^{a b c} Billboard Allmusic.com (Retrieved September 3, 2008)
12. ^ 1987 Austrian Singles Chart Austriancharts.at (Retrieved September 3, 2008)
13. ^ "Single top 100 over 1987" (in Dutch) (pdf). Top40. http://www.top40.nl/pdf/Top%20100/top%20100%20-%201987.pdf. Retrieved 21 September 2010. 
14. ^ 1987 Swiss Singles Chart Hitparade.ch (Retrieved September 3, 2008)
15. ^ 1987 UK Singles Chart [2] (Retrieved March 4, 2009)
16. ^ 1987 Billboard Singles Chart [3] (Retrieved February 19, 2011)
17. ^ Canada certifications cria.ca (Retrieved September 3, 2008)
18. ^ Swedish certifications Ifpi.se (Retrieved September 11, 2008)
19. ^ UK certifications Bpi.co.uk (Retrieved September 3, 2008)
20. ^ U.S. certifications riaa.com (Retrieved September 1, 2008)
21. ^ Performance on YouTube
22. ^ MYMP Discography
23. ^ Performance on YouTube