"(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...

. Written by Adams,

Michael Kamen Michael Arnold Kamen (April 15, 1948 – November 18, 2003) was an American composer (especially of film scores), orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, songwriter, and session musician. Biography Early life Michael Arnold Kamen was bor ...

, and Robert John "Mutt" Lange, the

power ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner.J. ...

was the lead single for both the

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' ...

from the 1991 film '' Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves'' and Adams's sixth studio album, '' Waking Up the Neighbours'' (1991). The single was released on June 17, 1991. The song was an enormous chart success internationally, reaching the number-one position on the music charts of at least nineteen countries, notable exceptions in the Western World being Italy (number three) and Spain (number four). It is particularly notable for its success in the United Kingdom, where it spent sixteen consecutive weeks at number one on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, the longest uninterrupted run ever on that chart as of . It also topped the Europe-wide sales chart for eighteen continuous weeks. In the United States, it topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, which combines radio airplay and sales, for seven weeks, but stayed at number one for seventeen consecutive weeks on the sales-only chart. It went on to sell more than 15 million copies worldwide, making it Adams's most successful song, and one of the best-selling singles of all time. The song has been covered by hundreds of singers and artists around the world.

Background

The musicians on the original recording are Adams on lead vocals, backing vocals and rhythm guitar,

Bill Payne William H. Payne (born March 12, 1949) is an American pianist who, with Lowell George, co-founded the American rock band Little Feat. He is considered by many other rock pianists, including Elton John, to be one of the finest American piano roc ...

(piano), Mickey Curry (drums), Larry Klein (bass), Keith Scott (lead guitar and backing vocals), Robbie King (organ), and Mutt Lange (synthesizers). The song was based on the film's love theme by Kamen, "Maid Marian". The song was written in London, UK at the studio Adams was working at in 1990, and he and Lange wrote it in 45 minutes, recording it the following March, and releasing it three months later. The song is performed in the key of

C major C major (or the key of C) is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and ...

Commercial performance

In the United Kingdom, "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" had the longest unbroken run at number one, spending sixteen consecutive weeks at the top of the

from July 7, 1991, to October 27 when it dropped to number four. It also topped the Europe-wide sales chart for eighteen continuous weeks, still an all-time record, and topped the European-wide radio airplay chart for ten weeks. In the United States, the

spent seven weeks at number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, which combines radio airplay and sales, the longest running number one song since 1983, and seventeen consecutive weeks at number one on the sales-only chart, which at the time set the all-time record for consecutive weeks at one. ''Billboard'' ranked it as the number-one pop song for 1991. It also held the number one spot on the US Adult Contemporary Chart for eight consecutive weeks, the longest run atop that chart since 1979, and was the number one song of the year on that chart. "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" also spent nine weeks atop the

singles chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include rec ...

in Adams's native Canada, eleven weeks atop the

Australian Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

, and twelve weeks atop the Sweden Singles Chart. In most of the countries which hit ascended to number one, it was the number one song for the year 1991, exceptions being Germany (number two), Austria (number two) and Switzerland (number three).

Music videos

The official

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...

for the song was directed by

Julien Temple Julien Temple (born 26 November 1953) is a British film, documentary and music video director. He began his career with short films featuring the Sex Pistols, and has continued with various off-beat projects, including '' The Great Rock 'n' Rol ...

. It shows Adams and his band performing the song in a forest with a silk mill in the background, and Adams alone performing on a rocky beachside, intercut with scenes from ''Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves''. The video was filmed in a forest with the derelict silk mill near Holford in the

Quantock Hills The Quantock Hills west of Bridgwater in Somerset, England, consist of heathland, oak woodlands, ancient parklands and agricultural land. They were England's first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, designated in 1956. Natural England have desi ...

and on a beach with geological cliff formations near

Kilve Kilve is a village in the Somerset West and Taunton district of Somerset, England, within the Quantock Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the first AONB to be established, in 1957. It lies on the A39 almost exactly equidistant from Bridg ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...

. A video was also commissioned for a live version of the song, directed by

Andy Morahan Andrew Douglas Morahan (born 11 August 1958) is a British commercial, film and music video director. He is the son of director Christopher Morahan and the half-brother of actress Hattie Morahan. Married to Joanna Lewis, he has two children. ...

Awards and accolades

Adams, Kamen, and Lange won a Grammy Award for Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television, and was nominated for the

Grammy Award for Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without re ...

at the Grammy Awards of 1992. It was also nominated for an

Academy Award for Best Original Song The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who have composed ...

, but lost to "

Beauty and the Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' (''The Young American and Marine ...

." As recently as July 2020, it placed at number 13 on YouTube's "Most Listened to Rock Countdown", a monthly tally of the most viewed and listened to songs of the rock genre, both in current release and from the past; this was the second highest song by Adams' after "Please Forgive Me" at number 10. The song was placed 18th in a survey of the favourite songs of British readers of the Guinness Book of Records.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

All-time charts

Sales and certifications

Fatima Mansions version

The Irish band Fatima Mansions released a heavily altered cover of the song as part of an '' NME''

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

in aid of the

charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * C ...

, the

Spastics Society Scope (previously known as the National Spastics Society) is a disability charity in England and Wales that campaigns to change negative attitudes about disability, provides direct services, and educates the public. The organisation was found ...

. The single was a

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

with the

Manic Street Preachers Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Welsh Rock music, rock band formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, Blackwood in 1986. The band consists of cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, lead guitar) and Sean Moore (musician ...

' version of "

Suicide Is Painless "Suicide Is Painless" (or "Song from M*A*S*H") is a song written by Johnny Mandel (music) and Michael Altman (lyrics) for the 1970 film ''M*A*S*H''. In addition to being performed by characters in the film, it plays during the title sequence as ...

". The single entered the UK top ten in 1992, and reached number 12 in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. ...

. However, the Manic Street Preachers song received most of the UK

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a tr ...

airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...

Brandy version

American singer

Brandy Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured with ...

rerecorded "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" for the standard version of her second studio album, '' Never Say Never'' (1998). Producer

David Foster David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian musician, composer, arranger, record producer and music executive who chaired Verve Records from 2012 to 2016. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His music career spans mor ...

reworked the arrangement of the original song, with Dean Parks playing the

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

. In 1999, her

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song relea ...

was released as the album's final single on a double A-side with " U Don't Know Me" on the Oceanic music market, where it reached the top 30 of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

RIANZ Recorded Music NZ (formerly the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ)) is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell recorded music in New Zealand. Membership of Recorded M ...

singles chart. That same year, she performed the song live at VH1 Divas Live '99 alongside

Faith Hill Audrey Faith McGraw (; born September 21, 1967), known professionally as Faith Hill, is an American singer and actress. She is one of the most successful country music artists of all time, having sold more than 40 million albums worldwide. Hill' ...

Track listings

*Australian CD single # "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" – 4:10 # " U Don't Know Me" – 4:29 # " Have You Ever?" (Soul Skank Remix) – 5:40

Credits and personnel

Credits are taken from ''Never Say Never'' liner notes. * Composer –

, R.J. Lange * Production –

Acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

– Dean Parks * Electric guitar – Michael Thompson * Programming – Felipe Elgueta * Mixing – Tom Bender * Recording – Al Schmitt

Charts

References

Background

Commercial performance

Music videos

Awards and accolades

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

All-time charts

Sales and certifications

Fatima Mansions version

Brandy version

Track listings

Credits and personnel

Charts

See also

References