"Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" is a song co-written by Diane Warren and

Albert Hammond Albert Louis Hammond OBE (born 18 May 1944) is a British-Gibraltarian singer, songwriter, and record producer. A prolific songwriter, he also collaborated with other songwriters such as Mike Hazlewood, John Bettis, Diane Warren, Holly Knight ...

and recorded by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band Starship for their second studio album, '' No Protection'' (1987). It is a

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

duet featuring vocalists

Grace Slick Grace Slick (born Grace Barnett Wing; October 30, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter, artist, and painter. Slick was a key figure in San Francisco's early psychedelic music scene in the mid-1960s. With a music career spanning four decades, ...

and Mickey Thomas and is the theme to the romantic-comedy film ''

Mannequin A mannequin (also called a dummy, lay figure, or dress form) is a doll, often articulated, used by artists, tailors, dressmakers, window dressers and others, especially to display or fit clothing and show off different fabrics and textiles. P ...

''. The song reached number one on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, Warren's first single to do so. Elsewhere, "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" topped the charts in Canada, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, where it became the second-best-selling song of 1987. "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" received a nomination for

Best Original Song This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

at the

60th Academy Awards The 60th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on April 11, 1988, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p.m. PDT. During the ceremony, AMPAS presented ...

Background

In a radio interview, 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 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.

Reception

'' Cash Box'' called the song "an emotional duet by Thomas and Grace Slick" and "a blustery, expansive production."

Commercial performance

The song topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on April 4, 1987. In the United Kingdom, the song peaked at the top of 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 ...

for four weeks and became the UK's second-best-selling song of 1987 behind "

Never Gonna Give You Up "Never Gonna Give You Up" is the debut single recorded by English singer and songwriter Rick Astley, released on 27 July 1987. It is one of Astley's most famous songs. It was written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman, and was released as ...

" by

Rick Astley Richard Paul Astley (born 6 February 1966) is an English singer, songwriter and radio personality, who has been active in music for several decades. He gained worldwide fame in the 1980s, having multiple hits including his signature song " Ne ...

. The song also reached the top 10 in six other European countries. It became the first chart-topping song to be written by Warren. Grace Slick, at age 47, became the oldest woman to attain a number-one single in the United States, surpassed only by Cher, who was 52 when her song " Believe" reached number one in early 1999.

Music video

The music video for "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" was released in 1987. It features

Kim Cattrall Kim Victoria Cattrall (; born 21 August 1956) is a British-Canadian actress. She is known for her role as Samantha Jones on HBO's ''Sex and the City'' (1998–2004), for which she received five Emmy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Awa ...

and shows Mickey Thomas pursuing a mannequin who comes to life, played by

, and is intercut with scenes from the film ''

''.

Meshach Taylor Meshach Taylor (; April 11, 1947 – June 28, 2014) was an American actor. He was best known for his role as Anthony Bouvier on the CBS sitcom ''Designing Women'' (1986–93), for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstan ...

makes a cameo playing his role in the film as window dresser Hollywood Montrose, as does Narada Michael Walden, the producer of the song, who appears with the band.

Track listings

*7-inch single :A. "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" – 4:29 :B. "Layin' It on the Line" (live at Stopher Gym, Nicholls State University) – 4:15 *12-inch single :A1. "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" – 4:29 :A2. "Layin' It on the Line" – 4:15 :B1. "

We Built This City "We Built This City" is a 1985 song by American rock band Starship. It was released as their debut single on their album '' Knee Deep in the Hoopla''. It was written by English musicians Martin Page and Bernie Taupin, who were both living in Lo ...

" (special club mix) – 7:00 :B2. "Tomorrow Doesn't Matter Tonight" – 3:41

Personnel

* Mickey Thomas – vocals *

– vocals *

Donny Baldwin Donald Baldwin (born June 22, 1950/1951) is an American drummer best known as a member of Jefferson Starship (1982–1984; 2008–present) and its continuation Starship (1984–1989). Early life Baldwin was raised in Palo Alto, California. He att ...

– drums, vocals *

Craig Chaquico Craig Clinton Chaquico (or Chaquiço, ; born September 26, 1954) is an American guitarist, songwriter, and composer. From 1974 to 1990 he was lead guitarist for the rock bands Jefferson Starship and Starship. In 1993, he started a solo career as ...

– guitar (lead/solo only)Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now by Starship - Track Info @AllMusic.com
Retrieved 21 January 2023. *

Pete Sears Peter Roy Sears (born 27 May 1948) is an English rock musician. In a career spanning more than six decades, he has been a member of many bands and has moved through a variety of musical genres, from early R&B, psychedelic improvisational rock o ...

– bass

Additional personnel

* Walter "Baby Love" Afanasieff – keyboards, synth bass * Narada Michael Walden – drums * Corrado Rustici –

Charvel Charvel is a brand of electric guitars founded in the 1970s by Wayne Charvel in Azusa, California and originally headquartered in Glendora, California. Since 2002, Charvel has been under the ownership of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. ...

MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and ...

guitar * Robert "Bongo Bob" Smith – drum sampling and percussion * Karen "Kitty Beethoven" Brewington, Jim Gilstrap – background vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Notes

References

{{authority control 1980s ballads 1986 songs 1987 singles Albert Hammond songs American soft rock songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Love themes Male–female vocal duets Number-one singles in Portugal RCA Records singles Rock ballads RPM Top Singles number-one singles Song recordings produced by Narada Michael Walden Songs about marriage Songs written by Albert Hammond Songs written by Diane Warren Songs written for films Starship (band) songs UK Singles Chart number-one singles