"Never Tear Us Apart" is a

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. Balla ...

by Australian rock band

INXS INXS (a phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian rock band, formed as the Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney. The founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboardist Andrew Farriss, drummer Jon Farriss, gu ...

, released in June 1988 by

WEA The Wea were a Miami–Illinois-speaking Native American tribe originally located in western Indiana. Historically, they were described as being either closely related to the Miami tribe or a sub-tribe of Miami. Today, the descendants of th ...

as the fourth

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from their sixth studio album, ''

Kick A kick is a physical strike using the leg, in unison usually with an area of the knee or lower using the foot, heel, tibia (shin), ball of the foot, blade of the foot, toes or knee (the latter is also known as a knee strike). This type of ...

'' (1987). The music was written by keyboardist

Andrew Farriss Andrew Charles Farriss (born 27 March 1959) is an Australian rock musician and multi-instrumentalist best known as the keyboardist, backing vocalist, and main composer for rock band INXS. He released his debut solo album in 2021. Career Andre ...

, and the lyrics were written by vocalist

Michael Hutchence Michael Kelland John Hutchence (22 January 1960 – 22 November 1997) was an Australian singer and songwriter. He was the co-founder, lead singer and lyricist of the rock band INXS from 1977 until his death in 1997. The band sold over 50 ...

for his then-girlfriend, Michele Bennett. In 1988, the single peaked at No. 7 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, No. 5 on ''Billboard'' US Mainstream Rock chart, No. 14 on the

ARIA 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 No. 24 on the UK Singles Chart. In 1989, the song was nominated for four

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

, winning two; for Best Group and Best Video. In 2014, the single peaked at No. 11 on the ARIA Singles Chart following the success of the miniseries '' INXS: Never Tear Us Apart''. It was ranked at No. 282 on ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

''s list of "

The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring song ranking compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2 ...

", and in 2025 was voted in 1st in the

Triple J Hottest 100 of Australian Songs The Triple J Hottest 100, Hottest 100 of Australian Songs will be counted down by Australian youth radio station Triple J on 26 July 2025. Celebrating the broadcaster's 50th anniversary, it will be the first time the Hottest 100 polls exclusively Mu ...

Background and composition

The music was written by keyboardist

, who recorded a blues-style demo; vocalist

wrote the lyrics for his then-girlfriend, Australian film producer Michele Bennett, who was described as Hutchence's "first real love", with whom he was in a relationship from 1982 to 1987 and remained close friends until his death – Bennett was the last person that Hutchence called on the morning of his death, on 22 November 1997. In a 2019 interview with ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'',

Richard Lowenstein Richard Lowenstein (born 1 March 1959) is an Australian Filmmaking, filmmaker. He has written, produced and directed feature films such as ''Strikebound'' (1984), ''Dogs in Space'' (1986) and ''He Died with a Felafel in His Hand (film), He Died ...

, who was friends with Hutchence and directed the music video for "Never Tear Us Apart", said of the song after reading Hutchence's diaries as part of his research for his 2019 documentary '' Mystify: Michael Hutchence'':

He felt guilt over every break-up because it brought back memories of his parents' divorce and their break-up. When he got successful he'd feel the guilt of leaving his brother and it just seemed to be everywhere. Going back into his diaries, we'd find evidence of the guilt – it wasn't just all happy-go-lucky rockstar. There was always problems being presented. His break-up with Michele (Bennett, his childhood flame), he was utterly torn between this woman he loved and how their lives were going in so many different directions. That’s why it inspired ‘Never Tear Us Apart’. ''
Kick A kick is a physical strike using the leg, in unison usually with an area of the knee or lower using the foot, heel, tibia (shin), ball of the foot, blade of the foot, toes or knee (the latter is also known as a knee strike). This type of ...
'' had gone to Number One and suddenly there's this kid-in-a-candy store mentality – he was travelling around the world and thought he'd never settle down. There was the hedonistic side to him, but always an almost catholic sense of self-flagellation too.

"Never Tear Us Apart" is a

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

, written in the tempo of a modern

Viennese waltz Viennese waltz () is a genre of ballroom dance. At least four different meanings are recognized. In the historically first sense, the name may refer to several versions of the waltz, including the earliest waltzes done in ballroom dancing, dance ...

, layered with

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

s and containing dramatic pauses before the instrumental breaks.

Kirk Pengilly Kirk Pengilly ( ; born 4 July 1958) is an Australian musician and member of the Australian rock group INXS. Kirk plays saxophone and guitar, and also performs as a backing vocalist. Early career Pengilly moved to Sydney in 1966, and became best ...

lends a

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

solo near the end. According to the

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

of '' Shine Like It Does: The Anthology (1979–1997)'', the song was composed on

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

as a bluesy number in the style of

Fats Domino Antoine Caliste Domino Jr. (February 26, 1928 – October 24, 2017), known as Fats Domino, was an American singer-songwriter and pianist. One of the pioneers of rock and roll music, Domino sold more than 65 million records. Born in New Orl ...

. Producer Chris Thomas suggested a synth-based arrangement instead.

Critical reception

A reviewer from ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said that "more impassioned crooning from Hutchence elevates this song" and also praised the "searing sax solo." The Stud Brothers of ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'' wrote, "This pleads for passion by jump-starting a cello-like synth that kangaroos unhappily along until it collides with a great fairy of a saxophone which ultimately drags it to a sad demise."

Music video

The music video for the song, featuring an extended intro, was filmed in various locations in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

along with "Guns in the Sky" and " New Sensation", all directed by

. It won the

ARIA Award for Best Video The ARIA Award for Best Video, is presented at the annual ARIA Awards, which recognise "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres", since 1987. It is handed out by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), an ...

at the 1989 ARIA Music Awards. As of , the video has a total view count of more than 150 million on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

from two versions, making it their most popular song on the platform. In March 2024, to celebrate the 35th anniversary of "Never Tear Us Apart", INXS shared a video on their official YouTube channel featuring behind-the-scenes footage from the music video, deleted scenes and interviews with Michael Hutchence and Andrew Farriss.

Impact and legacy

After Hutchence's death in 1997, his coffin was carried out of St Andrew's Cathedral by the remaining members of INXS and his younger brother Rhett as "Never Tear Us Apart" was played in the background. In October 2008, Australian soccer club

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from the Australi ...

adopted the song as a club anthem. In late 2023, the club introduced a special cover of the song by singer

Lyn Bowtell Lynette Jean Bowtell (born 29 April 1977) is an Australian singer-songwriter from Kleinton, Queensland. She has won ten Golden Guitar Awards at the Country Music Awards of Australia. She was primary songwriter and singer for the pop country tri ...

for the

women's team A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional uteruses ...

. In March 2014,

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

club

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide city centre, Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is t ...

also adopted the song as an unofficial anthem leading up to the opening siren at its home ground

Adelaide Oval The Adelaide Oval is a stadium in Adelaide in the state of South Australia. It is located in the Adelaide Parklands, parklands. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby league, ...

. Fans faithfully began raising scarves above their heads as it was sung. By June 2014, the club printed official scarves featuring the words "Never Tear Us Apart" that fans have since held aloft during the song. INXS members

Tim Farriss Timothy William Farriss (born 16 August 1957) is an Australian musician, founding member and the lead guitarist of the rock band :INXS. Early life and the formation of INXS Farriss was born in Perth, Western Australia, to Dennis and Jill F ...

and

Jon Farriss Jonathan James Farriss (born 10 August 1961) is an Australian drummer and founding member of rock band INXS. Biography Jon Farriss was born to Dennis and Jill Farriss, and is the second youngest of four children: brothers and fellow band memb ...

attended a match in April 2015, partaking in a rendition of the song. In January 2018, as part of

Triple M Triple M is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 45 radio stations with flagship stations broadcasting a mainstream/classic rock music format in Sydney, Melbourne, and B ...

's "Ozzest 100", listing the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "Never Tear Us Apart" was ranked number 18. In 2021, it was listed at No. 282 on ''

''s " Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". The song appears in ''

Euphoria Euphoria ( ) is the experience (or affect) of pleasure or excitement and intense feelings of well-being and happiness. Certain natural rewards and social activities, such as aerobic exercise, laughter, listening to or making music and da ...

'', in season 2, episode 3. During the cold open flashback, Cal dances and embraces his friend Derek to the song. It was also prominently used in the 2024 drama film '' Babygirl''. In 2025, the song was voted 1st in the

Chart performance

The single reached No. 24 in the UK, and stayed on the charts for seven weeks. In the US, it reached No. 7 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In February 2014, after the Channel 7 screening of '' INXS: Never Tear Us Apart'' mini-series, "Never Tear Us Apart" charted again in Australia via download sales. It peaked at No. 11 on the ARIA Singles Chart, surpassing its original peak position of No. 14 back in 1988.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Accolades

Tom Jones feat. Natalie Imbruglia version

The song was covered by

Tom Jones Tom Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer *Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist *''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in 1 ...

for his 1999 album '' Reload'' featuring the Australian singer

Natalie Imbruglia Natalie Jane Imbruglia ( , ; born 4 February 1975) is an Australian and British singer and actress. Born and raised in New South Wales, Imbruglia became widely known in the early 1990s playing Beth Brennan in the soap opera ''Neighbours''. A ...

. The cover version also includes a music video.

Track listing

CD single # "Never Tear Us Apart" – 3:08 # "

Sunny Afternoon "Sunny Afternoon" is a song by the Kinks, written by Ray Davies and released as a single in June 1966. The track was included on the '' Face to Face'' album released in late October, and served as the title track for a 1967 compilation album. L ...

" – 3:26 # "Looking Out My Window" – 3:19 # " Sometimes We Cry" – 5:00

Remix version: "Precious Heart"

In August 2001, a remix called "Precious Heart" was released as a single, and credited as

Tall Paul Tall Paul may refer to: * Tall Paul (song), a 1959 song by Annette Funicello * Tall Paul (DJ), English DJ, producer and remixer * Paul Sturgess (basketball), British basketball player {{dab ...

vs. INXS.

Track listing

Australian CD single # "Precious Heart" (Radio Edit) – 3:36 # "Precious Heart" (Original Mix) – 7:40 # "Precious Heart" (Riva Mix) – 7:40 # "Precious Heart" (Marc O'Toole Remix) – 8:41 # "Precious Heart" (Lush Mix) – 8:42 UK CD single # "Precious Heart" (Radio Edit) – 3:36 # "Precious Heart" (Original Mix) – 7:40 # "Precious Heart" (Lush Mix) – 8:42

Charts

"Never Tear Us Apart" (2010 re-recording with Ben Harper and Mylène Farmer)

INXS re-recorded "Never Tear Us Apart" with

Ben Harper Benjamin Charles Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae, and rock music, and he is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, liv ...

and French singer

Mylène Farmer Mylène Jeanne Gautier (; born 12 September 1961), known professionally as Mylène Farmer (), is a French singer and songwriter. Having sold more than 30 million records worldwide, she is among the most successful recording artists of all time ...

, who wrote new French lyrics, for their twelfth studio album, ''

Original Sin Original sin () in Christian theology refers to the condition of sinfulness that all humans share, which is inherited from Adam and Eve due to the Fall of man, Fall, involving the loss of original righteousness and the distortion of the Image ...

''. The song was released on iTunes on 12 August 2010, and also as a promotional single to radio stations prior to the release of the album.

Paloma Faith version

"Never Tear Us Apart" was recorded by British singer

Paloma Faith Paloma Faith Blomfield (born 21 July 1981) is an English singer, songwriter, and actress. After signing with Epic Records in 2008, Faith released her debut album, '' Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful?'' (2009), which produced the UK ...

for a television advertisement campaign for

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American civil rights activist and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

. The advert began airing in the UK from 15 September 2012. Faith later confirmed that the song would be released as her next single on 23 September 2012. She commented "I have always loved this song and I feel honoured to sing it." "Never Tear Us Apart" was released as the first single from the reissued version of Faith's second studio album ''

Fall to Grace ''Fall to Grace'' is the second studio album by English singer Paloma Faith, released on 28 May 2012 by RCA Records. She worked on the album with producer Nellee Hooper, who previously worked with artists such as Madonna, Björk, Massive Attack ...

'' and serves as the third single overall. The artwork for the song shows the singer saluting, while wearing a metallic gold dress, with "a honeycomb-like bottom half". Faith's version of the song can be heard on the opening scene of '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' fifteenth-season episode "Beast's Obsession." It is also heard in the Netflix series ''Umbrella Academy''. Faith's version also appeared in the first episode of the Showtime series ''Yellowjackets''.

Reception

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its initial launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television pro ...

's Lewis Corner gave Faith's version of the song four out of five stars. He stated "It's a brave task to reinterpret a much-loved hit, but Faith's soulful tones immediately thwart any doubts that she can't do the song justice." He added that while it was always going to be tough topping the original, Faith comes "admirably close."

Track listing

; Digital download # "Never Tear Us Apart" – 3:05 # "Never Tear Us Apart" (Orchestral Version) – 3:05

Charts

Certifications

Release history

The Teskey Brothers version

In April 2021,

The Teskey Brothers The Teskey Brothers are an Australian blues rock band from Melbourne, named after the two brothers who formed the group in 2008: Josh Teskey (vocals, rhythm guitar) and Sam Teskey (lead guitar). In 2019, they signed with Glassnote Records and ...

released a cover of "Never Tear Us Apart" in dedication to

Michael Gudinski Michael Solomon Gudinski AM (22 August 1952 – 2 March 2021) was an Australian record executive and promoter who was a leading figure in the Australian music industry. Born and raised in Melbourne, Gudinski formed the highly successful Austr ...

. Upon released, Josh said "This is an all-time classic Australian song that all of us love, its a pleasure to sing it and I don't know why we didn't do it earlier. We're very proud to dedicate this release to our friend Michael Gudinski who was a huge supporter of Australian music and The Teskey Brothers. Our two worlds collided and we will always be grateful for that."

References

{{Authority control 1980s ballads 1988 songs 1988 singles 1999 singles 2001 singles 2010 singles 2012 singles Australian pop rock songs Atlantic Records singles ARIA Award-winning songs INXS songs Joe Cocker songs Mercury Records singles Newcastle Jets FC Paloma Faith songs Phonogram Records singles Pop ballads Port Adelaide Football Club RCA Records singles Rock ballads Breakup songs Songs about heartache Songs about nostalgia Song recordings produced by Chris Thomas (record producer) Songs written by Andrew Farriss Songs written by Michael Hutchence Warner Music Group singles V2 Records singles