Bryan Adams hit #1 with “Everything I Do” for first of 7 weeks

Everything I Do (I Do It for You) Bryan Adams

Writer(s): Bryan Adams/Robert John "Mutt" Lange/Michael Kamen (see lyrics here) Released: June 18, 1991 First Charted: June 29, 1991 Peak: 17 US, 16 CB, 17 GR, 16 RR, 18 AC, 10 AR, 116 UK, 19 CN, 111 AU, 4 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 4.1 US, 2.0 UK, 15.0 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 3.0 radio, 936.0 video, 353.41 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: A tune written by “filmscore specialist” HL Michael Kamen back in the 1960s HL re-surfaced via the motion picture Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, now with the idea that it be a theme for Maid Marian, be sung by a female lead, KL and be recorded with medieval instruments. HL It ended up as a modernized rock ballad by Bryan Adams that was produced by “Mutt” Lange, who had worked with AC/DC, Def Leppard, and Foreigner. Kamen was rejected by Kate Bush and Annie Lennox before getting Julia Fordham to demo the song with Peter Cetera. That effort was turned down, as was another by Lisa Stansfield. Finally, Bryan Adams was suggested. KL Once Adams and Lange added their touches, “Everything I Do” bore little resemblance to the original piece by Kamen, although he still got a co-writing credit. The song now took on rock instrumentation HL because, as Adams told Q magazine: “We don’t want lutes and mandolins on this – this is a pop record!” FB Kamen disagreed, saying “they were asking us to make a transition…from 1195 to 1991 in the same breath.” FB The film producers wanted the melody rewritten, but the writers refused, BB resulting in the song being relegated to the end credits of the movie. TB The banishment didn’t hurt the song at all; it was #1 in the U.K. for 16 weeks, a feat only eclipsed by Frankie Laine’s 18-week run in 1953 with “I Believe.” It was also the biggest pop hit of 1991 in the U.S., CPM topped 28 other countries’ charts, TB and sold more than eight million copies globally to become one of the biggest selling singles of all time. BBC Resources: BBC BBC Radio 2 (2004). “Sold on Song Top 100” BB Billboard (9/08). “All-Time Hot 100” FB Fred Bronson (2007). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (4th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 792. HL Michael Heatley and Spencer Leigh (1998). Behind the Song: The Stories of 100 Great Pop & Rock Classics. Blandford Books: London, UK. Page 40. KL Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh (2005). 1000 UK Number One Hits: The Stories Behind Every Number One Single Since 1952. London, Great Britain: Omnibus Press. Page 370. TB Thunder Bay Press (2006). Singles: Six Decades of Hot Hits & Classic Cuts. Outline Press Ltd.: San Diego, CA. Page 249. CPM Joel Whitburn (1999). A Century of Pop Music. Record Research, Inc.: Menomonee Falls, WI. Page 122. Related Links: First posted 16/29/2012; last updated 4/12/2023.