Hero (Mariah Carey song)
| "Hero" | ||
|---|---|---|
| Missing image Mariahcareysingle_hero.jpg Image:Mariahcareysingle_hero.jpg | ||
| Single by Mariah Carey | ||
| From the album Music Box | ||
| Single Released | 1993 | |
| Single Format | CD Single CD Maxi Single Cassette Single Cassette Maxi Single 7" Single | |
| Genre | Pop | |
| Song Length | 4:17 | |
| Record label | Sony | |
| Writers | Mariah Carey Walter Afanasieff | |
| Producers | Mariah Carey Walter Afanasieff | |
| Video Director | Larry Jordan | |
| Chart positions | #1 (USA) #7 (UK) | |
| Mariah Carey single chronology | ||
| "Dreamlover" 1993 | "Hero" 1993 | "Without You" 1994 |
"Hero" was the second single from Mariah Carey's fourth album, Music Box, released in 1993.
| Contents |
The Song
The single was co-written and co-produced by Mariah and Walter Afanasieff. The song is one of Mariah's signature songs, and is probably her best known work. This universally inspirational anthem has Mariah reminding us all that we even though we may feel stupid or down at times, in reality, we are all "heroes" if we look inside ourselves and see our own inner strength.
"Hero" was originally not even supposed to have been recorded by Mariah. In 1993, Mariah and Afanasieff had been asked by producers of the movie, Hero, starring Dustin Hoffman, to write a song for the movie's soundtrack with the song to be sung by Latin diva Gloria Estefan. However, during the studio sessions and recordings of "Hero", Mariah's then husband and boss, Tommy Mottola, heard of the track and encouraged Mariah to save it for herself. Initially, Mariah was not too pleased, as she had written the lyrics of the song for someone else, and made them, in her own words "schmaltzy". Nevertheless, Mariah now seems proud of the song as she often receives mail from fans who tell her that this song saved them from suicide.
Parts of "Hero" would later be incorporated into the "Never Too Far/Hero Medley" released in 2001.
Lawsuit
"Hero" also faced one of the most infamous songwriting/copyright plagiarism cases of all time. Christopher Selletti, a former limo driver for Sly Stone, claimed that the lyrics of the song were based on a poem that he showed Sly in 1991 (and he believed that Sly in turn showed the lyrics to Mariah). Mariah defended herself with entries from her personal lyrics notebook. However, it was noted that the lyrics from Mariah's notebook were dated six weeks after the movie Hero had come out. Nevertheless, the 20 million dollar lawsuit was evantually dismissed, and Selletti was forced to pay a fine to Mariah. Years later, Selleti would try a new lawsuit which was was once again dismissed. Selleti has stated that he will try a third time, although when he will do it is not publicly known yet. Legal experts of the case have criticized the trial as unfair, as they felt that Mariah employed top lawyers to overpower Selleti, and also because of the time discrepencies involving the notebook.
Chart Success
Controversy aside, "Hero" proved to be a big hit and went to onto become Mariah's 8th #1 single on the Billboard Hot 100. It became another international hit, just like "Dreamlover" did. The single's first week at #1 was in the final week of 1993, but it topped the charts for the first 3 weeks of 1994, allowing Mariah to claim the record of having a #1 single every year from 1990—2000, as other singles released by Carey during 1994, failed to top the charts.
The song debuted at #71, and 9 weeks later it climbed to the top of the charts. (This was a rather slow climb considering the rapid climb of "Dreamlover" and the high debuting of "I'll Be There"). "Hero" topped the charts for 4 weeks; although "Dreamlover" hit #1 for 8 weeks, "Hero" had more intense competition being released in the festive season. Despite this it was still able to become Carey's first Christmas number one single in the US. It spent 30 weeks on the Hot 100—one more than "Dreamlover"— and 24 of these were in the Top 40. "Hero" spent 14 weeks alone in the Top 10, the longest stay in the Top 10 by a Carey single to date.
On the component charts, the song spent a staggering 10 weeks at #1 on the Hot 100 Airplay Chart and hit #2 on The Hot 100 Singles Sales Chart, but despite not topping the chart, it still sold enough to achieve Platinum certification. Thanks to "Dreamlover" & "Hero", Mariah had spent 21 weeks on top of the airplay charts from the summer of 1993 to spring of 1994. This made her one of the played artists on the radio across these two years.
"Hero" became a major international hit, gaining respectable Top 10 peaks in the UK & Australia. It became her first Brazillian chart topper since her debut single. Its success across Continental Europe was greater than that of "Dreamlover"'s, however what is rather inexplainable is its peak of #10 in Canada. Carey had accumulated 4 #1 singles in Canada up to that point and with the global success of "Hero", for it to fail in a market where Carey generally achieved more success than in all others but the United States itself, the low peak was a shock.
Awards
"Hero" was nominated for the the 1995 Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, but lost.
Music Video
The music video of the song is straightforward and derived from Mariah's 1993 concert at Proctor Theatre, which was later released as the television special/home video known as Here Is Mariah Carey. Despite being nothing more than a recording of a live performance, the video is often noted for its cinematography, especially its usage of a high film stock and intimate shots of the audience responding to Mariah in awe.
Remixes
There are no remixes for this song. However, the live performance of the track, as performed at Proctor Theathre was officially released. Portions of the song have been released in remixed form as the Never Too Far/Hero Medley has been remixed.
Comprehensive Charts
"Hero" Debuted at #71 on The Billboard Hot 100
"Hero" Was Ranked #13 on The Billboard Hot 100 Year End Charts (1991)
"Hero" Remained in The Billboard Hot 100 for 30 weeks
"Hero" was Mariah's 8th #1 single on The Billboard Hot 100
"Hero" was Mariah's 8th #1 single on The Billboard Hot 100 Airplay
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | "Hero” | Billboard Hot 100 | #1 (4 Weeks) |
| 1993 | "Hero" | Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales | #2 |
| 1993 | "Hero" | Billboard Hot 100 Airplay | #1 (10 Weeks) |
| 1993 | "Hero" | Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks | #5 |
| 1993 | "Hero" | Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales | #4 |
| 1993 | "Hero" | Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Airplay | #10 |
| 1993 | "Hero" | Billboard Adult Contemporary Singles | #2 |
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | "Hero" | UK Singles Chart | #7 |
| 1993 | "Hero" | Canadian Singles Chart | #10 |
| 1993 | "Hero" | ARIA Singles Chart | #7 |
| 1993 | "Hero" | Germany Singles Chart | #58 |
| 1993 | "Hero" | France Top 100 Singles | #5 |
| 1993 | "Hero" | Brazil Singles Chart | #1 (4 weeks) |
Official Remixes/Versions List
Hero (Album Version)
Hero (Live) (Edited Performance From Here Is Mariah Carey)
Heroe (Album Version) (Spanish Version Of Hero)