Holding Out For A Hero

It later featured on her sixth studio album, Secret Dreams and Forbidden Fire (1986). The track was produced by Jim Steinman, who co-wrote the song with Dean Pitchford and was a top 40 hit in several European countries, as well as Canada and the United States. Its 1985 re-release in the United Kingdom reached number two (remaining there for three weeks) and topped the singles chart in Ireland.

"Holding Out for a Hero"
Single by Bonnie Tyler
from the album Footloose: Original Soundtrack of the Paramount Motion Picture and Secret Dreams and Forbidden Fire
B-side	"Faster Than the Speed of Night"
Released	January 1984 (US) April 1984 (UK)
Genre	Pop power pop
Length	6:21 (extended version) 5:50 (album version) 4:22 (single edit)
Label	CBS Columbia
Composer(s)	Jim Steinman
Lyricist(s)	Dean Pitchford
Producer(s)	Jim Steinman
Bonnie Tyler singles chronology
"A Rockin' Good Way (to Mess Around and Fall in Love)" (1984) "Holding Out for a Hero" (1984) "Here She Comes" (1984)
Music video
"Holding Out for a Hero" on YouTube

Paramount Pictures asked Tyler to record a song for the soundtrack to the 1984 film Footloose. She agreed on the condition that Jim Steinman, who was her producer at the time through CBS/Columbia, could work with her on the project. Steinman wrote the song with Dean Pitchford, who co-wrote every song on the soundtrack album. Tyler was invited to the Paramount film studios in Los Angeles to watch the film rushes to see how "Holding Out for a Hero" would fit into the plot.

"Holding Out for a Hero" shares numerous musical elements with "Stark Raving Love", a track from Steinman's solo album Bad for Good (1981), including the piano riff and vocal harmonies.

In a retrospective review, The A.V. Club's William Hughes stated that the song "displays some of the worst of its decade's (and composer's) typical excesses: The lyrics are laughable, and the heavy-handed synths and piano riffs come dangerously close to cheese", but adds, "The sum of those parts transcends their limitations, hooking directly into pure emotional need like only the greatest of torch songs can."

Writing in Metal Hammer, Paul Stenning described the song as "the ultimate pop anthem", stating "Only Jim Steinman can get away with such bombastic overtones, in this case the perfect coupling with Tyler's inimitable voice."

The accompanying music video for "Holding Out for a Hero" was produced by Jeffrey Abelson for Parallax Productions, directed by Doug Dowdle, with the concept by Keith Williams. It was filmed at the Grand Canyon, Arizona, and at Veluzat Ranch, California. It was the second video released to promote Footloose while featuring no movie footage in the video.

The video sees Tyler escaping from a burning house; the video is set primarily in the vicinity of the burning house and on the edge of the Grand Canyon – interspersed with shots of angelic background singers in white dresses. Evil cowboys dressed in black, carrying neon whips appear before Tyler, threatening her; a cowboy hero dressed in white, brandishing a revolver, appears on horseback and the evil cowboys flee on horseback, with the hero in pursuit. As the song fades out, the hero cowboy appears in front of Tyler.

Tyler was later featured in a parody of the video by David Copperfield.

Two recorded performances of "Holding Out for a Hero" have been released on Tyler's concert DVDs Bonnie on Tour (2006) and Live in Germany 1993 (2011), and their respective CD editions.

Re-Recordings

Tyler released re-recordings of the song in 2004 and 2011. In 2013, she recorded a parody of the song for use in a Children in Need fundraising campaign.

Movie usage

In 1988, the song featured in Short Circuit 2, a science fiction comedy film. It was used during a chase scene as Johnny 5 was running low on battery and modified himself into a 1980s punk.

In 2004, Jennifer Saunders covered the song for the DreamWorks animated film Shrek 2, where the Fairy Godmother sings it in the film's climax. A second cover of the song by Frou Frou plays over the film's end credits.

In 2021, the song was noted for its appearances in a trailer for Masters of the Universe: Revelation, another trailer for the Guardians of the Galaxy video game, and in the second episode of the Disney+ series Loki, all of which premiered in the same week. This led to a significant increase in downloads and streams, and a placement atop Billboard’s Top TV Songs Chart. In 2023's Shazam! Fury of the Gods, as a lady's car is playing this song, it begins to plunge off a bridge. Captain Marvel catches the car, and tells the woman, "No way, shut up! Did I just save you while you were listening to this song?"

In 2022, the song was covered in Japanese for the film Bullet Train.^{[citation needed]}

In 2023, the song was used in The Super Mario Bros. Movie in the scene where Peach trains Mario.

Other media appearances

At the 2001 Miss Gay Black America pageant, Tandi Iman Dupree and her dance partner Dee St. James performed a routine to the song. During the performance, Dupree was dressed as Wonder Woman, with St. James dressed as Superman. Dupree notably entered the performance by dropping from the ceiling, landing on the stage in a split. In 2009, this video was uploaded to YouTube, where it went viral.

• 1984 7" single

1. "Holding Out for a Hero" – 4:22
2. "Faster Than the Speed of Night" – 4:40

• 1984 12" single

1. "Holding Out for a Hero" (Extended Remix) – 6:19
2. "Holding Out for a Hero" (Instrumental) – 5:15
3. "Faster Than the Speed of Night" – 4:40

• 1991 12"/CD single

1. "Holding Out for a Hero" – 4:41
2. "Faster Than the Speed of Night" – 4:40
3. "Total Eclipse of the Heart" – 6:49

• Bonnie Tyler – lead vocals
• Jim Steinman – producer
• John Jansen – associate producer
• Greg Edward, Arthur Payson, Neil Dorfsman – recording, mixing
• Greg Calbi – mastering
• Sterling Smith – piano, synthesizer, Linn drums
• Hiram Bullock – guitar
• John Philip Shenale – programming, synthesizer
• Art Wood – Simmons and Linn drums
• Tom "Bones" Malone – trombone, horn arrangements
• Michael Brecker – tenor saxophone
• Alan Rubin – trumpet
• Lew Soloff – trumpet
• Jim Pugh – trombone
• Dave Taylor – bass trombone
• Rory Dodd, Eric Thayer, Holly Sherwood – background vocalists, vocal arrangement
• Ellen Foley – additional vocal arrangement

Monthly charts