Music For A Kevin Costner Movie: Bryan Adam's Big Hit

Warner Bros. wasn’t crazy about the power ballad submitted by Canadian singer-songwriter Bryan Adams to run over the closing credits of the 1991 Kevin Costner movie “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.”

“(Everything I Do) I Do It for You” hit No. 1 in the U.S. on July 27, 1991 — 35 years ago Monday — and would remain there for seven weeks.

It would spend 16 weeks at No. 1 in the U.K., sell more than 15 million copies worldwide and win a Grammy Award for best song written specifically for a motion picture or television.

(Everything They Did) They Did For A Big Hit

Canadian singer-songwriter Bryan Adams, American film composer Michael Kamen, and South African record producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange wrote “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You” specifically for the Kevin Costner movie, which was to be released in the summer of 1991.

Adams used a line in the movie, “I do it for you ...” as the basis for the lyric. He said Kamen set up the framework and he and Lange added the middle eight, break, lyrics, outro and arrangement. They had the song written in about an hour.

When it came time to record it in March 1991, though, Adams told Lange — who had previously produced “Back in Black” for AC/DC — that the backing track was too slow. Adams demonstrated by grabbing Lange and trying to dance to the music.

Lange finally agreed but pointed out they were working on a deadline and didn’t have enough time to rerecord it. They decided to speed up the backing track instead. “Anyone who is a musician,” Adams told “Absolute Radio” host Leona Graham, “will note that the song is in C sharp. But it was actually recorded in C and so it has got this strange key for the song ... It is in a key that no other song had ever been in. You would never write a song in C sharp.”

That wasn’t the objection Warner Bros. executives had with “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You.” Because the film was a period piece, they wanted the song to be recorded with instruments that would have been used during Robin Hood’s time: lutes, mandolins and so on. Pressed for time, the studio gave in, but buried the song in the movie’s end credits.

“(Everything I Do) I Do It for You” would be nominated for two Grammy Awards including record of the year and the Academy Award for best original song. It would spend seven weeks at No. 1 in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100 and 16 consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart. That’s still the longest uninterrupted run on the U.K. chart.

Adams' Other No. 1 Singles

Heaven - Hit No . 1: June 22, 1985.

2 Weeks At No. 1

Adams wrote the lyrics for this song, which was composed by Jim Vallance for a 1983 movie about a male stripper, called “A Night In Heaven.” Their song was a power ballad, but in 2002, DJ Sammy recorded a dance version that was a No. 1 hit in the U.K. and peaked at No. 8 in the U.S.

“It's always interesting to hear how other people interpret your music,” Adams told SongFacts. “Sometimes, like this version, they connect.”

All For Love (With Rod Stewart And Sting) - Hit No 1: Jan. 22, 1994

3 Weeks At No. 1

Three years after their success with the song for a Kevin Costner movie, Adams, Lange, and Kamen teamed up again for a song for “The Three Musketeers.” The title was inspired by the Musketeers motto, “All for one, and one for all.”

A year later, Adams released a live version featuring Luciano Pavarotti, Andrea Bocelli, Nancy Gustafson, and Giorgia Todrani.

Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman? Hit No. 1: June 3, 1995

5 Weeks At No. 1

This song, too, was featured in a movie: “Don Juan DeMarco,” starring Johnny Depp.

After this song came out, women’s groups contacted Adams which resulted in his publishing a book of his photography work to benefit breast cancer research.

Among the models featured in the 1995 book: Shania Twain, Alanis Morissette, Celine Dion, and Neve Campbell.

Bryan Adams' Top 40 Singles Chart History