TPO 3: HERO
"Hero" is a single released by Enrique Iglesias from his second English album Escape and was written for his good friend Simon Baxendale, by Iglesias, Paul Barry and Mark Taylor. Enrique first released the song to radio in early September 2001 to a positive critical and commercial reception. After the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center, the song was one of the few songs chosen by radio DJs in New York to be remixed with audio from police, firefighters, civilians at Ground Zero and politicians commenting on the attacks. He was asked to sing the song live at the benefit concert America: A Tribute to Heroes ten days after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Iglesias broadcast his performance from a warehouse in New York alongside Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, and Sheryl Crow. The location of the warehouse was kept secret in case of further attacks. It was Iglesias' first televised performance of the song. He had performed the song earlier at that year's Miss Venezuela but due to the terrorist attacks the show was not aired on television.
Track listing
- UK CD1
- "Hero" (album version) - 4:24
- "Hero" (Metro mix - English version) - 3:28
- "Bailamos" (album version) - 3:37
- "Hero" (video) - 4:24
- UK CD2 - the remixes
- "Hero" (Metro mix - English version) - 3:28
- "Hero" (Ventura & Colombo remix) - 7:04
- "Hero" (Metro mix - Spanish version) - 3:28
- "Hero" (Thunderpuss radio edit) - 3:36
- DE CD single
- "Hero" (radio edit) - 4:13
- "Be With You" (Thunderpuss radio mix) - 3:56
- "Heroe" (Spanish Metro mix) - 4:17
- Japanese CD single
- "Hero" (radio edit) - 4:11
- "Be With You" (Thunderpuss 2000 remix) - 7:46
- "Hero" (Metro mix - Spanish version) - 3:28
Music videos
The music video for "Hero" was directed by Joseph Kahn and features Iglesias as an honorable criminal hunted by his enemies. Jennifer Love Hewitt plays his love interest, while Mickey Rourke plays one of the men hunting him. The video follows a Bonnie and Clyde-esque plot with Iglesias and Hewitt running from their enemies in the desert. Finally, Iglesias' enemies track him down and confront him outside a church. The confrontation leads to Iglesias being floored by Rourke, before being struck with a baton. The video skips ahead where we see Iglesias and Hewitt in the rain surrounded by police cars. Iglesias clutches his torso, implying that he'd been shot. The video ends with Iglesias' death. However, it is assumed that the police caught Rourke. In addition to this video a second video was made for the UK with less violence. The final shot of this video shows Iglesias' legs are moving, suggesting that he lives. While originally made for the UK this video has since replaced the original video on many music video stations throughout the world.
Chart performance
The song topped many charts in the US including the Billboard adult contemporary chart for fifteen weeks.[1] On the latter, the song would re-enter the top ten a year later, the first song ever to do so. The song peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart,[1] though it is actually his most played song on the chart, outdoing prior singles "Bailamos" and "Be With You", both of which went to number one on the chart. A remixed recording also topped the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart in December 2001. In February 2002 the song was released in the UK, where it went straight to number one for four weeks, becoming one of the biggest hits of the year there. Up to this point Iglesias had already had two hits in the UK but was largely unknown. Hero was seen as a breakthrough for Iglesias in the UK and Escape became one of the best selling albums of that year. With sales to date of 836,5000, "Hero" stands as the 17th best-selling single of the 2000s in the UK. In Australia, the song reached number one on the ARIA Chart, becoming his first number-one in that country.
| End of year chart (2002) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia Top 100 Single | 9[2] |
| US Billboard Hot 100[3] | 22 |
| Chart (2000–2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia Top 100 Songs of the Decade | 45[4] |
| UK Top 100 Songs of the Decade | 17[5] |
| Danish Singles Chart [6] | 5 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 3 |
| US Billboard Adult Contemporary | 1 |
Certifications
| Country | Certification | Date | Sales certified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Germany [7] | Gold | 2001 | 250,000 + |
Cultural impact
The song was prominently featured in the season three Scrubs episode "My Friend the Doctor". This song was also featured in the 2008 film, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, and the 2010 film,Hot Tub Time Machine.
See also
- List of Canadian number-one singles of 2001–07
- List of number-one Billboard Hot Latin Tracks of 2001
- List of number-one dance singles of 2001 (U.S.)
- List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 2001 and 2002 (U.S.)
- List of number-one singles in Australia in 2002
- List of number-one singles of 2002 (Ireland)
- List of number-one singles in Romania
- List of number-one singles from the 2000s (UK)
References
- ^ a b Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications)
- ^ "ARIA Charts - End of Year Charts - Top 100 Singles 2002". Aria.com.au. Retrieved 2011-02-22.
- ^ "Billboard Top 100 - 2002". Retrieved 2011-03-12.
- ^ http://www.aria.com.au/pages/documents/2000sDecadeChartssingles.pdf
- ^ Radio 1 Official Chart of the Decade, as broadcast on BBC Radio 1 on Tuesday 29th December 2009, presented by Nihal
- ^ Steffen Hung. "Danish charts portal". danishcharts.com. Retrieved 2011-02-22.
- ^ "Gold/Platin–Datenbank [Gold/Platinum Database]" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.

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