# Holding Out for a Hero
**Holding Out for a Hero** is a 1984 song recorded by the Welsh singer [Bonnie Tyler](https://www.edgepedia.org/bonnie-tyler) (born Gaynor Hopkins, 1951) for the soundtrack of the film *Footloose*. It was written by [Jim Steinman](https://www.edgepedia.org/jim-steinman), who composed the music and produced the recording, and Dean Pitchford, who wrote the lyrics.[1](https://www.jimsteinman.com/btyler1.htm) • [2](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/bonnie-tyler-holding-out-for-a-hero/) Although its first chart run was weak, a 1985 re-release carried it to No. 2 in the United Kingdom, and a cover by [Jennifer Saunders](https://www.edgepedia.org/jennifer-saunders) as the Fairy Godmother in *Shrek 2* (2004) made it one of the most revived songs of its era.[1](https://www.jimsteinman.com/btyler1.htm) • [3](https://www.whosampled.com/cover/12085/Jennifer-Saunders-Holding-Out-for-a-Hero-Bonnie-Tyler-Holding-Out-for-a-Hero/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Artist | Bonnie Tyler (born Gaynor Hopkins, 1951, Wales)[4](https://www.sonymusic.co.jp/artist/BonnieTyler/profile/) |
| Writers | Music by Jim Steinman, lyrics by Dean Pitchford[5](https://hans-zimmer.com/product/shrek-2/) |
| Producer / label | Jim Steinman; Columbia Records, 1984[1](https://www.jimsteinman.com/btyler1.htm) • [6](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrWhfZl2q8M) |
| Written for | The soundtrack of the film *Footloose* (1984)[2](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/bonnie-tyler-holding-out-for-a-hero/) |
| Chart peaks | UK No. 96 on first release (May 1984); UK No. 2 for three weeks after the 1985 re-release; No. 34 in the United States; No. 19 in Germany[2](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/bonnie-tyler-holding-out-for-a-hero/) • [1](https://www.jimsteinman.com/btyler1.htm) • [7](https://chart-history.net/wp-content/uploads/arch-bonnie-tyler.pdf) • [8](https://www.metal.de/specials/die-10-cover-vs-original-van-canto-coversongs-unter-der-lupe-56738/3/) |
| Best-known cover | Jennifer Saunders as the Fairy Godmother in *Shrek 2* (2004), arranged and produced by Harry Gregson-Williams, co-produced by Paul Oakenfold[3](https://www.whosampled.com/cover/12085/Jennifer-Saunders-Holding-Out-for-a-Hero-Bonnie-Tyler-Holding-Out-for-a-Hero/) • [5](https://hans-zimmer.com/product/shrek-2/) |
| Death of the singer | Tyler died on 8 July 2026 in a hospital in Portugal, aged 75[4](https://www.sonymusic.co.jp/artist/BonnieTyler/profile/) |
## Writing and recording
The commission came from Paramount Studios, which telephoned Tyler's manager and asked whether she would be interested in doing a song for *Footloose*. Tyler agreed on the condition that Steinman could produce it; the studio accepted, but required him to work with Pitchford, the film's screenwriter, who co-wrote the song while Steinman produced.[1](https://www.jimsteinman.com/btyler1.htm) Before recording, Tyler and Steinman attended a preview at Paramount of the scene the song would accompany: a tractor race in which the film's city boy and country boy drive toward each other on a narrow ledge, the winner taking the girl.[1](https://www.jimsteinman.com/btyler1.htm)
Pitchford later described pitching the song to the film's director, [Herbert Ross](https://www.edgepedia.org/herbert-ross), with Steinman at an upright piano rolled into Ross's office. Steinman played the full orchestral part, and, in Pitchford's account, when he finished there was blood on the keyboard; Ross approved the song on the spot.[9](https://www.scottholleran.com/writings/music/interview-writer-composer-dean-pitchford/)
The recording, credited to [Columbia Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/columbia-records), 1984, used a large session roster: Sterling Smith on piano, drums, and synthesizer, Hiram Bullock on guitar, Art Wood on drums, the horn players [Michael Brecker](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-brecker), Alan Rubin, Lew Soloff, Jim Pugh, and Dave Taylor, and background vocals arranged and sung by Rory Dodd, Eric Troyer, and Holly Sherwood, with [Ellen Foley](https://www.edgepedia.org/ellen-foley) also credited as a performance arranger.[6](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrWhfZl2q8M) The single first appeared on Tyler's 1986 album *Secret Dreams and Forbidden Fire*, whose title Steinman had suggested under the name "Ravishing" before Tyler changed it.[1](https://www.jimsteinman.com/btyler1.htm)
## Chart performance
The song's initial chart run was modest. On the UK Official Singles Chart it entered at No. 96 in the week of 5 May 1984 and spent a single week on the chart, on the RCA label with catalog number USSM18300449.[2](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/bonnie-tyler-holding-out-for-a-hero) In the United States it peaked at No. 34.[7](https://chart-history.net/wp-content/uploads/arch-bonnie-tyler.pdf)
The re-release changed the song's standing. Tyler recalled that audiences hearing the song twice a week were going into shops asking where to buy it, so the label re-released it. In her account it became No. 2 for three weeks, and "the only thing that kept it off no. 1 was the fact that Mick Jagger and David Bowie were no. 1 with 'Dancing In The Street.'"[1](https://www.jimsteinman.com/btyler1.htm) In Germany the song reached No. 19.[8](https://www.metal.de/specials/die-10-cover-vs-original-van-canto-coversongs-unter-der-lupe-56738/3/) Decades later it returned to the UK charts through catalog activity: in July 2026 it reached No. 13 on the Official Singles Sales Chart and No. 11 on the Official Singles Downloads Chart.[2](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/bonnie-tyler-holding-out-for-a-hero/)
## The sound
Critics place the song squarely in its decade's style. A German review of covers describes its "typical 80s synth sound" and says it lives largely from Tyler's distinctive husky voice, which sets a high bar for anyone covering it.[8](https://www.metal.de/specials/die-10-cover-vs-original-van-canto-coversongs-unter-der-lupe-56738/3/) [The A.V. Club](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-a-v-club)'s retrospective calls it a collaboration that works by "brute musical force": the lyrics and heavy-handed synths flirt with excess, but Tyler's desperate, strident delivery, begging for a Superman or a "street-wise Hercules," gives the song its effect. The same piece observes that later covers tend to iron out the vocals that Tyler's original tears apart.[10](https://www.avclub.com/bonnie-tyler-s-holding-out-for-a-hero-forces-its-way-1798282105)
## Covers and media use
The song has been covered repeatedly, and a few versions have their own followings.[8](https://www.metal.de/specials/die-10-cover-vs-original-van-canto-coversongs-unter-der-lupe-56738/3/)
- **Shrek 2 (2004).** Jennifer Saunders, who voiced the Fairy Godmother, recorded the song for the film's soundtrack; [Harry Gregson-Williams](https://www.edgepedia.org/harry-gregson-williams) arranged and produced it, with [Paul Oakenfold](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-oakenfold) co-producing.[3](https://www.whosampled.com/cover/12085/Jennifer-Saunders-Holding-Out-for-a-Hero-Bonnie-Tyler-Holding-Out-for-a-Hero/) • [5](https://hans-zimmer.com/product/shrek-2/) The song also appears on the soundtrack in a version by [Frou Frou](https://www.edgepedia.org/frou-frou), the duo of Guy Sigsworth and Imogen Heap.[5](https://hans-zimmer.com/product/shrek-2/) • [11](https://secondhandsongs.com/work/33532/ratings) The Fairy Godmother's sequence, in which the villains' celebration runs against Shrek's castle storming, has been repeatedly reposted with captions calling it one of the great musical moments in film.[12](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-10/bonnie-tyler-shrek-2-hero-heartache-total-eclipse-of-the-heart/106900116)
- **Metal and a cappella versions.** The German a cappella metal band Van Canto recorded it for *Dawn of the Brave* (2014), turning the original's wordless intro into a male choir chant; the same review notes an earlier, poorly received death-metal version by Graveworm.[8](https://www.metal.de/specials/die-10-cover-vs-original-van-canto-coversongs-unter-der-lupe-56738/3/) Other recorded versions cataloged by SecondHandSongs include E.G. Daily (1984), Ella Mae Bowen (2011), and Nothing but Thieves (2015).[11](https://secondhandsongs.com/work/33532/ratings)
Tyler's original has continued to appear in film and games long after 1984. Her official biography lists *Shrek 2* and *Bandits*, the horror film *[The Strangers](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-strangers-film-series): Prey at Night*, and the video games *Battlefield 4* and *Saints Row: The Third* among the works that anchor on the song and "[Total Eclipse of the Heart](https://www.edgepedia.org/total-eclipse-of-the-heart)".[13](https://bonnietyler.com/bio/) In *Footloose* itself the song scores the tractor chicken race between [Kevin Bacon](https://www.edgepedia.org/kevin-bacon)'s Ren and Jim Youngs's Chuck; Bacon later paid tribute to Tyler, saying he "could not imagine chicken racing a tractor to any other song."[12](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-10/bonnie-tyler-shrek-2-hero-heartache-total-eclipse-of-the-heart/106900116)
## Bonnie Tyler
Tyler was born in Wales in 1951 and became known internationally in the late 1970s, reaching No. 1 on both the US and UK charts in 1983 with the Steinman-produced power ballad "Total Eclipse of the Heart".[4](https://www.sonymusic.co.jp/artist/BonnieTyler/profile/) • [14](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/bonnie-tyler-dead-at-75) A 2025 Time retrospective noted that "Holding Out for a Hero" would be her last top 40 hit in America, co-written by Steinman.[15](https://time.com/6961595/total-eclipse-of-the-heart-song-bonnie-tyler-history/) She died on 8 July 2026 in a hospital in Portugal, aged 75.[4](https://www.sonymusic.co.jp/artist/BonnieTyler/profile/)
## References
1. [Bonnie's Secret Dreams, by Bonnie Tyler, Tracks magazine (1986), jimsteinman.com](https://www.jimsteinman.com/btyler1.htm)
2. [HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO – BONNIE TYLER, Official Charts Company](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/bonnie-tyler-holding-out-for-a-hero/)
3. [Jennifer Saunders cover of Bonnie Tyler's 'Holding Out for a Hero', WhoSampled](https://www.whosampled.com/cover/12085/Jennifer-Saunders-Holding-Out-for-a-Hero-Bonnie-Tyler-Holding-Out-for-a-Hero/)
4. [ボニー・タイラー プロフィール, Sony Music Japan](https://www.sonymusic.co.jp/artist/BonnieTyler/profile/)
5. [Shrek 2 soundtrack credits, hans-zimmer.com](https://hans-zimmer.com/product/shrek-2/)
6. [Holding Out for a Hero (From "Footloose" Soundtrack), official YouTube upload with credits](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrWhfZl2q8M)
7. [Chart-History Singles: Bonnie Tyler](https://chart-history.net/wp-content/uploads/arch-bonnie-tyler.pdf)
8. [Cover vs. Original: VAN CANTO Coversongs unter der Lupe, metal.de](https://www.metal.de/specials/die-10-cover-vs-original-van-canto-coversongs-unter-der-lupe-56738/3/)
9. [Interview with Dean Pitchford on 'Fame', 'Footloose' and Hollywood, Scott Holleran](https://www.scottholleran.com/writings/music/interview-writer-composer-dean-pitchford/)
10. [Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out For A Hero" forces its way to greatness, The A.V. Club (2015)](https://www.avclub.com/bonnie-tyler-s-holding-out-for-a-hero-forces-its-way-1798282105)
11. [Best rated performances for Holding Out for a Hero, SecondHandSongs](https://secondhandsongs.com/work/33532/ratings)
12. [How some of Bonnie Tyler's biggest hits made memorable movie scenes, ABC News (2026)](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-10/bonnie-tyler-shrek-2-hero-heartache-total-eclipse-of-the-heart/106900116)
13. [Biography, Bonnie Tyler official site](https://bonnietyler.com/bio/)
14. [Bonnie Tyler dead at 75, Louder](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/bonnie-tyler-dead-at-75)
15. [The Long, Strange History Behind Bonnie Tyler's Epic 'Total Eclipse of the Heart', Time](https://time.com/6961595/total-eclipse-of-the-heart-song-bonnie-tyler-history/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Compositions and songs › Pop, rock, and metal songs › Pop rock songs › 1980s and 1990s pop rock songs*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license