The song was an enormous chart success internationally,reaching the number-one position on the music charts of at least nineteen countries,notable exceptions in the Western World being Italy (number three) and Spain (number four). It is particularly notable for its success in the United Kingdom,where it spent sixteen consecutive weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart,the longest uninterrupted run ever on that chart as of 2025. It also topped the Europe-wide sales chart for eighteen continuous weeks. In the United States,it topped the Billboard Hot 100,which combines radio airplay and sales,for seven weeks,but stayed at number one for seventeen consecutive weeks on the sales-only chart.[3] It went on to sell more than 15 million copies worldwide,making it Adams's most successful song,and one of the best-selling singles of all time.[4] The song has been covered by hundreds of singers and artists around the world.
Background
The musicians on the original recording are Adams on lead vocals,backing vocals and rhythm guitar,Bill Payne (piano),Mickey Curry (drums),Larry Klein (bass),Keith Scott (lead guitar and backing vocals),Robbie King (organ),and Mutt Lange (synthesizers). The song was based on the film's love theme by Kamen,"Maid Marian".[5] The song was written in London,UK at the studio Adams was working at in 1990,and he and Lange wrote it in 45 minutes,recording it the following March,and releasing it three months later.[6] The song is performed in the key of D♭ major.[7]
Commercial performance
In the United Kingdom,"(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" had the longest unbroken run at number one,spending sixteen consecutive weeks at the top of the UK Singles Chart from July 7,1991,to October 27 when it dropped to number four,[8] surpassing the record 11 weeks set by Slim Whitman's hit single "Rose Marie" in 1955.[9] Adams' achievement was celebrated by Whitman in November 1991,when he joined Adams on stage at Wembley Arena to sing "Rose Marie",after which he presented Adams with a plaque commemorating the achievement.[10] "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" also topped the Europe-wide sales chart for eighteen continuous weeks,still an all-time record,and topped the European-wide radio airplay chart for ten weeks.[11]
In the United States,the power ballad[12] spent seven weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100,which combines radio airplay and sales,the longest running number one song since 1983,and seventeen consecutive weeks at number one on the sales-only chart,which at the time set the all-time record for consecutive weeks at one.[3]Billboard ranked it as the number-one pop song for 1991.[13] It also held the number one spot on the US Adult Contemporary Chart for eight consecutive weeks,the longest run atop that chart since 1979,and was the number one song of the year on that chart.[14]
"(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" also spent nine weeks atop the singles chart in Adams's native Canada,[15] eleven weeks atop the Australian Singles Chart,and twelve weeks atop the Sweden Singles Chart. In most of the countries which hit ascended to number one,it was the number one song for the year 1991,exceptions being Germany (number two),Austria (number two) and Switzerland (number three).
Music videos
The official music video for the song was directed by British film,documentary and music video director Julien Temple.[16] It shows Adams and his band performing the song in a forest with a silk mill in the background,and Adams alone performing on a rocky beachside,intercut with scenes from Robin Hood:Prince of Thieves. The video was filmed in a forest with the derelict silk mill near Holford in the Quantock Hills and on a beach with geological cliff formations near Kilve,Somerset.[17][18] A video was also commissioned for a live version of the song,directed by Andy Morahan.[19]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
American singer Brandy rerecorded "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" for the standard version of her second studio album, Never Say Never (1998). Producer David Foster reworked the arrangement of the original song, with Dean Parks playing the acoustic guitar.
In 1999, her cover version was released as the album's final single on a double A-side with "U Don't Know Me" on the Oceanic music market, where it reached the top 30 of New Zealand's RIANZ singles chart. That same year, she performed the song live at VH1 Divas Live '99 alongside Faith Hill.
↑ Michael Kamen; Bryan Adams; Robert John 'Mutt' Lange (March 9, 2009). "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You". Musicnotes.com. Archived from the original on April 21, 2021. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
↑ "1991 Top 100 Singles". Music Week. London, England: Spotlight Publications. January 11, 1992. p.20.
↑ "1991 The Year in Music"(PDF). Billboard. Vol.103, no.51. December 21, 1991. p.YE-36. Archived(PDF) from the original on August 17, 2021. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
↑ "Top 100 – Decenniumlijst: 90s". Dutch Top 40 (in Dutch). Stichting Nederlandse Top 40. Archived from the original on December 18, 2014. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
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