More than 30 years after Bryan Adams’ (Everything I Do) I Do It For You dominated the UK Singles Chart for a record-breaking 16 consecutive weeks, the Canadian rocker says it’s only a matter of time before someone else takes the crown.
Speaking to Classic Pop magazine, Adams was candid about the longevity of his 1991 smash, which featured in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and became a global phenomenon. But despite its long run at Number One, he’s under no illusions.
“Oh, sure it can,” he said when asked if the record might ever be broken. “I mean there’s been people that are already close.”
Drake came within touching distance in 2016 when One Dance ruled the UK chart for 15 weeks. But no one has quite managed to overtake Adams’ chart feat… yet.
Still, he admits the scale of the song’s success took him by surprise.
“I had no idea, but I knew that [producer] Mutt [Lange] did, because I remember him pulling into the studio one day and he said, ‘You know what? This song really has an international melody.’ And those words stuck with me because he was so right. There wasn’t a country in the world that didn’t play that song afterwards.”
“When he was producing it, he was thinking global. Hats off to both Mutt and Michael Kamen, because they’re the ones that were really the geniuses behind it.”
New album ‘Roll With The Punches’ lands next month
Now 65, Adams is still writing, recording and performing. His new album Roll With The Punches is due next month, and he revealed how its title track set the tone for the whole record.
“The tap doesn’t necessarily go off. Then one day something will happen, like Roll With The Punches will come together, and that becomes the cornerstone song for an album. You know it right away, as soon as you get that particular song.”
“It’s happened to me umpteen times on records. In fact, every album has one sort of signature track, and I thought, ‘Oh yeah, that’s the beginning of a record.’ So then you have your direction.”
Adams has sold over 75 million records worldwide, with chart success spanning five decades. Whether or not someone beats his UK record, he’s already made his mark.
