Hero (Chad Kroeger song)

"Hero"
Single by Chad Kroeger and Josey Scott
from the album Music from and Inspired by Spider-Man
B-side "Invisible Man"
Released March 1, 2002 (2002-03-01)
(see release history)
Format
Recorded 2001–02
Genre Alternative rock
Length 3:20 (with orchestral background)
3:09 (with strings omitted)
Label
Writer(s)
Producer(s) Chad Kroeger
Chad Kroeger singles chronology
"Hero"
(2002)		 "Why Don't You & I"
(2004)
Alternative Cover
iTunes Cover

"Hero" is a song recorded by Chad Kroeger and Josey Scott (then lead vocalist of Saliva) for the soundtrack to the 2002 film, Spider-Man. It was written by Kroeger, Scott, and Tyler Connolly and recorded specifically for the film. "Hero" was released through Roadrunner Records on March 1, 2002 as the soundtrack's lead single.[1] The song serves as Kroeger's debut solo release.

There are two widely-available versions of the song: one with an orchestral background and one without. Tyler Connolly (lead singer/guitarist of Theory of a Deadman), Mike Kroeger (bassist of Nickelback) and Matt Cameron (drummer of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden) appear on the recording. In addition to its digital release, "Hero" was distributed internationally in various CD single and maxi single formats. Theory of a Deadman's "Invisible Man" was included on many of these releases.

"Hero" experienced worldwide commercial success, peaking in the top 10 of record charts in Austria, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The song also topped the US Billboard Mainstream Rock and Modern Rock airplay charts. It was nominated for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media; Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal; and Best Rock Song at the 45th Grammy Awards (2003).[2]

Background

The song was the result of a collaboration between Kroeger and Scott. Scott told Yahoo!'s entertainment news service LAUNCH, "(Kroeger) had the idea for the song 'Hero,' so I came up to Vancouver and met him. He pitched me the idea, and I thought that was pretty dope. Real dope. So we sort of tweaked it, together, laid down some harmonies on it, and played everything from congas to acoustics on it."

Matt Cameron, who played drums on the track, did not appear in the music video and cited "family issues" as the reason. He was replaced with Our Lady Peace drummer Jeremy Taggart.

Alice in Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell was originally picked to play the lead solo (later played by Connolly) but pulled out because he was concentrating on his solo album. He did, however, contribute to the soundtrack the song "She Was My Girl".

Music video

The music video consists of the group, except for Matt Cameron, performing on a building's rooftop purportedly in New York City, with footage of the movie spliced in between, and was directed by Nigel Dick. It was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia on March 24, 2002 and premiered on March 28.[3]

The song has won Best Video from a Film at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards.[4]

Critical reception

Reviewing the song for NME, Imran Ahmed was critical of Kroeger's "predictability" and drew a strong comparison to "How You Remind Me", Nickelback's 2001 international breakthrough, calling the formula for both "Commercial grunge + MOR sensibility = Nu-MOR hit."[5]

Chart performance

The song was a cross-genre hit in mid-2002, peaking at number one on the Billboard Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock charts, number three on the Billboard Hot 100, and also winning considerable airplay at pop radio, peaking at number two and five, respectively, on the Mainstream Top 40 and Adult Top 40 charts.

Track listings

Digital download (single)[1]
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Hero"  
 3:20
Digital download (album version)[6]
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Hero" (motion picture version)
  • Kroeger
  • Scott
  • Connolly
 3:19

CD single[7]
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Hero" (motion picture version)
  • Kroeger
  • Scott
  • Connolly
 3:19
2. "Hero" (radio version)
  • Kroeger
  • Scott
  • Connolly
 3:09
3. "Invisible Man"  
  • Kroeger
  • Connolly
 2:40
Total length:
 9:08


Personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2002) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[8] 17
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[9] 8
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[10] 19
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[11] 26
Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)[12] 1
Denmark (Tracklisten)[13] 3
France (SNEP)[14] 27
Germany (Official German Charts)[15] 8
Ireland (IRMA)[16] 2
Italy (FIMI)[17] 11
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[18] 34
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[19] 10
Romania (Romanian Top 100)[20] 19
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[21] 7
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[22] 8
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[23] 4
US Billboard Hot 100[24] 3
US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)[25] 5
US Alternative Songs (Billboard)[26] 1
US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[27] 2
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[28] 1

Year end charts

Chart (2002) Position
Australia (ARIA)[29] 83
US Billboard Hot 100[30] 25
US Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks (Billboard)[30] 19
US Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks (Billboard)[30] 12
US Hot Mainstream Top 40 Tracks (Billboard)[30] 21
Preceded by
"Seein' Red" by Unwritten Law		 Billboard Modern Rock Tracks number-one single
June 8–29, 2002 		Succeeded by
"By the Way" by Red Hot Chili Peppers
Preceded by
"I Stand Alone" by Godsmack		 Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks number-one single
June 15–22, 2002 		Succeeded by
"Drift & Die" by Puddle of Mudd

Release history

Country Date Format Label Ref.
Worldwide March 1, 2002 Digital download Roadrunner [1]
Canada May 20, 2002 CD single [31]
Various May 28, 2002 Sony [32]
United Kingdom June 10, 2002 Maxi single Roadrunner [33]
United States CD single [34]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Amazon.com: Hero (feat. Josey Scott): Chad Kroeger (featuring Josey Scott): MP3 Downloads". Amazon Music. Amazon.com. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Complete list of Grammy nominees; ceremony set for Feb. 23". SFGate. Hearst Corporation. January 8, 2003. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  3. ↑ Wiederhorn, Jon (March 28, 2002). "Nickelback, Saliva, Pearl Jam Members Make 'Hero' Sandwich For Spidey". MTV. Viacom. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  4. ↑ "MTV Video Music Awards | 2002 | Highlights, Winners, Performers and Photos from the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards". MTV.com. 2002-08-29. Retrieved 2012-02-21.
  5. ↑ Amhed, Imran (September 12, 2005). "Chad Kroeger : Hero - NME". NME. Time Inc. UK. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Amazon.com: Hero (Motion Picture Version): Chad Kroeger Feat. Josey Scott: MP3 Downloads". Amazon Music. Amazon.com. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Chad (Ft Josey S) Kroeger - Hero - Amazon.com Music". Amazon Music. Amazon.com. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Australian-charts.com – Chad Kroeger feat. Josey Scott – Hero". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Chad Kroeger feat. Josey Scott – Hero" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Chad Kroeger feat. Josey Scott – Hero" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  11. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Chad Kroeger feat. Josey Scott – Hero" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Hot Canadian Digital Songs : May 18, 2002". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  13. ↑ "Danishcharts.com – Chad Kroeger feat. Josey Scott – Hero". Tracklisten. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Chad Kroeger feat. Josey Scott – Hero" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  15. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Chad Kroeger feat. Josey Scott – Hero". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  16. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Hero". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – Chad Kroeger feat. Josey Scott – Hero". Top Digital Download. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  18. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Chad Kroeger feat. Josey Scott search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  19. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Chad Kroeger feat. Josey Scott – Hero". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  20. ↑ Romanian peak at the Wayback Machine (archived February 16, 2005)
  21. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Chad Kroeger feat. Josey Scott – Hero". Singles Top 100. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  22. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Chad Kroeger feat. Josey Scott – Hero". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  23. ↑ "Chad Kroeger: Artist Chart History" Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  24. ↑ "Chad Kroeger – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Chad Kroeger. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  25. ↑ "Chad Kroeger – Chart history" Billboard Adult Pop Songs for Chad Kroeger. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  26. ↑ "Chad Kroeger – Chart history" Billboard Alternative Songs for Chad Kroeger. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  27. ↑ "Chad Kroeger – Chart history" Billboard Pop Songs for Chad Kroeger. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  28. ↑ "Chad Kroeger – Chart history" Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs for Chad Kroeger. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  29. ↑ "ARIA End Of Year Singles 2002". ARIA Charts. ARIA. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  30. 1 2 3 4 Billboard (114 ed.). Prometheus Global Media. December 28, 2002. pp. YE–38, YE–87, YE–97. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  31. ↑ "Hero: Chad Kroeger: Amazon.ca: Music". Amazon Music. Amazon.ca. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  32. ↑ "Hero - Chad Kroeger | Release Info". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  33. ↑ "Hero by Chad Kroeger, Josey Scott: Amazon.co.uk: Music". Amazon Music. Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  34. ↑ "Chad Kroeger - Hero (Enhanced) - Amazon.com Music". Amazon Music. Amazon.com. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
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