"We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)" is the hit theme song to the 1985 film Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome is a 1985 Australian post-apocalyptic film directed by George Miller and George Ogilvie, written by Miller, Doug Mitchell and Terry Hayes, and starring Mel Gibson and Tina Turner. It is the third installment in the action movie Mad Max franchise...

with Mel Gibson

Mel Gibson

Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art.After appearing in...

 and Tina Turner

Tina Turner

Tina Turner is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have led many to call her the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the...

. The single was recorded by Turner, who played Aunty Entity in the movie. The song was written by Terry Britten

Terry Britten

Terry Britten is a prolific English singer-songwriter, who has written songs for Tina Turner and Sir Cliff Richard, Olivia Newton-John, Status Quo, Michael Jackson and many others.-Career:...

 and Graham Lyle.

"We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)" was released on the heels of Turner's multiplatinum album Private Dancer

Private Dancer

Private Dancer is the fifth solo album by Tina Turner, released on Capitol Records in 1984, which became her breakthrough solo album. Turner's success with the album came after several challenging years of going solo after a public divorce from husband and performing partner Ike Turner. It is her...

. The song's lyrical content is written from the perspective of those being oppressed and not wanting to get their hopes up in yet another "hero" who may or may not save them. The song was released in an extended, six minute-plus 12" version on the soundtrack album

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (soundtrack)

- Musicians :* Tina Turner - lead vocals tracks 1-3* The Kings House School Choir - choir tracks 1, 3* Charlie Morgan - drums tracks 1, 3* Nick Glennie-Smith - keyboards tracks 1, 3* Graham Broad - percussion instruments tracks 1, 3...

.

The song received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song

Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song

Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song was awarded for the first time in 1962 and has been awarded annually since 1965 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.-1960s:...

 in 1986, and a 1986 Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

Music video

The music video features Turner dressed in a heavy chain mail

Chain Mail

"Chain Mail" is a single by Mancunian band James, released in March 1986 by Sire Records, the first after the band defected from Factory Records. The record was released in two different versions, as 7" single and 12" EP, with different artworks by John Carroll and, confusingly, under different...

 gown, more or less as Aunty Entity, the character she played in the movie. As several spotlights shine on her, she proceeds to sing atop a platform while various scenes from the movie are interspersed. In the last portion of the video, Turner's tour saxophonist, percussionist and keyboardist

Keyboardist

A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...

 – Timmy Capello

Tim Capello

Tim Cappello is an American musician, known primarily as a saxophonist, whose work can be heard on the Tina Turner tracks "We Don't Need Another Hero" and "One of the Living" from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, and his cover of The Call's song "I Still Believe" from The Lost Boys.Cappello was born in...

 and a children's choir

Choir

A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...

 accompany her.

The music video received an MTV

MTV

MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

 Video Music Award

MTV Video Music Awards

An MTV Video Music Award , is an award presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in music videos...

 nomination for Best Female Video

MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video

The MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video is one of the original general awards that has been handed out every year since the first annual MTV Video Music Awards in 1984. In 2007, however, the award was briefly renamed Female Artist of the Year, and it awarded the artist's whole body of work...

.

Recording

The song was written and produced by the same people behind Turner's Private Dancer album. Turner was backed by a choral

Choir

A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...

 group from King's House School

King's House School

'King's House School' is an independent day preparatory school in Richmond, England.Founded in 1947, King's House School currently accommodates, as of 2006, 396 boys between the ages of 4 and 13 years.- Present School :...

 in Richmond

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames

The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames is a London borough in South West London, UK, which forms part of Outer London. It is unique because it is the only London borough situated both north and south of the River Thames.-Settlement:...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. One of the choir members who appeared on the record, Lawrence Dallaglio

Lawrence Dallaglio

Lorenzo Bruno Nero "Lawrence" Dallaglio, OBE is a retired English rugby union player and former captain of the English national team. He played as a flanker or number eight for London Wasps and never played for another club, having arrived at Sudbury as a teenager...

, became famous in a totally different field as a rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 star and captain of the England national team

England national rugby union team

The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...

.

Versions and remixes

• 7" edit – 4:16
• 7" instrumental – 4:41
• 12" Extended Mix (Soundtrack album version) – 6:07
• 12" Dub Mix (Soundtrack instrumental version) – 6:30

Chart performance

"We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)" became one of Tina Turner's biggest worldwide hit singles. The single peaked at #2 on the United States Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

, at #3 in the UK and reached #1 in Canada, Australia, Germany, Poland, Spain and Switzerland.

Chart positions

Chart	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... Hot 100	2
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B Songs	3
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...	3
U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock Tracks Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music. Modern rock tracks are counted in the Alternative Songs chart.This chart began with the March 21, 1981, issue...	29
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance/Club Play Hot Dance Club Play The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs...	23
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	3
Germany	1
Australia	1
Switzerland	1
Poland	1
Austria	2
France	3
Canada	1
Norway	2
Sweden	4
New Zealand	2
Netherlands	7
Ireland	2
Italy	2
Spain	1
South Africa	9

Cover versions

The Shadows

The Shadows

The Shadows are a British pop group with a total of 69 UK hit-charted singles: 35 as 'The Shadows' and 34 as 'Cliff Richard and the Shadows', from the 1950s to the 2000s. Cliff Richard in casual conversation with the British rock press frequently refers to the Shadows by their nickname: 'The Shads'...

 did an instrumental version of the song on their 1987 album Simply Shadows.

Shirley Bassey

Shirley Bassey

Dame Shirley Bassey, DBE , is a Welsh singer. She found fame in the late 1950s and was "one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century"...

 covered this song on her 1995 album Sings the Movies

Sings the Movies

Sings the Movies is a studio album from Shirley Bassey released in 1995.In 1995 Shirley Bassey signed a deal with the PolyGram TV label, she recorded and released two albums with the label. The first was a themed album of movie songs...

.

In 1998, the Croatia

Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

n group Vatrogasci

Vatrogasci

Vatrogasci is a Croatian parody rock band formed in 1991 by Tihomir Borošak and Dean Parmak. The Band is known in particular for humorous songs and their often parody specific songs of contemporary musical acts....

 (Firefighters) made a cover of this song in Gypsy life thematic, translating it into the Croatian language

Croatian language

Croatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries...

 and naming it "Daj još jednu", giving it a tamburica/folk music

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

 arrangement.

Swedish singer Regina Lund

Regina Lund

Regina Charlotta Theodora Lund is a Swedish actress and singer. She is the daughter of actress Sonja Lund. Regina is no longer in a relationship with the Swedish rock star Joakim Thåström. She is frequently seen in Swedish magazines with new men by her side. The last in the row is an American...

 has recorded a very soft and toned down version of this song, featured on her album "Year Zero" from 2000.

Jane Child

Jane Child

Jane Child is a Canadian dance-pop singer, producer and musician.-Career:The daughter of Ricky Hyslop, Child joined Canadian Opera Company's children's chorus in her youth....

 made a cover version of this song in 2004, re-titling it "Beyond Thunderdome (We Don't Need Another Hero)".

A cover of this song was released in 2007 from the heavy metal

Heavy metal music

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

 Finnish

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 band Northern Kings

Northern Kings

Northern Kings is a Finnish symphonic metal cover supergroup, made up of four musicians who have already become well known in their existing bands: Jarkko Ahola from Teräsbetoni, ex-Dreamtale, Marco Hietala from Nightwish and Tarot, Tony Kakko from Sonata Arctica and Juha-Pekka Leppäluoto from...

; from their debut album Reborn

Reborn (Northern Kings album)

-Northern Kings:*Marco Hietala - vocals*Tony Kakko - vocals*Jarkko Ahola - vocals*Juha-Pekka Leppäluoto - vocals-Musicians:*Two Finger Choir: Backing Vocals*Vili Ollila: Piano, Keyboards, Programming*Erkka Korhonen: Lead & Rhythm Guitars...

.

"Weird Al" Yankovic

"Weird Al" Yankovic

Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts...

 parodied the song as "We Won't Eat Another Hero". Though he has performed it a few times in concert, this parody was not released as a single.