"Working Class Man" is a song performed and made famous by Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n singer Jimmy Barnes

Jimmy Barnes

James Dixon Swan , better known as Jimmy Barnes, is a Scottish-born Australian rock singer-songwriter. His father Jim Swan was a prizefighter and his older brother John Swan is also a rock singer. It was actually John who had encouraged and taught Jim how to sing as he wasn't really interested at...

. It was written by Journey

Journey (band)

Journey is an American rock band formed in 1973 in San Francisco by former members of Santana. The band has gone through several phases; its strongest commercial success occurred between the 1978 and 1987, after which it temporarily disbanded...

 keyboardist Jonathan Cain

Jonathan Cain

Jonathan Cain is an American musician, best known for his work with The Babys, Journey and Bad English.-Early life:...

. "Working Class Man" is generally considered Barnes' signature song

Signature song

A signature song is the one song that a popular and well-established singer or band is most closely identified with or best known for, even if they have had success with a variety of songs...

 as a solo artist.

The song first appeared on the 1985 album For the Working Class Man

For the Working Class Man

For the Working Class Man is the second studio album by Australian rock singer Jimmy Barnes, released in 1985. The album was released in the United States on Geffen as Jimmy Barnes. It was re-released in 2005 in a special 20th anniversary edition, CD/DVD box set...

and was the first single released from the album. The single spent 14 weeks in the Australian charts, entering at #21 peaking at #5. It also spend 7 weeks in the New Zealand charts, peaking at #34.

It was later played over the credits of the 1986 Ron Howard

Ron Howard

Ronald William "Ron" Howard is an American actor, director, and producer. He came to prominence as a child actor, playing Opie Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show for eight years, and later the teenaged Richie Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days for six years...

 film Gung Ho

Gung Ho (film)

Gung Ho is a 1986 Ron Howard comedy film, released by Paramount Pictures, and starring Michael Keaton and Gedde Watanabe. The film's story portrayed the takeover of an American car plant by a Japanese corporation...

, where in some countries, including Australia, the film was released as Working Class Man. Barnes also performed "Working Class Man" at the closing ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games

2000 Summer Olympics

The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...

.

Working Class Anthem

At the 2003 Melbourne Comedy Festival, comedian Adam Hills performed a popular version of Australia's national anthem

National anthem

A national anthem is a generally patriotic musical composition that evokes and eulogizes the history, traditions and struggles of its people, recognized either by a nation's government as the official national song, or by convention through use by the people.- History :Anthems rose to prominence...

 "Advance Australia Fair

Advance Australia Fair

"Advance Australia Fair" is the official national anthem of Australia. Created by the Scottish-born composer, Peter Dodds McCormick, the song was first performed in 1878, but did not gain its status as the official anthem until 1984. Until then, the song was sung in Australia as a patriotic song...

" to the tune of "Working Class Man" titled the "Working Class Anthem". He later released it as a single the following year.

Hills performed the song for Barnes when he appeared as a guest on the television program Spicks and Specks.

Cover versions

In 2004, Australian singer/songwriter Shannon Noll

Shannon Noll

Shannon Noll first came to prominence as runner-up of the first series of Australian Idol which led to him being signed to Sony BMG. Since then he has released five Top 10 albums and ten Top 10 singles. His first two albums That's What I'm Talking About in 2004 and Lift in 2005 debuted at No...

recorded a cover of "Working Class Man". It was released as a B-side track for his second single "Drive".