"Don't Turn Around" is a popular song written by

Albert Hammond Albert Louis Hammond OBE (born 18 May 1944) is a British-Gibraltarian singer, songwriter, and record producer. A prolific songwriter, he also collaborated with other songwriters such as Mike Hazlewood, John Bettis, Diane Warren, Holly Knight ...

and

Diane Warren Diane Eve Warren (born September 7, 1956) is an American songwriter. She has received several awards including a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three ''Billboard'' Music Awards and an Honorary Academy Award. Wa ...

. It was originally recorded by

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer o ...

as the B-side to the single " Typical Male" in 1986. It has since been included on the rarities disc of the 1994 compilation '' The Collected Recordings – Sixties to Nineties'', as well as featuring in the ''

Tina Tina may refer to: People *Tina (given name), people and fictional characters with the given name ''Tina'' Places *Tina, Iran, a village in Khuzestan Province, Iran *Tina, Tunisia, a town in Sfax Governorate, Tunisia * Tina, Guadalcanal, Solomon ...

'' musical since 2018. It has been covered by numerous artists, most notably by

Luther Ingram Luther Thomas Ingram (November 30, 1937 – March 19, 2007) was an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter. His most successful record, "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right", reached No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart and No. 3 ...

in 1987,

Aswad Aswad are a British reggae group, noted for adding strong R&B and soul influences to the reggae sound. They have been performing since the mid-1970s, having released a total of 21 albums. Their UK hit singles include the number one "Don't Tur ...

in 1988,

Bonnie Tyler Gaynor Sullivan (née Hopkins; born 8 June 1951), known professionally as Bonnie Tyler, is a Welsh singer who is known for her distinctive husky voice. Tyler came to prominence with the release of her 1977 album '' The World Starts Tonight'' a ...

in 1988,

Eyes Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and conve ...

in 1990,

Neil Diamond Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adul ...

in 1991, Ace of Base in 1993, and

in 2010.

Aswad version

British

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...

heard

's version and released a cover version on February 10, 1988. It samples a verse from

The Righteous Brothers The Righteous Brothers are an American musical duo originally formed by Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield but now comprising Medley and Bucky Heard. Medley formed the group with Hatfield in 1963. They had first performed together in 1962 in the Los ...

’ 1964 single “ You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’”. The song was released as the first single from their eleventh album, '' Distant Thunder'' (1988), and went to number one on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in March 1988. It also reached number 45 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

in the US that same year.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Ace of Base version

In 1993, Swedish pop group Ace of Base recorded a

minor-key In music theory, the key of a piece is the group of pitches, or scale, that forms the basis of a musical composition in classical, Western art, and Western pop music. The group features a '' tonic note'' and its corresponding ''chords'', al ...

version of "Don't Turn Around" for their US debut album, '' The Sign'' (1993). It was the follow-up to their very successful single, " The Sign" and was also included on the re-release of ''

Happy Nation ''Happy Nation'' is the debut studio album by Swedish pop group Ace of Base. It was initially released in Denmark on 2 November 1992 by Mega Records. During development of the record, the group was heavily influenced by a Jamaican reggae ban ...

'' the same year. Their version reached number one in Canada, number four in the US and number five in the UK. It was the third most popular song in the United States in the summer of 1994.

Background and recording

After the huge success of the band's European debut album, ''

'', American label Arista wanted to release it with some new tracks for the US market. They suggested that Ace of Base should make a cover on British

's 1988 version of "Don't Turn Around". It was recorded and produced at Tuff Studios in Gothenburg, Sweden. This version by the band would also contain a rap segment made by band member

Ulf Ekberg Ulf Gunnar Ekberg (born 6 December 1970), also known as Buddha, is a Swedish singer-songwriter, musician, businessman and television and film producer, best known as a founding member of the pop group Ace of Base, along with siblings Jonas Bergg ...

Critical reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

editor

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...

stated that with singles like "

All That She Wants "All That She Wants" is a song by Swedish group Ace of Base. It was released in Scandinavia in 1992 as the second single from their first studio album, ''Happy Nation'' (1992), and in the following year, it was released as the first single from ...

", " The Sign", and "Don't Turn Around", "it's easy to see why they were hits – the beat is relentless and the hooks are incessantly catchy." In an retrospective review,

Annie Zaleski Annie Zaleski is an American music journalist and author. Career Zaleski is a regular writer for mainstream media outlets such as The A.V. Club and NPR Music, and a columnist at ''Salon''. She is based in Cleveland, Ohio where she has won firs ...

from ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' felt that Ace of Base gave the song "a brisk, breezy vibe that verges on tropical".

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the music ...

from ''

'' wrote that the Swedish pop phenomenon "will, once again, blaze up the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

with its slick, lightweight reading of a tune popularized by

." He added that "thin but inoffensive vocals are laid over the kind of synth-smart pop/

arrangement that top 40 programmers regularly subscribe to." Troy J. Augusto from ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' commented, "Can these Swedish hitmakers make it three-for-three? You can bet on it, with the release of the next single from the quartet's smash '' The Sign'', a song made popular in reggae circles by Aswad. Will follow the likes of Big Mountain, etc., up the charts with its easy-listening, synth-flavored mix of reggae and lightweight dance." He also deemed it a "potential summertime smash", adding, "One has to wonder. "What's in the water over at Arista?!"". David Browne from ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' stated that "the jauntily forlorn" song is "preeminent

Europop Europop (also spelled Euro pop) is a style of pop music that originated in Europe during the mid-to-late 1960s and developed to today's form throughout the late 1970s. Europop topped the charts throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with revivals and ...

, all brassy hooks, rushing beats, and exuberant singing that brings to mind Swedish cheerleaders in an

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's ...

cabaret." Dave Sholin from the ''

Gavin Report The ''Gavin Report'' was a San Francisco-based radio industry trade publication. The publication was founded by radio performer Bill Gavin in 1958. Its Top 40 listings were used for many years by programmers to decide content of programs. The pu ...

'' noted that "for their third time at the plate this sensational pop foursome is about take a trip around the bases with what is another surefire home run!"

James Masterton James Masterton (born 2 September 1973) is a music writer and columnist, his work focusing on the UK Singles Chart having been an online fixture on various sites since the 1990s. Masterton is also a producer for talkSPORT, and has worked on air ...

wrote in his weekly UK chart commentary, "Ace Of Base's version borrows from the Aswad arrangement but transform it still further from being the simple pop song it was originally into a mournful

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

, dark and mysterious. Whether it is as big as past hits is open to question but it gets my vote for simply daring to reinterpret the track so drastically. Are you listening Big Mountain?" Mario Tarradell from ''

Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a List of communities in Miami-Dade County, Florida, city in western Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County and the M ...

'' described it as "innocuous". Alan Jones from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' rated the song four out of five, noting that "the Aswad chart-topper is stripped of much of its melody, and given a heavily percussive workover in order to fit the Ace Of Base mould. Fans of their sound will heartily approve, and another Top 10 hit seems inevitable." A reviewer from ''The Network Forty'' said that the song is "another bonafide smash", complimenting it as "pure pop". Bob Waliszewski of ''

Plugged In Focus on the Family (FOTF or FotF) is a fundamentalist Protestant organization founded in 1977 in Southern California by James Dobson, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The group is one of a number of evangelical parachurch organizations t ...

'' wrote that "Don't Turn Around" and "The Sign" "demonstrate strength in the wake of romantic rejection." ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'' described it as "a funky

song". Chuck Campbell from

Scripps Howard News Service The E. W. Scripps Company is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a media conglomerate. The company is he ...

called it a "reggae-paced" number.

Chart performance

"Don't Turn Around" was a huge hit around the world and remains one of Ace of Base's more successful songs to date. It reached number one on the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' Top Singles chart in Canada, and both the US ''

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

chart and the ''Cash Box'' Top 100. In Europe, it made it to the top ten in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Scotland, Sweden and the UK, as well as on the

Eurochart Hot 100 The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by '' Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately ...

, where it peaked at number seven. In the UK, "Don't Turn Around" reached number five in its third week at the

, on June 19, 1994. Additionally, it was a top 20 hit in Belgium, France and Switzerland. Outside Europe, the single also peaked at number two on the ''RPM'' Dance/Urban chart, number three in Israel, number four on the US ''Billboard''

, number eight in New Zealand and number 19 in Australia. It earned a

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

certification in Germany, New Zealand and the United States with a sales of 250,000, 5,000 and 500,000 singles, respectively.

Airplay

"Don't Turn Around" entered the European airplay chart Border Breakers at number 20 on April 2, 1994, due to crossover airplay in Central Europe and peaked at number one twice, first on June 4, followed by July 23. Both times it held on to the top spot for two weeks. Together with "The Sign", "Don't Turn Around" monopolised either the number one or two spot on Border Breakers for 36 weeks.

Impact and legacy

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' listed "Don't Turn Around" at number 16 in their "20 Biggest Songs of the Summer: The 1990s" list in July 2014. Several reviewers have noted that "Don't Turn Around" might have inspired

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

for her 2010 hit single "

Alejandro Alejandro is the Spanish form of the name Alexander. Alejandro has multiple variations in different languages, including Aleksander (Czech, Polish), Alexandre ( French), Alexandros (Greek), Alsander (Irish), Alessandro (Italian), Aleksandr (Rus ...

". Lindsey Fortier from ''

'' compared "Alejandro" to "Don't Turn Around" in her review of Gaga's single. In 2014, when "Don't Turn Around" was ranked number 16 by

Idolator An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry. Idolater or Idolator may also refer to: Books *''Os Idólatras'', 1968 Portuguese novel by Maria Judite de Carvalho Music * Idolator (website), an American music blog * ''Idolator'' (album), third album ...

in their ranking of "The 50 Best Pop Singles of 1994", they wrote: "From its spoken-word intro to its insanely catchy pan flute hook, the song encapsulates everything perfect about pop of that era. I can't be the only one who thinks Lady Gaga was inspired by this immortal classic for her own single, "Alejandro," can I?" In 2019, ''

'' placed it at number 168 in their ranking of "''Billboard''s Top Songs of the '90s". In 2021,

BuzzFeed BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson III to focus on tracking viral content. Ken ...

ranked the song at number 22 in their list of "The 50 Best '90s Songs of Summer".

Music video

Ace of Base filmed a

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for the song, directed by Swedish-based director

Matt Broadley Matt Broadley is a Swedish director. He has made music videos for several songs that went #1 on the charts, like "All That She Wants" and "Mr. Vain". Career Broadley has directed many TV commercials and music videos. His clients include: * Al ...

, showing scenes of a couple leaving each other intertwined with scenes of the band on the beach and in a beach house. It was shot in

Coconut Grove Coconut Grove, also known colloquially as The Grove, is the oldest continuously inhabited neighborhood of Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The neighborhood is roughly bound by North Prospect Drive to the south, LeJeune Road to the west, S ...

in Miami, Florida, in December 1993. The lighthouse in the video is located in Bill Bags Cape Florida State Park on

Key Biscayne Key Biscayne ( es, Cayo Vizcaíno, link=no) is an island located in Miami-Dade County, Florida, located between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay. It is the southernmost of the barrier islands along the Atlantic coast of Florida, and lies sout ...

, one of Miami's barrier islands. Some parts of the video are in black-and-white, but the scenes with Ace of Base members are in color. The video begins with the group performing inside the beach house. Toward the end, all four members walk along the shore. It received

heavy rotation In broadcasting, rotation is the repeated airing of a limited playlist of songs on a radio station or satellite radio channel, or music videos on a TV network. They are usually in a different order each time. However, they are not completely sh ...

MTV Europe MTV Global (formerly as MTV Europe) is the international version of the American TV channel MTV, a 24-hour music and entertainment TV channel that began broadcasting on August 1, 1987, as part of the worldwide MTV network. Initially, MTV serve ...

and was A-listed on Germany's

VIVA Viva may refer to: Companies and organisations * Viva (network operator), a Dominican mobile network operator * Viva Air, a Spanish airline taken over by flag carrier Iberia * Viva Air Dominicana * VIVA Bahrain, a telecommunication company * ...

. Broadley had previously directed the music videos for "

" and "

". As of December 2022, "Don't Turn Around" had generated more than 33 million views on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

Track listing

*UK CD single #"Don't Turn Around" (The 7" Aswad Mix) #"Don't Turn Around" (Stretch Version) #"Young and Proud" *German 4-track CD #"Don't Turn Around" (Radio Groove Mix) #"Don't Turn Around" (The Aswad Mix) #"Don't Turn Around" (Groove Mix Extended) #"Happy Nation" (Moody Gold Mix) *European 2-CD set CD 1: #"Don't Turn Around" #"Don't Turn Around" (Stretch Version) #"Young and Proud" CD 2: #"Don't Turn Around" (The 7" Aswad Mix) #"Don't Turn Around" (Turned Out Eurodub) #"Don't Turn Around" (Groove Mix Extended) #"Happy Nation" (Moody Gold Mix) *Digital download (The Remixes EP, 2009) #"Don't Turn Around" #"Don't Turn Around" (2009) #"Don't Turn Around" (Stretch Version) #"Don't Turn Around" (The 7" Aswad Mix) #"Don't Turn Around" (Turned Out Eurodub) #"Don't Turn Around" (Groove Mix Extended)

Credits and personnel

* Vocals by Linn Berggren, Jenny Berggren, and Ulf Ekberg * Backing Vocals by Linn Berggren and Jenny Berggren * Written by Albert Hammond and Diane Warren * Produced by Tommy Ekman and Per Adebratt * Recorded and produced at Tuff Studios, Gothenburg * Mixed at Park Studios, Stockholm

Release history

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Other notable cover versions

*Soul singer

's version rose to No. 55 on the US ''Billboard'' R&B chart in 1987. *In 1992,

recorded a version of "Don't Turn Around", which made the Top 20 on the US

chart and Top 10 AC in Canada. *In 2010,

, co-writer of the song, recorded the song for his album ''Legend''.

References

External links

* {{authority control 1986 songs 1988 singles 1994 singles Tina Turner songs Aswad (band) songs Ace of Base songs Bonnie Tyler songs Neil Diamond songs Songs written by Diane Warren Songs written by Albert Hammond Lonnie Gordon songs Song recordings produced by Bob Clearmountain Song recordings produced by Denniz Pop Cashbox number-one singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles Music videos directed by Matt Broadley Mango Records singles Island Records singles Arista Records singles Mega Records singles Number-one singles in New Zealand UK Singles Chart number-one singles