"Footloose" is a song co-written and recorded by American singer-songwriter

Kenny Loggins Kenneth Clark Loggins (born January 7, 1948) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. His early songs were recorded with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1970, which led to seven albums recorded as Loggins and Messina from 1972 to 1977. His ...

. It was released in January 1984 as the first of two singles by Loggins from the 1984 film of the same name (the other one being " I'm Free (Heaven Helps the Man)"). The song spent three weeks at number one, March 31—April 14, 1984, on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming Loggins' only chart-topper, and was the first of two number-one hits from the film. ''Billboard'' ranked it at the No. 4 song for 1984. The song was very well received, and is the most recognizable song recorded by Loggins. When the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...

released its '' AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs'', "Footloose" reached the 96th position. The song was covered by

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Blake Shelton Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976) is an American country music singer and television personality. In 2001, he made his debut with the single " Austin". The lead-off single from his self-titled debut album, "Austin" spent five weeks at ...

for the 2011 remake of the 1984 film. It was nominated for an

Academy Award for Best Original Song The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who have composed th ...

at the 1985 ceremony, losing to

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

's "

I Just Called to Say I Love You "I Just Called to Say I Love You" is a ballad written, produced, and performed by American R&B singer and songwriter Stevie Wonder. It was a major international hit, and remains Wonder's best-selling single to date, having topped a record 19 char ...

" from '' The Woman in Red''. The single version is slightly shorter in length compared to the album version. It begins with a soloed guitar track instead of a drum intro, and features more prominent backing vocals in the mix, particularly towards the end of the song. In 2018, it was selected for preservation in the

National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservati ...

by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

as being "culturally, historically, or artistically significant."

Music video

The

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 "Footloose" was directed by

Brian Grant Brian Wade Grant (born March 5, 1972) is an American former professional basketball player. He played the power forward and center positions for five teams during 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association. He was known for his tenaciou ...

. It uses the single version and features several scenes from the film, in particular the warehouse where

Kevin Bacon Kevin Norwood Bacon (born July 8, 1958) is an American actor. His films include the musical-drama film '' Footloose'' (1984), the controversial historical conspiracy legal thriller '' JFK'' (1991), the legal drama '' A Few Good Men'' (1992), t ...

's character performs an unorchestrated dance routine (which was actually performed to a different song in the film itself).

Personnel

– lead vocals *

Neil Larsen Neil Larsen (born August 7, 1948) is an American jazz keyboardist, musical arranger and composer. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio and grew up in Sarasota, Florida before relocating to New York and then, in 1977, Los Angeles. Early life Larsen was ...

– keyboards * Steve Wood – keyboards, background vocals *

Buzz Feiten Howard "Buzz" Feiten (born November 4, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, session musician, and luthier. He is best known as a lead and rhythm guitarist and for having patented a tuning system for guitars and similar instrument ...

– guitar * Nathan East – bass guitar *

Michael Boddicker Michael Lehmann Boddicker (born January 19, 1953) is an American film composer and session musician, specializing in electronic music. He is a three times National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (N.A.R.A.S.) Most Valuable Player "Synthe ...

– synth bass, percussion *

Tris Imboden Gregory Tristan "Tris" Imboden (born July 27, 1951) is an American rock and jazz drummer. As a performer, he has been in studio sessions and on tour with some of the most notable and highest-selling musicians of all time. He was the drummer fo ...

– drums * Paulinho da Costa – percussion * Marilyn Dorman and Rick Washington – background vocalists

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

Blake Shelton version

covered the song for the 2011 remake of the film. Shelton's version also appears on the film's soundtrack. It charted at number 63 on the US ''Billboard''

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart in November 2011. A music video for Shelton's version of the song, directed by

Shaun Silva Shaun Silva is a music video director who works primarily in the country music field. He has directed a number of music videos for many country music artists, including many of Kenny Chesney's music videos. His other clients include Jason Aldean, ...

, premiered in October 2011.

Music video

The video opens with Blake Shelton driving a pickup truck into a

drive-in theater A drive-in theater or drive-in cinema is a form of movie theater, cinema structure consisting of a large outdoor movie screen, a projection booth, a concession stand, and a large parking area for automobiles. Within this enclosed area, customers ...

screening the 2011 remake of the 1984 movie wherein the manager and ticket seller tells him that the film was only about to start. He then enters the compound where his band awaits him while the theater patrons watch the film and take notice of him. Shelton and his band begin to perform the song and the theater patrons join in dancing while scenes from the film are played. The music video was filmed in early 2011 at the Hi-Way 50 Drive In theater located in Lewisburg, Tennessee.

Personnel

– vocals

Chart performance

Certifications

Other cover versions

VeggieTales ''VeggieTales'' is an American Christian media, computer generated musical children's animation, and book franchise created by Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki under Big Idea Entertainment. The series sees fruit and vegetable characters retelling ...

performed this song in ''Bob and Larry Sing the 80's''. The final episode of the

season 2 Season 2 may refer to: * ''Season 2'' (Infinite album) * '' 2econd Season'' See also

* {{disambig ...

episode of

Regular Show ''Regular Show'' (known as ''Regular Show in Space'' during its eighth season) is an American animated sitcom created by J. G. Quintel for Cartoon Network. It ran from September 6, 2010, to January 16, 2017, over the course of eight seasons a ...

titled "Karaoke Video", were Pops (voiced by

Sam Marin ''Regular Show'' (known as ''Regular Show in Space'' during its eighth season) is an American animated sitcom created by J. G. Quintel for Cartoon Network. It ran from September 6, 2010, to January 16, 2017, over the course of eight seasons an ...

) sangs his version of the song towards the end.

Chord Overstreet Chord Paul Overstreet (born February 17, 1989) is an American actor and musician. He is best known for his role as Sam Evans on the Fox television series ''Glee'' (2009–2015). He has starred in the Apple TV+ comedy series ''Acapulco'' since 20 ...

and Kevin McHale performed this song in ''Glee'', season 4. Andrew Goodwin and David Johnson sang a cover of this song for ''

Final Space ''Final Space'' is an adult animated space opera comedy drama television series created by Olan Rogers and developed by Rogers and David Sacks. The series involves an astronaut named Gary Goodspeed and his immensely powerful alien friend Moonca ...

'', season 2, episode 4, "The Other Side".

References

External links

Kenny Loggins discusses "Footloose"
- RetroRewind interview {{authority control 1984 singles 2011 singles Kenny Loggins songs Blake Shelton songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Music videos directed by Shaun Silva Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in New Zealand Oricon International Singles Chart number-one singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles Number-one singles in South Africa Songs about dancing Songs from Footloose Songs written by Kenny Loggins Songs written by Dean Pitchford Columbia Records singles Atlantic Records singles 1983 songs 1980s ballads United States National Recording Registry recordings