"On Silent Wings" is a song by American singer-songwriter
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 " Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue before ...
with guest vocals from English musician
Sting. Released in May 1996 in support of Turner's ninth album, ''
Wildest Dreams'' (1996), the single performed well on the US and Canadian adult contemporary charts, peaking at numbers 24 and 13 respectively. The dance version of "On Silent Wings", remixed by
Soul Solution
Soul Solution is a house/ electronic dance music production duo from New York City formed by Bobby Guy and Ernie Lake.
Biography
As artists they made six appearances on the ''Billboard'' Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart.
Five times under the Sou ...
, charted at number 47 on the US ''
Billboard''
Dance Club Songs chart. Like much of Turner's later work, "On Silent Wings" enjoyed greater success in the United Kingdom, peaking at number 13 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 ...
.
The single included the country-flavoured single edit with additional guitar overdubs, later appearing on the 2004 compilation ''
All the Best'', as well as a second alternative version of the track. Some formats also featured the non-album track "Do Something", written by
Holly Knight
''Ilex'' (), or holly, is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen o ...
and
Mike Chapman
Michael Donald Chapman (born 13 April 1947) is an Australian-American record producer and songwriter who was a major force in the British pop music industry in the 1970s. He created a string of hit singles for artists including The Sweet, Suz ...
and produced by
Trevor Horn
Trevor Charles Horn (born 15 July 1949) is an English music producer, label and recording studio owner, musician and composer. He is best known for his production work in the 1980s, and for being one half of the new wave band The Buggles (wit ...
.
Critical reception
Larry Flick from ''
Billboard'' wrote, "On the eve of La Tina's first stateside concert tour in eons,
Virgin
Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...
plucks one of the strongest and more radio-friendly tunes from the diva's gorgeous (and sadly underappreciated) current disc, ''
Wildest Dreams''. Her worldly perspective adds depth to the lyrics of this
melancholy rock ballad
A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner.J. M. C ...
, which also shows producer
Trevor Horn
Trevor Charles Horn (born 15 July 1949) is an English music producer, label and recording studio owner, musician and composer. He is best known for his production work in the 1980s, and for being one half of the new wave band The Buggles (wit ...
tempering his signature melodramatic keyboard sound with subtle acoustic strumming that never distracts the ear from Turner. Additional programming incentive comes from a laid-back cameo by
Sting, though this lovely single would merit the ardent attention of
pop,
triple-A, and even
mainstream rock
Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada.
Format background
Mainstream rock stations represent the middle ground between classic rock and active rock ...
radio without such stunt casting."
Music video
The accompanying
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 promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
released to support the single featured Turner standing on the edge of Table Mountain in Cape Town, Southin a white dress interspersed with live performance clips. The video showcases the concert held at Newlands Cricket Stadium, Noordehoek Beach, Bo-Kaap and Table Mountain, the eight wonder of the world.
Track listings
* US promo CD
# "On Silent Wings" (Trevor Horn remix edit) – 3:43
# "On Silent Wings" (Trevor Horn remix) – 4:20
# Call out research hook – 0:08
* UK CD1 and cassette single
# "On Silent Wings" (single edit)
# "
Private Dancer
''Private Dancer'' is the fifth solo studio album by Tina Turner. It was released on May 29, 1984, through Capitol Records and was her first album released through the label.
After several challenging years of going solo after divorcing Ike T ...
"
# "
The Best
Best or The Best may refer to:
People
* Best (surname), people with the surname Best
* Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer
Companies and organizations
* Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain
* Best Lock Corporatio ...
"
# "
I Don't Wanna Lose You
"I Don't Wanna Lose You" is a song by American-Swiss singer Tina Turner. It was written by Albert Hammond and Graham Lyle and produced along with Roger Davies for Turner's seventh solo studio album, '' Foreign Affair'' (1989). It was released as ...
"
* UK CD2
# "On Silent Wings" (single edit)
# "
Whatever You Want"
# "Do Something"
# "On Silent Wings" (alternative version)
* European CD single
# "On Silent Wings" (single edit)
# "Do Something"
* Australian CD single
# "On Silent Wings" (single edit)
# "Private Dancer"
# "Do Something"
# "I Don't Wanna Lose You"
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
References
{{Authority control
1996 singles
1996 songs
Song recordings produced by Trevor Horn
Songs written by Tony Joe White
Sting (musician) songs
Tina Turner songs
Parlophone singles
Virgin Records singles