Rule the World (Take That song)

"Rule the World" is a song by English boy band Take That. It was recorded for the soundtrack of the film Stardust (2007), and then included on the deluxe edition of their fourth studio album Beautiful World (2006). It was released in the United Kingdom on 21 October 2007 via digital download and as a CD single the following day. The single peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart and went on to become the group's second best selling single, shifting over 1.2 million units and being certified as 2x Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).

"Rule the World"
Single by Take That
from the album Beautiful World and Stardust
Released21 October 2007
Recorded2007
GenrePop rock
Length3:58 (radio edit)
4:58 (album version)
LabelPolydor
Songwriter(s)Take That
Take That singles chronology
"Reach Out"
(2007)		 "Rule the World"
(2007)		 "Greatest Day"
(2008)
Music video
"Rule the World" on YouTube

The music video, featuring the band and an orchestra, was filmed at Abbey Road Studios, and is interspersed with excerpts shown from the film Stardust. Take That performed the song at the London 2012 Olympic Games closing ceremony whilst the Olympic Flame was extinguished. The song was submitted for consideration at the 80th Academy Awards for Best Original Song but was not nominated.[1]

Background

"Rule the World" is the first song written by Take That specifically for a film. Matthew Vaughn, the director of Stardust, contacted Take That in the hope of getting them to write a song for the film. After seeing the film the band members agreed to write and perform a song. The band wrote the chorus of the song while they were in Spain. They played the song for Matthew Vaughn who included it in the end credits of the film. Gary Barlow performs lead vocals. The song is not included on the soundtrack for Stardust, nor on the original release of the album Beautiful World.

It was released internationally exclusively as a single in October 2007, and was premiered live by the band at the inaugural National Movie Awards on 28 September 2007 to rave reviews and critical acclaim. It ended 2007 as the year's 5th biggest-selling single in the UK, despite being released just two months from the end of the year.[2] The song was also the 44th best selling single in the UK of 2008, the following year, and the 16th best selling single in Ireland in 2007.

The full-length version appears exclusively on the Tour Souvenir Edition of the album Beautiful World.

Crossover singer Camilla Kerslake, a protégée of Gary Barlow, has recorded the song on her eponymous debut album as "Il Mondo è Nostro" ("The World Is Ours").

Chart performance

In October 2007, "Rule the World" entered the UK Singles Chart at number 46 and peaked at number 2, being held off the top spot by Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love". The song became the 5th biggest selling single of 2007 and remained in the Top 100 until 12 April 2009, 1 year, 5 months and 21 days after the single's release. On 21 September 2008, the song managed to climb back up to number 34 on the UK Singles Chart following a performance by contestants on BBC One's Last Choir Standing and on 30 November 2008 it managed to climb up the chart once again to number 27 following its appearance on The X Factor, sung by Rachel Hylton.

The song spent twelve weeks inside the UK top ten, the longest of any Take That song. It re-entered the chart again in November 2009 following another X Factor performance, this time by Stacey Solomon, and again in November 2010, and has spent 75 weeks on the official UK Top 75 chart, making it the 5th longest runner of all time, and 100 weeks on the Top 100. It was the 30th biggest-selling single of the 2000s in the UK. As of March 2017 it has sold 1.06 million copies in the UK, making it the group's second best selling single in the country, behind "Back For Good".[3]

Critical reception

Digital Spy praised the song, stating it is "a big, proper, important-sounding ballad – the piano chords tremor with passion, the strings sweep impressively and every strum of the guitar seems to quiver with emotion – it offers copious proof that Gary Barlow's flair for melody is still very much intact."[4]

Music video

The music video was directed by Barney Clay and filmed at Abbey Road Studios.[5] It shows the band and the orchestra at the studios performing the song. Another version of the video features excerpts shown from the movie Stardust. It premiered on ITV on 22 September 2007.

Live performances

The song was the finale to The Circus Tour in 2009. This song was also performed on 19 November 2009 for Children in Need on "Children in Need Rocks the Royal Albert Hall", where Gary Barlow dedicated it to his father, who had died 5 weeks earlier. Take That performed the song at the London 2012 Olympic Games Closing Ceremony whilst the Olympic Flame was extinguished. The band's performance of the song during the closing ceremony was lauded as inspirational, in light of the loss of Barlow's stillborn daughter Poppy a week before.[6]

Personnel

Track listing
UK CD single[7]
  1. "Rule the World" (radio edit) – 3:58
  2. "Stay Together" – 3:57
German CD single[8]
  1. "Rule the World" (radio edit) – 3:58
  2. "Stay Together" – 3:57
  3. "Rule the World" (video) – 4:00

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Italy (FIMI)[31] Platinum 20,000*
United Kingdom (BPI)[32] 2× Platinum 1,200,000[3]

*sales figures based on certification alone

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References
  1. "Academy unveils 56 songs eligible for original song Oscar". Screen Daily. Retrieved 13 August 2019
  2. "Top 40 Singles of the Year 2007". BBC Music. Archived from the original on 10 March 2009. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  3. Myers, Justin (24 March 2017). "Take That's Top 40 biggest songs revealed". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  4. "Take That: 'Rule The World'". 13 October 2007.
  5. Ltd, Project 53. "Rushes".
  6. "London 2012: Gary Barlow braves personal tragedy to perform at closing ceremony". The Daily Telegraph.
  7. "Take That Rule The World UK CD single (CD5 / 5") (416872)".
  8. "TAKE THAT"RULE THE WORLD"RARE 3TR.GERMAN CD P/S! - eBay".
  9. "Austriancharts.at – Take That – Rule the World" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  10. Take That - Rule The World - swisscharts.com
  11. "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – RADIO – TOP 100 and insert 200746 into search.
  12. "Danishcharts.com – Take That – Rule the World". Tracklisten.
  13. "Take That – Chart Search" Billboard European Hot 100 Singles for Take That. (subscription required)
  14. "Offiziellecharts.de – Take That – Rule the World". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  15. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Rule the World". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  16. "Italiancharts.com – Take That – Rule the World". Top Digital Download.
  17. "Dutchcharts.nl – Take That – Rule the World" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  18. SA, Polskie Radio. "Lista Przebojów Trójki - Polskie Radio Online".
  19. http://top40-charts.com/chart.php?cid=20&date=2008-01-26 Retrieved 2012.
  20. Take That – Rule The World Retrieved on 2011-09-30.
  21. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  22. "ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 200807 into search.
  23. "Swisscharts.com – Take That – Rule the World". Swiss Singles Chart.
  24. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  25. Inc, Nielsen Business Media (12 January 2008). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. – via Internet Archive.
  26. "Italian Single Chart". Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  27. "BPI Best Selling singles 2007" (PDF). British Phonographic Industry. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 January 2013.
  28. "Charts Plus Year end 2008" (PDF). Charts Plus. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  29. "Charts Plus Year end 2008" (PDF). Charts Plus. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  30. "Charts Plus Year end 2009" (PDF). Charts Plus. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  31. "Chart Run/ The Flood - Take That". Retrieved 2 October 2011.
  32. "British single certifications – Take That – Rule the World". British Phonographic Industry. Select singles in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Rule the World in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
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