Never Gonna Break My Faith

Album: Bobby (2006)
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Songfacts®:

  • Aretha Franklin originally recorded this gospel track as a duet with Mary J. Blige, backed by the Boys Choir of Harlem, as part of the soundtrack for the 2006 movie Bobby. The film is a fictionalized account of the hours leading up to the 1968 shooting of US Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
  • Written by Bryan Adams, Eliot Kennedy and Andrea Remanda, the song is an affirmation of faith in the face of racism and killing.

    When someone takes the life of an innocent man
    Well they've never really won, and all they've really done
    Is set the soul free


    Adams explained: "The thought was to write a hymn, something that would try and articulate the feeling of faith, and that even though you might have lost something, there would always be an inner light to guide you."
  • "Never Gonna Break My Faith" won the Grammy Award for best gospel song in 2007.
  • Franklin performed the song live at the Musicares event on February, 8, 2008, when she was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year. It is the only known live version of "Never Gonna Break My Faith."
  • RCA Records released a solo version on Juneteenth (June 19), 2020 to mark the 155th anniversary of the end of slavery in America. The new recording features the late Aretha Franklin singing with The Boys Choir of Harlem. Adams revealed Franklin's solo version of the tune had been stored on his computer for years. He sent the recording to Sony Music's Creative Officer Clive Davis after he heard the producer was making a film about the Queen of Soul's life.
  • Adams said that the updated song's release was timely, coming weeks after the police killing of George Floyd. "The world hasn't heard (Franklin's) full performance and it really needed to be heard," he said. "I'm so glad it's being released, the world needs this right now."

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