| "The Wrestler" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:TheWrestler2008.jpg) | ||||
| Single by Bruce Springsteen | ||||
| from the album Working on a Dream and The Wrestler | ||||
| Released | December 16, 2008 | |||
| Recorded | 2008 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 3:51 | |||
| Label | Columbia Records | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Bruce Springsteen | |||
| Producer(s) | Bruce Springsteen | |||
| Bruce Springsteen singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "The Wrestler" on YouTube | ||||
"The Wrestler" is the title song from the 2008 film The Wrestler. The track was written and performed by Bruce Springsteen.
The origins of the song are based in a lost and resumed friendship between Springsteen and Wrestler lead actor Mickey Rourke; Rourke told Springsteen about his upcoming film and asked if Springsteen could write a song for it.[1] Springsteen subsequently did, played it for Rourke and director Darren Aronofsky before a concert. When they liked it, Springsteen gave them the song for no fee.[1]
It first appeared in August 2008 at the 65th Venice International Film Festival debut of the film The Wrestler. In December 2008 it received a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song and won the award during the 66th Golden Globe Awards on January 11, 2009.[1] It also won the 2008 Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Song and was nominated for, but did not win, the 2008 Satellite Award for Best Original Song. The song was widely expected to receive a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 81st Academy Awards, where Springsteen would perform it on the awards show,[2] but in what Rolling Stone termed "shocking news", it was denied a nomination on January 22, 2009, when the Academy nominated only three songs in the category rather than the usual five.[3] The song was nominated for an MTV Movie Award and a Grammy Award, but lost to Miley Cyrus' "The Climb" and A. R. Rahman's "Jai Ho" respectively.
The song was used in the credits of ESPN's 2015 E:60 documentary "WWE: Behind the Curtain."
- ^ a b c Bardsley, Garth (2009-01-12). "How Mickey Rourke Got Bruce Springsteen's 'Wrestler' Song – For Free". MTV News. Archived from the original on January 14, 2009.
- ^ Smith, Ethan (2009-01-16). "Born to Run – and Promote". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2009-01-16.
- ^ Kreps, Daniel (2009-01-22). "Oscars Snub Springsteen, Celebrate "Slumdog" As Nominations Are Announced". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2009-01-23.