Sledgehammer (Peter Gabriel song)

"Sledgehammer"
"Sledgehammer"
Single by Peter Gabriel
from the album So
B-side	"Don't Break This Rhythm"; "I Have the Touch" (mix); "Biko" (ext.);
Released	14 April 1986
Studio	Ashcombe House (Bath, England)
Genre	Dance-rock; funk rock; soul;
Length	5:12 (album version); 4:58 (7-inch single edit); 4:55 (video version);
Label	Charisma (UK); Geffen (US);
Songwriter(s)	Peter Gabriel
Producer(s)	Peter Gabriel; Daniel Lanois;
Peter Gabriel singles chronology
Music video
	"Sledgehammer" on YouTube

"Sledgehammer" is a song by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel. It was released in April 1986 as the lead single from his fifth studio album, So (1986).^[2] It was produced by Gabriel and Daniel Lanois. It reached No. 1 in Canada on 21 July 1986, where it spent four weeks; No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States on 26 July 1986;^[3] and No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart, thanks in part to its music video. It was his biggest hit in North America and ties with "Games Without Frontiers" as his biggest hit in the United Kingdom.

The song's video won a record nine MTV Video Music Awards at the 1987 MTV Video Music Awards^[4] and Best British Video at the 1987 Brit Awards.^[5]^[6] The song also saw Gabriel nominated for three Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, Record of the Year and Song of the Year.^[7] In a 2005 poll conducted by Channel 4 the music video was ranked second on their list of the 100 Greatest Pop Videos.^[8]

^ "BPI".
^ "Sledgehammer". Petergabriel.com. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
^ Dean 2003, p. 160.
^ "VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS – Biggest Winners". MTV. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
^ "Peter Gabriel, 'Sledgehammer' (1986)". Time. 28 July 2011. Archived from the original on 28 February 2012.
^ "The BRITs 1987". Brit Awards. 9 February 1987. Retrieved 19 November 2011.
^ "29th Grammy Awards – 1987". Rock on the Net. Retrieved 19 November 2011.
^ "100 Greatest ... (The 100 Greatest Pop Videos)". ITN Source. Archived from the original on 21 February 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2019.

[1] "BPI".

[2] "Sledgehammer". Petergabriel.com. Retrieved 29 April 2020.

[FOOTNOTEDean2003160-3] Dean 2003, p. 160.

[MTV-4] "VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS – Biggest Winners". MTV. Retrieved January 18, 2015.

[Time-5] "Peter Gabriel, 'Sledgehammer' (1986)". Time. 28 July 2011. Archived from the original on 28 February 2012.

[Brits-6] "The BRITs 1987". Brit Awards. 9 February 1987. Retrieved 19 November 2011.

[Grammys-7] "29th Grammy Awards – 1987". Rock on the Net. Retrieved 19 November 2011.

[8] "100 Greatest ... (The 100 Greatest Pop Videos)". ITN Source. Archived from the original on 21 February 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2019.

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