The Best (5:31)

The Best a.k.a. “Simply The Best” is a song written by Mike Chapman and Holly Knight. The song had originally been released a year earlier by Bonnie Tyler, from the album Hide Your Heart a.k.a. Notes From America in the United States, and later was re-released as a highly successful single by Tina Turner in 1989 from her hit album Foreign Affair. The saxophone solo on Turner’s version is by Edgar Winter.

“The Best” is one of Turner’s most successful and popular singles worldwide. It peaked at number 15 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and made it to the top five in the UK, peaking at number 5 and Germany, reaching number 4. Certain editions of Turner’s single also included the non-album track “Bold and Reckless”, produced by Rupert Hine.

The song is the unofficial club anthem of the Scottish football club Rangers FC, and was played before important matches. “The Best” became even more popular in the UK than in the US, becoming the theme song of the legendary British world champion boxer Chris Eubank. It also became the theme song for the also legendary Brazilian Formula One racer Ayrton Senna.

A version recorded in 1992 as a duet with Jimmy Barnes, titled “Simply the Best”, was a Top 40 hit single in Australia, where it was used in a campaign for the New South Wales Rugby League.