The Greatest Songs Of All Time

3 months ago 28th Aug 10:57

Torn - Natalie Imbruglia

There are some songs that will never get old no matter how little they are played. Here at FemaleFirst we decided to take a look at the songs which have shaped out music industry today and can safely be dubbed as 'classics'

I challenge anyone to deny dancing around their bedroom to Natalie Imbruglia's Torn, complete with hairbrush (microphone) and mirror (audience!) We all did it, so lets embrace the song for just a while longer!

Natalie Imbruglia started off (like so many Aussie popstars do) as a character on Neighbours, and two years after leaving the show she smashed the international charts with the hit Torn, which has since become on of the best know songs the world over.

Fair enough Natalie doesn't have the same 'status' as acts like Guns N Roses, Aerosmith or other musicians but she still delivered on this track, making it a perfect 'feel good' track to play when you need your spirits lifted.

Okay, so now it's time to come clean, the single, which was actually her debut, was in fact a cover of an Ednaswap song, but the single found instant success and went on to become one of the biggest hits of the 90s, reaching number two in the UK Singles Chart and number one on airplay around the world. The single went on to sell over a million copies in the United Kingdom alone.

It was also released as a radio single in the U.S., but not in buyable CD-format. The single quickly hit number 1 on the Billboard's Hot 100 Airplay chart, where it stayed for 14 weeks.

At the time, singles not released commercially were unable to chart to the overall Hot 100 chart (combined sales and airplay), so "Torn" made no appearance on it for a while and by the time the policy was changed in late 1998 to allow airplay-only songs, "Torn" was already heading down the charts, so its peak on the Hot 100 only ended up being at number 42

In October 1997, Torn broke the all-time airplay record in the U.K. for being the most played (more than 2000 plays) for six consecutive weeks. It was finally No. 1 for 14 weeks in the U.K. radio chart, a record that is being tied by only Simply Red's Fairground.

It was the No. 1 radio single in the U.S. from March to July 1998 and was only knocked down to No. 2 by The Goo Goo Dolls' Iris.

Rick Dees, in his Top 40 Chart show also declared "Torn" as the 'number one radio single of 1990s' in their 2000 Millennium Countdown show, broadcasted from KIIS-FM on New Year's Eve.

FemaleFirst - Ruth Harrison

Natalie Imbruglia made a surprise appearance alongside David Armand midway through a performance of his supposed 'interpretative dance' routine to sing her hit song Torn at Amnesty International's The Secret Policeman's Ball (2006); watch the hilarious outcome below!