Tom Cruise is famous for doing many of his own stunts, but none are more likely to induce anxiety in the viewer than when, as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in the 1986 action movie Top Gun, he tunelessly serenades Kelly McGillis’s Charlie with “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’”. Top Gun made Cruise a megastar but it certainly wasn’t for his singing. The song features again during the deliciously cheesy end of the film, but this time, thankfully, it’s the original Righteous Brothers version which Charlie plays on a bar jukebox.
The huge success of the movie contributed to the fact that “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” is the most played song of the 20th century on radio and television, according to American performing rights organisation BMI.
