"Hero" is a song written and produced by American singer Mariah Carey and Walter Afanasieff, and recorded for Carey's fourth album, Music Box(1993). Its protagonist declares that even though we may feel discouraged or down at times, in reality we are "heroes" if we look inside ourselves and see our own inner strength; in time, this will help us "find the way." It was released as the album's second single in the fourth quarter of 1993 and became a worldwide commercial success. "Hero" is considered one of Carey's signature songs, and she regularly performs it when invited to charity events and closes most concerts with it. It is also known for being one of the most frequently performed songs at her concerts next to "Vision of Love". The song was nominated for the 1995 Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, losing to Sheryl Crow's "All I Wanna Do". "Hero" won two ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Awards, one ASCAP Pop Music Award and one BMI Pop Award for the Songwriter Award.

Dustin Hoffman and Geena Davis starred in a movie for Columbia Pictures called Hero. Producer Walter Afanasieff recalls, "The people over at Epic Records were going to do the soundtrack for the film. They wanted to have Mariah sing the theme to it, but they didn't really think they could because at that time you couldn't get near Mariah to do anything film-wise. So they wanted to try the next best thing, which was to have us write something."

The film was screened for Afanasieff in Los Angeles and he was told that Gloria Estefan would probably be asked to sing a title theme. At the time, the producer was working with Carey on her Music Boxalbum. "I went to New York and we were in the studio and came to a break. I was sitting at the piano and told Mariah about this movie. Within two hours, we had this incredible seed for this song, 'Hero'. It was never meant for Mariah to sing. In her mind, we were writing a song for Gloria Estefan for this movie. And we went into an area that Mariah didn't really go into - in her words, it was a little bit too schmaltzy or too pop ballady or too old-fashioned as far as melody and lyrics."

The pair were almost finished writing the song when Tommy Mottola, president and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment and Carey's fiance (later her husband), walked into the studio. Hearing the song they were working on, he asked them what it was, and Carey replied, "This is a song for the film Hero." Afanasieff recalls Mottola responding, "Are you kidding me? You can't give this song to this movie. This is too good. Mariah, you have to take this song. You have to do it."

Initially, Carey was guided by the subject of the film, but Afanasieff acknowledges that the artist made it a very personal song. After she decided not to give the song away, she completed the lyric and made it her own. The producer went back to the soundtrack people and told them, "You know what? I didn't come up with anything." Estefan never heard the tune was originally meant for her, and the song that ended up in the soundtrack was "Heart of a Hero", written, produced and recorded by Luther Vandross.

Afanasieff and Carey came up with a couple of different versions of "Hero" in the studio. "There was a simpler performance on tape and a more difficult one, with Mariah singing out more, with more licks. But we chose a happy medium. The song really calls for not anything really fancy. But she's always fighting the forces inside of her because she's her own devil's advocate. She wants to do something that's so over the top and use her talents and the voice she has. But she also knows she has to restrain herself and do what the music really calls for."

"Hero" was the subject of a copyright plagiarism case. Christopher Selletti, a former limo driver for Sly Stone, said that the lyrics were based on a poem that he showed Stone in 1991 (and that he believed Stone had shown to Carey). Carey defended herself with entries from her personal lyrics notebook, although the lyrics from the notebook were dated six weeks after the release of the film Hero(for which the song had originally been intended). Nevertheless, the $20 million lawsuit was eventually dismissed, and Selletti was forced to pay a fine to Carey. Years later Selletti launched a second lawsuit, which was also dismissed, but he has stated that he will try a third time.

"Hero" became Carey's eighth number 1 single on the U.S Billboard Hot 100. It reached number 1 in its tenth week and spent four weeks at the top, from December 19, 1993 to January 15, 1994. It replaced "Again" by Janet Jackson, and was replaced by Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting's "All for Love". It remained in the top forty for twenty-five weeks, with fourteen of those spent in the top ten. It received heavy radio airplay and was certified platinum by the RIAA. It was one of the year's biggest hits, being ranked fifth on the Hot 100 1994 year-end chart.

"Hero" also became a hit outside the U.S., reaching the top ten in the UK (where it peaked higher than "Dreamlover", the previous single from Music Box) France, and Australia. It was more successful across Europe than "Dreamlover" by reaching the top ten in most markets, but it performed moderately in Canada compared to Carey's previous singles. "Hero" was certified platinum in Australia by ARIA, gold in New Zealand by RIANZ and silver in France by SNEP.

The single's music video, directed by Larry Jordan, is derived from Carey's 1993 concert at Proctor Theatre, which became a television special and was later released on the home video Here Is Mariah Carey(1993). The live performance of the song at Proctor Theatre was officially released. The video is included on Mariah's DVD #1's (1998).

Carey also re-recorded "Hero" in Spanish from a translation by Jorge Luis Piloto, which was Carey's first Spanish song. Critics thought that her pronunciation wasn't right and the adaptation is unworthy to the original version; the Spanish speaking public criticized it for being mediocre both in pronunciation and lyrical content. The Spanish language version of "Hero" ("Héroe") was included as a B-side on various Carey singles released outside the U.S. between 1994 and 1997, and it was included on the Mexican, Argentinian and Spanish edition of Music Boxas a bonus track. "Héroe" was released in 1995.

Carey sang "Hero" with Luciano Pavarotti at the 1999 "Pavarotti and Friends" concert. Parts of "Hero" were incorporated into Carey's charity single "Never Too Far/Hero Medley" (2001). One of Carey's most widely seen performances of "Hero" was at the 2005 London Live 8 concert, during which she sang the song with the African Children's Choir. Later that year a cover in spanish of the song by operatic pop vocal group Il Divo was released on their album Ancora.

"Hero" is included on Voices from the FIFA World Cup, an album comprising songs featured in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. On CBC's Hockey Night in Canadacoverage of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the song was played in the collaborate footage, following the New York Rangers 1994 Stanley Cup championship season.

The B-side of "Hero," "Everything Fades Away," was written and produced by Carey and Walter Afanasieff.

In the fifth series, of the popular British television show, The X Factor, the top 12 finalists, sang their own version of "Hero", which was a charity single, it topped the UK Singles Chart, for 4 weeks.

In early 2009, Mariah recorded an alternate version of Heroto promote her compilation album The Ballads.

Japanese/U.S. CD single

European CD single

Non-European CD maxi-single

European CD maxi-single

In Japan, EPs are charting on the albums chart.

The twelve finalists from the fifth series of TV talent show The X Factorin the United Kingdom released a cover of the song on October 27, 2008 for the Help for Heroes and The Royal British Legion charities. The release was backed by, and originally suggested by, The Sunnewspaper.

The finalists performed the single for the first time on the third live show, on October 25, 2008. The single was released on download on October 26, 2008, followed by the physical release the day after.

It was announced on October 30 that the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, would waive all tax on copies sold on the single. He said "I support the efforts being made by the X Factorcontestants and in recognition of that I'm proposing effectively to waive the VAT on the sale of these singles. We will do that by making a donation equivalent to the value of the VAT."

The music video was released on November 8, 2008 before the fifth live show, when the finalists (excluding Diana Vickers because of illness) sang it again, this time accompanied by guest star Mariah Carey. All the finalists appeared in the video, which also showed still images of soldiers in Iraq.

Upon its release the single was expected to reach number 1 in the UK, and on November 2, 2008 it did so. It is also the fastest selling single of 2008. Online retailer Amazon.com said it had sold out of the track in just a few hours. The song sold 100,000 copies in the first day of release and 313,244 copies by the end of the week. It has sold over 770,000 copies and raised over one million pounds for Help For Heroes.

The track could become one of the biggest-selling releases of the decade. HMV spokesman Gennaro Castaldo said: "This is proving to be one of the biggest single releases for years if not the decade. Only Leona Lewis's debut hit "A Moment Like This", which sold over 500,000 copies in its first week, can compare. It's selling more than most Christmas No 1s would, and HMV has placed an urgent order for more copies."

The song went straight to number 1 on the Irish Singles Chart, where it stayed for three weeks.

On December 28, 2008, the UK Singles Chart listed this as number 2 biggest selling single for the year end countdown.

The X Factorfinalists version was shortlisted for the Best British Single award at the 2009 BRIT Awards, however was eliminated third, finishing in 8th place. The song came #19 on the Biggest Selling Singles of the Decade from 2000-2009.

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