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Cover of Kick by INXS
Cover: Kick

Song · INXS

“Never Tear Us Apart” by INXS

From the album Kick (1987)

“Never Tear Us Apart” by INXS appears on 48 radio countdowns from 22 stations between 1988 and 2026. It was first released in 1987 on the album Kick. Its best result is #1 on the Triple J Hottest 100 of Australian Songs (2025). In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #53 alternative song of 1988, #390 alternative song of all time and #260 of the '80s.

48countdowns
22stations
#1best position
1#1 finishes
1top 10 finishes
1988–2026years charted

Watch

INXS - Never Tear Us Apart (Official Music Video)

Video from YouTube (INXS Videos). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Never Tear Us Apart" is the big ballad on Kick, INXS's 1987 album, and the one that proved the band could stop strutting long enough to break your heart. Andrew Farriss wrote the music and Michael Hutchence wrote the words, a love song for Michele Bennett, his girlfriend at the time. Released as the album's fourth single in 1988, it climbed to No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 5 on the mainstream rock chart.

Chris Thomas produced it, David Nicholas engineered and Bob Clearmountain mixed, and the trick is restraint: a stately, swaying power ballad with space all around it, so that every swell lands like a door slamming. Hutchence, usually the coolest man in any room, sounds here like someone with everything to lose.

At home it won ARIA Awards for Best Group and Best Video out of four nominations, and it has refused to fade. The 2014 miniseries INXS: Never Tear Us Apart sent it back to No. 11 in Australia, and Rolling Stone placed it at No. 282 on its 2021 list of the greatest songs ever. INXS even cut it again in 2010, with Ben Harper and Mylène Farmer, for their album Original Sin.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

Classic Rock

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1988 40 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1988 106
1988 65 WLIR / WDRE Long Island, NY WLIR Top 100 Songs of 1988 100
1988 19 Studio Brussel Flanders, Belgium Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 1988 30

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
– 145 WLIR / WDRE WLIR Top 200 Songs of the 1980s 200
1991 289 CFNY 102.1 The Edge CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition) 1002
1992 175 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1992) 500
1994 178 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1994) 497
1994 380 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1994) 500
1995 247 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1995) 500
1996 79 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1996) 500
1996 166 Q101 Q101 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (1996) 500
1996 410 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1996) 498
1998 91 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1998) 488
1999 498 91X 91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999) 500
1999 119 Q101 Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1017
1999 298 107.7 The End The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1077
1999 521 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
1999 581 CFNY 102.1 The Edge CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999) 1002
2000 521 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 521 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2001 376 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 500
2002 521 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 1347 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 521 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2003 398 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) 2044
2004 521 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2004 448 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 500
2005 521 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2005 411 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 500
2006 416 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2006) 500
2007 679 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 639 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 660 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2010 680 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 700 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 716 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 748 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2018 18 Triple M Triple M Ozzest 100 (2018) 100
2020 1357 WXPN WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time 2020
2021 203 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s 909
2022 246 97.1 The River River 500 (2022) 500
2022 224 X96 X96 Top 500 Alternative Songs of All Time 500
2022 336 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2022) 500
2023 436 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s 850
2024 769 WYEP WYEP Best Songs of the Past 50 Years 1049
2025 1 Triple J Triple J Hottest 100 of Australian Songs (2025) 100
2026 293 WFPK WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '80s 498
2026 413 WYEP WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time 1180

Charting alongside it in 1988

Best songs of 1988 →
  1. 1SuedeheadMorrissey
  2. 2DesireU2
  3. 3Beds are BurningMidnight Oil
  4. 4Route 66Depeche Mode
  5. 5Peek-A-BooSiouxsie and the Banshees
  6. 6Chains of LoveErasure

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