Skip to content

Cover of So by Peter Gabriel — Cover: So

Song · Peter Gabriel

“Don't Give Up” by Peter Gabriel with Kate Bush

From the album So (1986) With Kate Bush

“Don't Give Up” by Peter Gabriel with Kate Bush appears on 25 radio countdowns from 10 stations between 1986 and 2025. It was first released in 1986 on the album So. Its best result is #29 on the Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 1986. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #199 alternative song of 1986 and #2,846 alternative song of all time.

25countdowns

10stations

#29best position

0#1 finishes

0top 10 finishes

1986–2025years charted

Watch

Peter Gabriel - Don't Give Up (ft. Kate Bush)

Video from YouTube (Peter Gabriel). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Don't Give Up" is the duet at the heart of So, Peter Gabriel's fifth solo album, in 1986, with Kate Bush singing opposite him. Gabriel wrote it and produced it with Daniel Lanois, and the players are a dream team: Manu Katché on drums and percussion, Tony Levin on bass, David Rhodes on guitar, Richard Tee on piano, with Gabriel himself on piano, synthesizer, sampler and drum machine.

It moves slowly and patiently, a low, rolling pulse under Gabriel's weary baritone, until Bush's voice arrives like a hand on the shoulder. An edited version went out as the album's second single in Britain, where it reached number nine, and later as the fourth in America. Two videos were made, one by Godley & Creme and one by Jim Blashfield, and in 1987 it won the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically.

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

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
1986	29	Studio Brussel Flanders, Belgium	Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 1986	30

All-time and decade countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
1991	928	CFNY 102.1 The Edge	CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition)	1002
1999	1723	CD101	CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)	2000
2000	1723	CD101	CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)	2001
2001	1723	CD101	CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)	2002
2001	1627	WFPK	WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time	2000
2002	1714	CD101	CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)	2003
2003	1699	CD101	CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)	2004
2004	1699	CD101	CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)	2005
2004	89	Virgin Radio	Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)	500
2004	382	WXPN	WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2004)	885
2005	1697	CD101	CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)	1994
2005	280	Virgin Radio	Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)	500
2006	414	Virgin Radio	Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2006)	500
2009	447	WYEP	WYEP 913 Essential Songs	913
2009	445	WXPN	WXPN 885 Desert Island Songs (2009)	885
2014	586	WXPN	WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2014)	885
2018	623	The Current	The Current's 893 Essential Songs	892
2019	814	WYEP	WYEP Labor Day Weekend Countdown 2019	1099
2019	814	WYEP	WYEP Big Spring Countdown 2019	1017
2020	112	WXPN	WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time	2020
2021	633	90.9 The Bridge	90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s	909
2022	870	WYEP	WYEP Countdown to Fall 2022	603
2023	236	The Colorado Sound	The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s	850
2025	762	The Colorado Sound	The Colorado Sound Top 800 Mood Booster Songs	800

Charting alongside it in 1986

Best songs of 1986 →

Comments

Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about "Don't Give Up" by Peter Gabriel.

No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.