The Bangles – Eternal Flame

She Sang It Naked Because Her Producer Said Olivia Newton-John Did Too

Released on 23 January 1989, The Bangles’ “Eternal Flame” became a number one hit in nine countries including the US, UK, Australia, and Sweden, despite being initially rejected at a band meeting where members and producer Davitt Sigerson decided what to record for Everything. The power ballad topped the Billboard Hot 100 for one week in April 1989, spent four weeks at number one in the UK starting 15 April, three non-consecutive weeks at number one in Australia, and became the UK’s third-best-selling single of 1989 after twenty weeks on the chart. Susanna Hoffs sang the final studio vocals completely naked after Sigerson pranked her by claiming Olivia Newton-John recorded unclothed, a falsehood he eventually admitted. Hoffs later recalled thinking it would feel like skinny dipping—vulnerable yet freeing—and decided to try it, noting nobody could see her because there was a baffle in front and the studio was dark. She liked the experience enough to sing all her vocals for the entire album that way.

The chart success masked growing internal tensions. Following “Walk Like an Egyptian” being ranked by Billboard as the number one single of 1987 and “Manic Monday” reaching number two in 1986, the lead single from Everything—“In Your Room”—peaked at only number five, with the album stalling at number thirty-three initially. The January 1989 release of “Eternal Flame” reversed that trajectory, with the Chicago Tribune heralding it as an old-fashioned killer ballad far removed from the psychedelic sound of “In Your Room.” The song debuted at number fifty-six on 4 February when “In Your Room” ranked at forty-five, then ascended to number one by April. It also gave co-writers Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly a record as the first songwriting team to score number one Hot 100 hits five consecutive years. Rather than consolidating the Bangles’ stardom, the success underscored public perception of the group as Hoffs and her backing band, creating resentment among the other members.

The song originated when Tom Kelly attended the Bangles’ 30 October 1986 concert at the Avalon Hollywood and met the group backstage. This led to Hoffs collaborating with Kelly and Billy Steinberg, an experience she found interesting contrasted with her usual songwriting habits. Hoffs developed lyrics based on melodies she worked out while playing guitar, while Kelly and Steinberg started with lyrical ideas and wrote music to fit them. Their first composition, “I Need a Disguise,” was recorded by Belinda Carlisle for her 1986 solo debut. The Everything album featured two Hoffs/Kelly/Steinberg compositions: the upbeat “In Your Room” and “Eternal Flame.” The title came from two eternal flames: one at Elvis Presley’s gravesite at Graceland where the Bangles received a private tour, and one at a Palm Springs synagogue Steinberg attended as a child. During their Graceland visit it was raining, so the eternal flame was actually out.

Recording took place during 1988 with Davitt Sigerson producing for CBS Records. The demo had been deliberately guitar-oriented despite sounding more suitable for keyboards, because the Bangles had no keyboardist. When Hoffs played the demo at the band meeting, it was rejected. Manager Miles Copeland, overhearing the recording session, was displeased by the lack of drums and pressured Hoffs to re-record it with a stronger beat, which she resisted. The final recording featured minimal piano by session musicians, gentle strings, and close harmonies wrapping around Hoffs’ lead vocal. The production was intentionally sparse, letting the emotion breathe. Billy Steinberg considered it a stylistic fusion of the Byrds and the Beatles, particularly evoking “For No One,” “Mother Nature’s Son” for the bridge, and “Here, There and Everywhere.” The song’s AABA structure with no traditional chorus felt retro for the 1980s when middle eights had started disappearing from pop songs.

“Eternal Flame” appeared as the second single from Everything, which eventually rose to become a commercial success following the single’s performance, though the album’s original Billboard 200 peak of thirty-three had marked it as a comparative disappointment. Other tracks included “In Your Room,” “Be with You,” “Glitter Years,” and “I’ll Set You Free.” The choice for the third single to be “Be with You,” the group’s first single led by Debbi Peterson since 1984’s “Going Down to Liverpool,” appeared to be an attempt to redress the balance of Hoffs dominating lead vocals. That strategy failed as “Be with You” rose no higher than number thirty on the Hot 100 during summer 1989, with its UK chart peak at twenty-three. The Bangles announced their disbanding the second week of October 1989, just months after “Eternal Flame”‘s success peaked.

The song’s title origin story involves multiple layers. Steinberg recalled Hoffs telling him about visiting Graceland, where the eternal flame shrine to Elvis struck her. Steinberg immediately thought of the synagogue in Palm Springs where during Sunday school they’d been shown a little red light called the eternal flame. He remembered thinking as a child it never burned out, something like the sun or beyond human capacity to contemplate, a profound thought that seemed mysterious like thinking about how far the universe goes. Within about an hour of Steinberg suggesting the title, they had the complete lyrics written at Steinberg’s house. According to one account, Kelly was also present and began composing the music there on acoustic guitar, though another version states they brought finished lyrics to Kelly’s studio where he completed the music and cut the demo. The song addressed connection, hope, and what we hold most dear, expressing yearning from awareness that not everything is eternal while not wanting love to seem fragile.

The covers tell their own fascinating story. Atomic Kitten’s 2001 version topped charts in the UK for two weeks, New Zealand, Belgium, and Ireland, selling over 400,000 copies in the UK and earning Gold certification. On its first day, Atomic Kitten’s version sold 35,358 copies compared to Destiny’s Child’s “Bootylicious” selling 13,182, demonstrating continued commercial power twelve years later. Their version reached number two in France, becoming one of the best-selling singles by a girl group of all time there, though it was their only top twenty hit, making them one-hit wonders in that market. Human Nature covered it in 1999 for their album Counting Down, reaching number eight on the ARIA Singles Chart and earning Gold certification in Australia. In 1997, Tomoya Nagase of Japanese idol rock group Tokio recorded a Japanese-language version with 3T as the theme for Nippon TV drama DXD, released as “Tomoya with 3T.”

The song’s influence extended beyond covers into cultural ubiquity. It appeared in numerous films including She’s All That (1999) and Napoleon Dynamite (2004), becoming shorthand for sincere romantic longing. Australian TV show Fast Forward sent it up in 1989. The Tim Pope-directed music video embraced the ballad’s intimacy with soft lighting, close shots, and dreamy haze focused on Hoffs’ expressive delivery, leaning into romance and vulnerability without adding flash. It became one of MTV’s most-played videos during 1989. VH1’s Pop-Up Video featured it repeatedly. Radio stations worldwide continue programming it on soft rock and adult contemporary formats. In June 2021, Tom Eames of Smooth Radio ranked “Eternal Flame” as the Bangles’ best song, praising its timeless quality and emotional depth that separated it from their more uptempo jangle-pop hits.

Looking back, “Eternal Flame” represents both triumph and tragedy for the Bangles. The song that was rejected at the band meeting became their signature hit, the ballad that departed from their garage-band pop sound became what audiences most associated with them, and the track that showcased Susanna Hoffs’ vocals most prominently accelerated the perception that undermined group cohesion. Manager Miles Copeland’s displeasure at the lack of drums, the band’s resistance to its inclusion on Everything, and the choice to release “Be with You” as the follow-up all pointed to awareness that “Eternal Flame” was pulling the group in directions not everyone wanted to go. Yet the song’s enduring appeal proved unstoppable. Steinberg’s childhood memory of a mysterious red light in a Palm Springs synagogue combined with Hoffs’ recollection of a rainy day at Graceland when the eternal flame was out created something that transcended its origins. The naked vocal Hoffs recorded as a prank became the most vulnerable, intimate performance of her career, captured on tape because she thought it would feel like skinny dipping and decided to try it. The song announced their disbanding weeks after its chart peak, yet it guaranteed their immortality. As Hoffs reflected decades later, it captured connection, hope, and what we hold most dear—themes that resonated precisely because the Bangles themselves were discovering how fragile those things could be. The eternal flame that was out when they visited Graceland burned brightest on record, illuminating both their greatest commercial success and the beginning of their end.

Music video by The Bangles performing Eternal Flame (La Flama Enterna).
(C) 1988 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT