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Seal credits Batman and director Joel Schumacher for saving his career

"[Kiss From a Rose] was a failure when it first got released."

Val Kilmer and Nicole Kidman in promotional image for Batman
Image credit: Warner Bros

Seal's 'Kiss From a Rose' was one of the most popular songs of the '90s, topping the charts and earning three Grammys - for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. What most fans of the classic romantic ballad don't know though, is that 'Kiss From a Rose' was almost completely forgotten to history.

In a recent video posted to Seal's Instagram, Seal shared an important part of his biggest hit's history and how it made a comeback with support from an unlikely place.

"What some of you may not know about that song was that it was a failure when it first got released," Seal says in the video, sharing that the song only hit 60 in the charts on its debut. After two weeks as the promotion for the album came to an end, "it was over." But the whole situation changed when Seal got a phone call from Batman Forever director Joel Schumacher, asking for a song to play for the love scene between Val Kilmer and Nicole Kidman. Though 'Kiss from a Rose' didn't end up working for the love scene, Schumacher loved the song so much he saved it for the end credits, and history was made.

In fact, the song was so popular that apparently, "kids thought I was Batman because the song was so big," Seal shares, and the overwhelming success of the song launched his popular career. "I owe my career, I guess, in large part to Joel Schumacher," Seal concludes, "who took a chance."


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Tiffany Babb

Tiffany Babb: Tiffany Babb is a professional lurker (aka critic) who once served as Popverse’s deputy editor and resident Sondheim enthusiast.

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