Unstoppable

"Nothing's gonna stop me now"
—Samantha Fox

"Unstoppable" is a song by Australian singer-songwriter Sia, taken from her seventh studio album This Is Acting (2016). The song was written by Sia and Christopher Braide, and produced by Jesse Shatkin. It was released as the album's final promotional single on 21 January 2016. In July 2016, a new version of the song was made for Gillette's 2016 Olympic ad campaign, "Pretty Isn't Perfect", which features a verse from American rapper Pusha T.^[1][2][3]

In 2022, the song was released to radio as an official single in the United States after gaining popularity through commercials and video-sharing app TikTok.^[4] "Unstoppable" reached one billion streams on Spotify at the end of 2023, becoming the third Sia song to achieve this. At the APRA Music Awards of 2024, the song won Most Performed Australian Work Overseas.^[5]

Composition

"Unstoppable" is the fifth track on Sia's 2016 album This Is Acting. It has been called a "stomping, empowering jam" and "swollen self-esteem anthem of her",^[6][7] with lyrics like, "I'm unstoppable, I'm a Porsche with no brakes / I'm invincible, I win every single game / I'm so powerful I don't need batteries to play / I'm so confident yeah I'm unstoppable today."^[8]

Release and commercial use

Sia debuted "Unstoppable" as a promotional single on 20 January 2016, days before the album's 29 January release date.^[9][10] The song marked the sixth used to promote the album prior to its release.^[11] Major League Baseball used the song to promote the 2016 postseason as well as highlights.

In 2019, the song was used in the commercial for the Lancôme Idôle fragrance, which starred Zendaya. In 2022, "Unstoppable" was featured in a commercial for the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra.

Reception

"Unstoppable" has received mostly positive critical reception, with most reviewers commenting on its theme of empowerment. Jessie Morris of Complex commented that the song sounds like a "page torn right out of Demi Lovato's Confident book", while editors of other media platforms like Idolator noticed this as well, which raised speculation that the track was intentionally written for Lovato. Billboard's Jessica Katz said the song is reminiscent of work by Rihanna and "clearly follows in the lineage of emotional barn-burners that have become [Sia's] trademark". Michelle Lulic of Bustle said its lyrics "make it clear is the female empowerment anthem you had no idea you were missing from your life. Seriously, if you need a song to get you through the rest of the work week... and this is the song you've been waiting for." Furthermore, Lulic wrote, "While ... the song was not initially written for [Sia], it certainly doesn't take away from [her] ability to handle the powerful ballad and catchy lyrics. Because, honestly, if it was Rihanna, Adele, or even Katy Perry singing this song, it still wouldn't lose its powerful message."

MTV's Emilee Lindner said it "encourages those who are feeling weak to put their armor on". Furthermore, she wrote, "The song seems like it's taking the message from her previously released track, 'Alive', and giving it a boost. Instead of just surviving, she's going to prove to people that she's going to succeed, and she's going to look good doing it." Daniel Kreps of Rolling Stone called the song "triumphant", with a "fist-pumping, wall-smashing" chorus. Stereogum's Tom Breiham, who wrote about the song after its debut but before This Is Acting's release, guessed that Sia wrote "Unstoppable" with a recording artist like Katy Perry in mind. He compared the song to the work of Florence and the Machine.

Commercial performance

On the Billboard Hot 100, the song debuted at number 98 six years after being released and peaked at number 28, becoming Sia's eighth top 40 hit on the chart. "Unstoppable" has charted in the top five of Adult Contemporary for a record 84 weeks, all consecutively since the ranking dated Oct. 8, 2022. In 2024, "Unstoppable" became the fourth song in history to spend 100 non-consecutive weeks on @billboard's Adult Contemporary Chart.

"Unstoppable" reached one billion streams on Spotify at the end of 2023, becoming the third Sia song to achieve this.

Track listing

Digital download – The Remixes

1. "Unstoppable" (Clarence Clarity remix) – 3:47
2. "Unstoppable" – 3:37
3. "Unstoppable" (R3Hab remix) – 2:42
4. "Unstoppable" (Slowed & Reverb) – 4:12
5. "Unstoppable" (Sped up) – 3:17

Music video

Official remix audio

Trivia

• For a while, the "Unstoppable" music video was the only post-2010 Sia video in which the singer's face was shown in full, when she briefly took over the part otherwise played by Gaby Hoffmann, at the two-minute mark. However, the "Dance Alone" lyric video, released later, features several images of Sia with her face exposed.

Lyrics

References

See also: This Is Acting

This Is Acting
	"Alive" "Bird Set Free" "One Million Bullets" "Move Your Body" "Unstoppable" "Cheap Thrills" "Reaper" "House on Fire" "Footprints" "Sweet Design" "Broken Glass" "Space Between" "Fist Fighting a Sandstorm" "Summer Rain" "The Greatest" "Confetti" "Midnight Decisions" "Jesus Wept