'Footloose' Songwriter Once Said the '80s Movie Was No 'Gone With the Wind'

Kenny Logginswas inducted into the 2026 Songwriters Hall of Fame on June 11. His credits include songs for iconic movies, but there was one he didn’t think would be successful before its release.

Kenny Loggins Couldn’t Predict the Success of ‘Footloose’

Loggins, 78, told AXS TV that he befriended John Peters, who did A Star Is Born with Barbra Streisand. He wrote “I Believe in Love” for the 1976 movie. One can probably guess the musical would do well with icon as the lead. But he wasn’t sure about other projects.

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Footloose starring Kevin Bacon and Lori Singer was unpredictable. Ren (Bacon) moves to a town where dancing isn’t allowed. He makes it his mission to change that. Dean Pitchford wrote the coming-of-age movie, and asked Loggins to write music for it. The songwriter read the screenplay for inspiration.

“Well, it’s not Gone With the Wind, but–” Loggins said. The songwriter said it’s not uncommon for people to ask him to write songs for their movies. But he accepted to do this as a favor for his friend with low expectations.

He wrote “Footloose,” and “I’m Free (Heaven Helps the Man) for the dance movie. The titular song was nominated for an Academy Award. “A year later, this is the biggest movie of the summer,” Loggins said. “You can’t see that coming.”

The songwriter also wrote songs for Caddyshack, Over the Top, and Top Gun. However, “Footloose” is his only Oscar nomination, which he lost to Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called to Say I Love You” for The Woman in Red.

Of course, the iconic song was used again for the 2011 Footloose remake. Blake Shelton’s cover of the hit was used for the new spin on the story.

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