"Sister Christian" | ||||
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Single by Night Ranger | ||||
from the album Midnight Madness | ||||
B-side | "Chippin' Away" | |||
Released | June 1984 | |||
Recorded | 1983 | |||
Genre | Rock, hard rock, glam metal | |||
Length | 5:02 (album) 4:14 (7" single) |
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Label | MCA Records | |||
Writer(s) | Kelly Keagy | |||
Producer(s) | Pat Glasser | |||
Night Ranger singles chronology | ||||
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"Sister Christian" is a power ballad by the American hard rock band Night Ranger. It was released in June 1984 as the second single from their album Midnight Madness. It was ranked number 32 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 1980s. It was written and sung by the band's drummer, Kelly Keagy, for his sister. It was the band's biggest hit, peaking at number five on the Billboard Hot 100, and staying on the charts for 24 weeks.
It also reached number-one in Canada. The song was also featured in Friday the 13th, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Saints Row 2, Parks and Recreation, The Goldbergs, American Dad!, Boogie Nights,Rock Band 3 and Superstar.
The song is about Keagy's little sister, Christy. Keagy wrote the song at his apartment, near Divisadero and California streets in San Francisco, after he had just returned from a visit to his hometown of Eugene, Oregon. He had been struck at how fast his teenaged sister, 10 years younger than he was, was growing up.
"After we started playing it a lot, Jack turned to me and said, 'What exactly are you saying?'" Keagy recalled. "He thought the words were Sister Christian, instead of Sister Christy, so it just stuck."
The lyric, "You're motoring. What's your price for flight? In finding Mr. Right?" is the subject of much debate. The band stated in a VH-1 Behind the Music interview that the term "motoring" was synonymous with the term "cruising."