Written by Wayne Brathwaite, Barry Eastmond, Mutt Lange and Billy Ocean, the song was used as the theme song for the Michael Douglas film, The Jewel of the Nile, the sequel to the hit blockbuster film, Romancing the Stone. The saxophone solo is by Vernon Jeffrey Smith.

Aided by a video featuring Michael Douglas and co-stars Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito as lip-synching backup singers, the song became a major international hit reaching number one on the UK Singles Chart for four weeks in February 1986, and number two on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, stalling behind "How Will I Know" by Whitney Houston.

The Irish boyband Boyzone recorded a cover version for the 1999 Comic Relief telethon, shortening the title to "When The Going Gets Tough". Their version reached number #1 on the UK Singles Chart. The song received a platinum certification in the UK. The video included Graham Norton, Jo Brand, Phill Jupitus, Mel Smith, Davina McCall, Harry Hill, Steve Collins, John McCririck, Jimmy White, Mystic Meg, Will Mellor, James Dreyfus, the cast of Emmerdale, Adam Buxton and Joe Cornish, and Ulrika Jonsson and Saracen from Gladiators.