Heart of Stone is the nineteenth studio album by American singer-actress Cher, released on July 10, 1989 by Geffen Records.[3] As of January 1991, the album had sold more than 4 million copies worldwide.[4] The album was supported by Cher's 1989–1990 Heart of Stone Tour.
Background
Heart of Stone was released in 1989 and was Cher's second studio album for Geffen Records. As with her previous album Cher (1987), Peter Asher, Jon Bon Jovi, Diane Warren, Guy Roche and Desmond Child performed songwriting and/or producing duties. Bonnie Tyler and Michael Bolton performed background vocals on the song "Emotional Fire", which was an outtake from Bolton's 1987 album The Hunger, as was "Starting Over" (Demo versions of both songs exist in bootleg form, and have surfaced on YouTube). The album was recorded in late 1988/early 1989, during the third year of Cher's relationship with Rob Camilletti, to whom she dedicated the album.
Heart of Stone reached number ten in the United States, number seven in the United Kingdom, and by topping the charts in Australia, Heart of Stone became Geffen's first international number-one album.[5] It was Cher's first solo album in the United States (Sonny & Cher's debut album Look at Us reached number two and stayed there for eight weeks) to reach the top 10. Further on in her career, she would go on to have five more top ten albums – Believe, Living Proof, The Very Best of Cher, Closer to the Truth and Dancing Queen. The album has sold more than three million copies in the United States, with 964,000 of those units sold since early 1991, according to Nielsen SoundScan, which began counting actual sales that same year.[6]
The original front cover album art is a painting by Octavio Ocampo that features Cher sitting beside a stone heart. However, when examined in its entirety and from a distance, it is clear this is also a painting of a human skull in profile (note the midriff folds in her dress forming the teeth; see infobox picture).[5] The artwork was changed shortly after its release with more conventional studio photos, making copies with the original artwork collector's items.
Cher recorded two other songs for the album, "Don't Come Cryin' to Me" and "Some Guys", but neither made the final cut. A remixed version of "Don't Come Cryin' to Me" was included on the Geffencompilation albumIf I Could Turn Back Time: Cher's Greatest Hits. The reissue of that album, per Cher's request, does not include the song. A demo version of "Some Guys" was included on the "If I Could Turn Back Time" 7- and 12-inch singles.
Ken Allardyce, Stacy Baird, Tom Biener, Charlie Brocco, George Cowan, Bridget Daly, Jeff DeMorris, Ryan Dorn, Ben Fowler, Paula "Max" Garcia, Clark Germaine, Keith Goldstein, Larry Goodwin, Rob Hart, John Herman, Debbie Johnson, Mike Krowiak, Robin Laine, Jay Lean, Tim Leitner, Paul Logus, Mario Luccy, Richard McKernan, Barbara Milne, Joe Pirrera, Charley Pollard, Craig Porteils, Ray Pyle, Duane Seykora, Dary Sulich, Rich Travali and Jeff Welch – assistant engineers
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