Russ Ballard's Since You've Been Gone – best known for the hit version recorded by Rainbow in 1979 – may be the latest rock classic whose fortunes have been revived by a Hollywood franchise.
During today's annual Super Bowl broadcast, a new trailer for the upcoming movie Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 – due for release on May 5 – was premiered. Rainbow's recording is front and centre, its opening riff precisely punctuated by firing guns, while a voiceover from Peter Quill (played by Chris Pratt) intones: “I’m Star-Lord. I formed the Guardians, met a girl, fell in love. And that girl died. But then she came back… came back a total dick."
"In Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 our beloved band of misfits are settling into life on Knowhere," explain Marvel. "But it isn’t long before their lives are upended by the echoes of Rocket’s turbulent past. Peter Quill, still reeling from the loss of Gamora, must rally his team around him on a dangerous mission to save Rocket’s life – a mission that, if not completed successfully, could quite possibly lead to the end of the Guardians as we know them."
Since You've Been Gone also featured on soundtrack of the action-adventure game Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy, released in October 2021. And it has previously been recorded by all-female South African band Clout, as a duet by former Runaways vocalist Cherie Currie and her sister Marie, plus Brian May, the Graham Bonnet-fronted band Impellitteri, and crooner Michael Ball.
A first trailer for Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 was released in December, soundtracked by In The Meantime, a 1996 hit for English alt-rockers Spacehog. And last month it was revealed that the top-selling cassette tape in the US in 2022 was the Guardians Of The Galaxy, Vol. 2: Awesome Mix Vol. 2 soundtrack, which shifted a grand total of 17,000 copies.
The original Guardians Of The Galaxy film, along with Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2, The Guardians Of The Galaxy Holiday Special and the animated spin-offs are all available on Disney+.
