Breaking Free

For other uses, see Breaking Free (disambiguation).

"Breaking Free" is a song from the Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical. It also appears on the soundtrack of the same name. It is sung by Zac Efron, Drew Seeley^[1] and Vanessa Hudgens. It was also released as a single on June 8, 2006.^[2] On June 21, 2006, it was certified as a Gold single by the RIAA for sales of over 500,000.^[3]

"Breaking Free"
Single by Zac Efron, Drew Seeley and Vanessa Hudgens
from the album High School Musical
B-side	"Start of Something New"
Released	June 8, 2006
Recorded	2005
Genre	Pop
Length	3:27
Label	Walt Disney
Songwriter(s)	Jamie Houston
Producer(s)	Jamie Houston
High School Musical singles chronology
"Breaking Free" (2006) "Get'cha Head in the Game" (2006)
Zac Efron singles chronology
"Breaking Free" (2006) "You Are the Music in Me" (2007)
Drew Seeley singles chronology
"Breaking Free" (2006) "Get'cha Head in the Game" (2006)
Vanessa Hudgens singles chronology
"Breaking Free" (2006) "Come Back to Me" (2006)

Context

While Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez face prejudice from the basketball and scholastic teams, respectively, they both decide that they can pursue their secret dream of performing in a high school musical. The song is sung during the film's climax when Troy and Gabriella participate in the callbacks in front of the entire student body. In-universe, the duet is written and composed by Kelsi Nielsen for the second act of the Twinkle Towne school musical.

Composition

The song, performed at the film's climax, is a "chirpy slow-jam". It's written in the key of C minor in the beginning and then it modulates to D minor at the end of the song. ^[4]

Commercial performance

In its second week on the Billboard Hot 100, the single jumped from number 86 to number 4, the largest jump in the chart's history up to that point. "Breaking Free" was also the top-selling song of the week, reaching number one on the Digital Songs chart. The single went platinum.^[5]

Music video

The music video for this song was a clip from the movie and musical High School Musical. It was not released to any video countdowns in the US, because it was the climax song of the movie and Disney did not want it to be released. In Germany, a music video was created for a remix of the song using behind-the-scenes footage, which was later included on the High School Musical Remix Edition DVD.

Cover versions

British pop-duo Same Difference who came third on series 4 of The X Factor were due to release a cover version of "Breaking Free" on April 21, 2008. However, this was later canceled as the pair started working with Stock Aitken Waterman and recorded a 21st-century version of the Kylie Minogue Japanese hit "Turn It Into Love". The duo did, however, include a studio version of the song on their debut album, Pop.

Kayla Oldenburg also has plans to do a cover version of the song. The song is purported to be recorded in a live outtake from her impending marriage and will be released on a "pay as you see fit" model online. A physical release of the track is planned on 8-track as well.

American rock group The Faded covered a version of "Breaking Free" for the High School Musical Goes Punk compilation on Skunk-Ape Records. The video for the single is available on YouTube. "The original song is beautiful and sweet – there's absolutely nothing wrong with it," says vocalist, Gene Blalock, "but I think the message of the song – being yourself and breaking free from others' expectations and demands – gets lost on a wider audience who only hear this pretty duet. Reworking the song makes the message more accessible." The Faded's version replaces the duet, with Blalock doing the primary vocals, and members Micheal Diamond and Freddy Maciel offering backing harmony.

The rock band Porter Block also recorded a cover for the Ending Room Recordings cover compilation Guilt by Association Vol. 1.

It was also covered by English teenager Skyla in June 2009.

Joshua Bassett and Olivia Rodrigo performed a cover for the season one finale of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. The song was also on the show's soundtrack.

Track listings

US and UK single

1. "Breaking Free"
2. "Start of Something New"

Italian single

1. "Breaking Free"

1. "Start of Something New"
2. "Se Provi a Volare" (Performed by Luca Dirisio)

Mexican single

1. "Eres Tú" (Performed by Belanova)

Portuguese single

1. "Breaking Free"
2. "O Que Eu Procurava" (Performed by Ludov)
3. "Só Tem Que Tentar"

French single

1. "Breaking Free"

European single

1. "Breaking Free"
2. "Breaking Free" (Instrumental)
3. "Breaking Free" (Remix)

Asian single

1. "Breaking Free" (Performed by Vince Chong, Nikki Gil, and Alicia Pan)

Chinese single

1. "Breaking Free (Mandarin Version)"

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2006–07) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[6] 13 Germany (GfK)[7] 46 Ireland (IRMA)[8] 17 Italy (FIMI)[9] 17 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[10] 36 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[11] 4 Scotland (OCC)[12] 6 UK Singles (OCC)[13] 9 US Billboard Hot 100[14] 4 US Pop 100 (Billboard)[15] 6

Year-end charts Chart (2006) Position Australia (ARIA)[16] 95 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[17] 14

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[18]	Gold	45,000‡
Germany (BVMI)[19]	Gold	150,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ)[20]	Gold	15,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[21]	Gold	400,000‡
United States (RIAA)[22]	Platinum	1,000,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Green, Kris; Wilkes, Neil (September 21, 2006). "High School Musical". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on November 18, 2006. Retrieved January 21, 2007. To set the record straight, the majority of what is sung in the movie is definitely sung by someone else. His name is Drew Seeley
2. "High School Musical Cast - Breaking Free". Amazon.com. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
3. "Gold & Platinum". RIAA. Retrieved November 6, 2011.
4. Breihan, Tom (March 24, 2006). "High School Musical: The Cult Success of the Year". Village Voice. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
5. "Walt Disney Records' High School Musical Soundtrack #1 on Billboard's Top 200; Both Soundtrack and Breaking Free Single Are Platinum; Get'cha Head in the Game Single Goes Gold" (Press release). Burbank, California: Walt Disney Records. Business Wire. March 1, 2006. Retrieved February 28, 2018.
6. "Cast Of High School Musical – Breaking Free". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
7. "Cast Of High School Musical – Breaking Free" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
8. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Breaking Free". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
9. "History - FIMI". Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana (in Italian). Retrieved May 3, 2024. Set "Artista/Band" on "Ricerca per". Then, in the "Artista/Band" field, search "Gabriela".
10. "Cast Of High School Musical – Breaking Free" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
11. "Cast Of High School Musical – Breaking Free". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
12. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
13. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
14. "Vanessa Hudgens Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
15. Billboard (February 11, 2006). "Issue date February 11, 2006". Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved August 12, 2021.
16. "ARIA Top 100 Singles for 2006". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
17. "NZ Top 20 Singles for 2006". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
18. "Danish single certifications – Troy, Gabriela & Disney – Breaking Free". IFPI Danmark. Retrieved February 20, 2025.
19. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (The Cast of 'High School Musical'; 'Breaking Free')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved September 3, 2023.
20. "New Zealand single certifications – High School Musical Cast – Breaking Free". Radioscope. Retrieved February 20, 2025. Type Breaking Free in the "Search:" field.
21. "British single certifications – Cast of High School Musical – Breaking Free". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved June 18, 2021.
22. "American single certifications – Soundtrack – Breaking Free". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved February 6, 2025.