probably, all of the above." Rik Ambelle from Crawley News stated that Carey "really is at her best" on ballads like "Hero". Entertainment Weekly wrote that "there's a timelessness" to the song "that's almost jarring — it's such a classic chest-pounder that it's as if we've always had 'Hero', and the imaginary movie scene to go with it." Annette M. Lai from the Gavin Report commented that the song is "less commercial", "in that its hook is rather subtle, but still worthy of mention because of its inspiring message about believing in oneself and one's dreams." Another editor, Ron Fell, called it "a wonderful song of self-assuring courage". In his weekly UK chart commentary, James Masterton wrote, "The first ever Mariah Carey single that I will hold my hand up and admit to loving, "Hero" eases back on the vocal histrionics and ups the emotion to produce this tender ballad which crashes straight in to beat the peak of the last single and becomes her highest new entry ever." In an retrospective review, Pop Rescue noted that Carey's vocals "are flawless, and the song flows perfectly along with her." Nathan Brackett from Rolling Stone called the singer's vocal tone "golden" and regarded "Hero" as "a standard for weddings, funerals and singing auditions." It received a mixed review from The Washington Post editor Mike Joyce, who while impressed, claimed it was not as good as competing ballads of the time. Paul Gettelmen of the Orlando Sentinel criticized the song, calling it a "rip-off" of Whitney Houston's "Greatest Love of All". Stephen Holden, another editor from Rolling Stone also noted an inspiration and similarity to "Greatest Love of All" and calling its lyrics "made up entirely of pop and soul clichés". Chart performance "Hero" became Carey's eighth chart topper on the US Billboard Hot 100. It reached the number one position in its tenth week and spent four weeks at the top, from December 25, 1993, to January 15, 1994. It replaced "Again" by Janet Jackson, and was replaced by Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting's "All for Love". In total, the song remained in the top 40 for 25 weeks, with 16 of those spent in the top ten. On the Billboard year-end Charts for 1994, "Hero" finished at number five, number 53 on the decade-end chart and number three on the year-end Airplay Chart. "Hero" has been certified double-platinum by