100 Fun Facts About Love Song

Who wrote and originally recorded "I Will Always Love You" in 1973?

Dolly Parton wrote it as a goodbye to her mentor Porter Wagoner, then turned down an Elvis Presley cover when his camp demanded a share of the publishing rights.

Which actor pushed for Whitney Houston to open 'I Will Always Love You' with no music behind her?

Kevin Costner, her co-star in The Bodyguard, said that singing the first lines without music would show how much her character loved his.

Which Beatles song did Frank Sinatra call "the greatest love song of the past 50 years"?

Something was written by George Harrison, yet Sinatra, who sang it for years, is said to have introduced it on stage as a Lennon and McCartney song.

Eric Clapton wrote 'Layla' about which woman, then married to his friend George Harrison?

Pattie Boyd turned Clapton down at first, but she divorced Harrison in 1977 and married Clapton in 1979, and the two guitarists stayed good friends.

'Unchained Melody' takes its name from Unchained, a 1955 film set in what kind of place?

A prison. The song voices an inmate longing for the wife waiting outside, and Todd Duncan sings it on screen as one of the prisoners.

Which duo's 1965 hit 'Unchained Melody' is really a solo, sung by only one of them?

The Righteous Brothers let Bobby Hatfield sing it alone, and the label tucked it away on a B-side until radio DJs chose to play it instead.

'Unchained Melody' returned to the charts in 1990 thanks to which film?

Ghost played it over the pottery-wheel scene with Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore, and the 25-year-old recording went to number one in the UK.

Who wrote and produced "Endless Love", the 1981 duet with Diana Ross?

Lionel Richie was first asked only for an instrumental theme; director Franco Zeffirelli then decided he wanted lyrics, and Diana Ross to sing them.

Who composed the music for Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On"?

James Horner wrote it for Titanic, but Celine Dion did not want to record it until her husband, René Angélil, persuaded her to sing a demo.

Ed Sheeran wrote 'Perfect' for which old school friend, whom he later married?

Cherry Seaborn was working in New York when he wrote it; he says the chorus came from dancing barefoot on the grass at James Blunt's house in Ibiza.

Ed Sheeran won a 2023 court case over claims that 'Thinking Out Loud' copied which Marvin Gaye classic?

Let's Get It On. Sheeran argued that the chord progression the two songs share is a common building block of many pop songs, and the jury found that he had created his own independently.

Which singer performed 'At Last' for Barack and Michelle Obama's first dance on inauguration night in 2009?

Beyoncé sang it at the Neighborhood Ball, having just played the song's best-known singer in the film Cadillac Records, and that singer grumbled in public about being passed over.

Whose 1960 recording turned "At Last" into her signature song?

Etta James's version peaked at only number 47 on the US pop chart, yet it went on to become a standard at weddings.

Elvis Presley recorded "Can't Help Falling in Love" in 1961 for which film?

Blue Hawaii gave him the ballad he went on to close most of his concerts with; it was the last song he ever sang on stage, in Indianapolis in June 1977.

'Can't Help Falling in Love' borrows its melody from a 1784 love song from which country?

France. The tune is 'Plaisir d'amour', a French romance whose composer, Jean-Paul-Égide Martini, was a German-born musician with an Italian-sounding name.

Which reggae band's 1993 "Can't Help Falling in Love" spent seven weeks atop the Hot 100?

UB40's cover was the lead single from the Sharon Stone thriller Sliver; the band topped the US chart only twice, and neither song was its own, the other being Neil Diamond's 'Red Red Wine'.

Who wrote the lyrics to Elton John's "Your Song"?

Bernie Taupin says he scribbled the words over breakfast at the flat where he was staying with Elton's family, and denies the popular story that he wrote them on a London rooftop.

Who wrote "Nothing Compares 2 U", the 1990 hit for Sinéad O'Connor?

Prince gave it to The Family, a band on his own label, whose 1985 version was never a single; it went almost unheard until O'Connor covered it five years later.

Sinéad O'Connor said her real tears in the "Nothing Compares 2 U" video were for whom?

Her mother had died in a car accident in 1985; O'Connor said she had not planned to cry on camera but thought, 'I should let this happen.'

Which 2003 number one is built on a horn blast sampled from the Chi-Lites' 'Are You My Woman'?

Crazy in Love. Its singer at first found the horn sample too old-fashioned, but producer Rich Harrison, who had long been saving it for the right artist, won her over.

Which Cure single did Robert Smith write as a wedding present for his fiancée, Mary Poole?

Lovesong. Smith had met Mary Poole at school when they were about 14; the gift he wrote before their 1988 wedding became The Cure's biggest American hit.

Billy Joel says he nearly left which song off The Stranger until Linda Ronstadt and Phoebe Snow praised it?

Just the Way You Are. Joel wrote it for his first wife, Elizabeth, but thought little of it; it then won the Grammys for Record and Song of the Year.

Whose 1983 comeback single was a cover of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together"?

Tina Turner recorded it in London with producers from the synth-pop band Heaven 17, and the hit was followed a few months later by her album Private Dancer.

Which 1984 ballad was a George Michael solo single in the UK but billed in the US as 'Wham! featuring George Michael'?

Careless Whisper. George Michael thought it up at 17 on a bus ride to work, and about ten saxophonists tried the opening riff before one satisfied him.

Seal's "Kiss from a Rose" became a US number one after being featured in which 1995 film?

Batman Forever played it under the end credits a year after the single first came out; Seal had written it years earlier and tossed the tape aside.

Which song did the Beatles perform as Britain's entry in Our World, the first live global TV broadcast, in 1967?

All You Need Is Love. The brief was a message that viewers in every country could understand, which is why John Lennon kept the words so simple.

John Legend dedicated "All of Me" to which person?

Chrissy Teigen was his fiancée and stars in the video, shot in Italy just before their Lake Como wedding; it ends with footage of the real ceremony.

Adele's "Make You Feel My Love" is a cover of a song written by whom?

Bob Dylan's song reached her through her manager; Adele said its lyrics summed up what she had been trying to say, and it became the only cover on her debut album.

The Goo Goo Dolls wrote 'Iris' for which 1998 film?

City of Angels. John Rzeznik wrote it in the voice of the film's hero, who gives up immortality to feel human love; the title came from singer Iris DeMent's name, spotted in print.

Savage Garden, who took "Truly Madly Deeply" to number one in 1998, come from which country?

Australia. The duo spent eight months in Sydney recording their debut album, where Darren Hayes reworked an old demo with a lyric about 'magical kisses' into this song.

Bryan Adams's "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" was the theme to which 1991 film?

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves supplied a love theme by its composer, Michael Kamen; Adams and his producer built the song on it in about an hour, and it then topped the UK chart for sixteen straight weeks.

Who composed "Take My Breath Away", Berlin's Oscar-winning ballad from Top Gun?

Giorgio Moroder gave his demo to Tom Whitlock, a mechanic who had been working on his Ferrari and had let him know that he also wrote lyrics.

Which Beach Boys love song has Paul McCartney called the greatest song ever written?

God Only Knows. Brian Wilson wrote it with lyricist Tony Asher, then handed the lead vocal to his younger brother Carl instead of singing it himself.

Paul McCartney wrote "Maybe I'm Amazed" in 1969 about which person?

Linda Eastman had just become his wife; he credited her with getting him through the Beatles' break-up, and he played every instrument on the recording himself.

Stevie Wonder accepted his Oscar for which song in the name of Nelson Mandela?

I Just Called to Say I Love You. After the 1985 speech, South Africa's government banned his music from the country's radio stations.

Who wrote Aerosmith's 1998 hit 'I Don't Want to Miss a Thing'?

Diane Warren pictured a singer like Celine Dion, not a hard rock band; Aerosmith came aboard only after Steven Tyler's daughter Liv was cast in the film it was written for.

Which Journey ballad is so close to 'Purple Rain' that its writer was phoned and asked to approve the newer song?

Faithfully. Jonathan Cain, who began it on a napkin on the tour bus, listened to 'Purple Rain' and gave his blessing, since the two ballads only shared a few chords.

Which actress co-starred with Enrique Iglesias in the music video for "Hero"?

Jennifer Love Hewitt plays his lover on the run, with Mickey Rourke among their pursuers; released shortly before the September 11 attacks, the ballad took on a new meaning on American radio.

Whose 1991 cover of "When a Man Loves a Woman" reached number one on the Hot 100?

Michael Bolton took the song back to number one 25 years after Percy Sledge, who said in one telling that it began as a slow blues he improvised on stage while upset over a break-up.

Christina Perri wrote "A Thousand Years" for which film's soundtrack?

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1. Perri, a devoted fan of the series, watched an early screening and then wrote it as a love song to Edward and Bella.

Which Adele hit was the first song with only a voice and a piano to top the Billboard Hot 100?

Someone Like You. Adele wrote it after learning that her ex-boyfriend had got engaged to someone else months after they split; co-writer Dan Wilson plays the piano.

Lonestar's "Amazed" was the first country song to top the pop chart since which 1983 duet?

Islands in the Stream. The Bee Gees wrote it as an R&B song for a different singer before Kenny Rogers turned it into a country duet.

Which Cyndi Lauper ballad took its title from a TV Guide listing for a 1979 film?

Time After Time. The title came before the song: Lauper spotted the film, in which H. G. Wells chases Jack the Ripper through time, while writing with Rob Hyman.

Which singer joined Taylor Swift on the 2019 duet remix of "Lover"?

Shawn Mendes wrote a new verse of his own for the remix of a song Swift had written entirely by herself, late one night at the piano.

Lady Gaga's 2024 hit "Die with a Smile" is a duet with which singer?

Bruno Mars had been sitting on the unfinished song; he played it for Gaga at his studio late one night, and they completed it together in that one session.

Who wrote The Temptations' "My Girl"?

Smokey Robinson wrote it with fellow Miracle Ronald White, tailoring it to David Ruffin, who had never sung lead on a Temptations single; it became the group's first number one.

Sonny & Cher's "I Got You Babe" wakes Bill Murray every morning in which film?

Groundhog Day makes it the song on his clock radio each time the same day starts again; when Sonny Bono woke Cher in the night to sing it, she disliked it and went straight back to bed.

Boyz II Men's "I'll Make Love to You" was written and produced by whom?

Babyface had co-written the group's earlier smash 'End of the Road'; the group objected to releasing this follow-up as a single, but Motown's president overruled them.

Which French singer wrote the words to her own signature song, 'La Vie en rose'?

Édith Piaf wrote the words, with the melody credited to the composer Louiguy, and the song turned a French star into an international one.

Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper's Oscar-winning duet "Shallow" comes from which 2018 film?

A Star Is Born. Her character first sings a snatch of it in a parking lot, then is coaxed on stage by his to perform it in front of a crowd.

Which singer's 'Never Gonna Give You Up' topped charts in 25 countries and later became an internet prank?

Rick Astley had Britain's best-selling single of 1987 with it; twenty years later, misleading links to its video made the 'rickroll' an internet meme.

Which Carpenters wedding favourite began as the jingle in a 1970 California bank commercial?

We've Only Just Begun was written in an afternoon for Crocker bank's TV ad about newlyweds; Richard Carpenter saw it and recognised Paul Williams's voice.

Minnie Riperton's 'Lovin' You' began as a melody to distract her baby daughter, who grew up to be which actress?

Maya Rudolph was in the studio the day it was recorded, and Riperton sings her name over and over as the album version fades out.

Taylor Swift's 'Love Story' rewrites which Shakespeare tragedy to end with a marriage proposal?

Romeo and Juliet could have been 'the best love story ever told', Swift felt, but for its ending; she wrote the song about a boy her family and friends disliked.

Which Broadway musical's song 'Seasons of Love' measures a year as 525,600 minutes?

Rent has its whole cast line up to sing it before the second act's story begins, concluding that a year is best measured in love.

Which band's 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' did its singer write while relaxing in a Munich hotel bath?

Queen scored their first US number one with it; Freddie Mercury wrote it as a tribute to his musical heroes Elvis Presley and Cliff Richard.

Which band's 'Every Breath You Take' sounds like a gentle love song, though its writer calls it sinister?

The Police had the biggest US hit of 1983 with it, eight weeks at number one, yet Sting says the words belong to a possessive lover and are 'ugly'.

Which singer co-wrote 'Ring of Fire' years before marrying Johnny Cash, the man who made it a hit?

June Carter wrote it with Merle Kilgore, and her sister Anita recorded it first; Cash then added the mariachi-style horns he said he had heard in a dream.

Which singer's 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' was first conceived by its writer as a vampire love song?

Bonnie Tyler spent four weeks at number one in the US with it; writer Jim Steinman's working title was 'Vampires in Love', from a planned Nosferatu musical.

Which singer wrote 'You're Beautiful' about glimpsing his ex-girlfriend on the London Underground?

James Blunt saw her with a new man he had not known existed; the song became his first hit and reached number one in ten countries.

Which Elvis Presley ballad sets new words to 'Aura Lea', a sentimental tune from the American Civil War?

Love Me Tender drew more than a million advance orders after Presley sang it on The Ed Sullivan Show, making it a gold record before it was even released.

Which country singer had a 1961 crossover hit with 'Crazy', a ballad written by Willie Nelson?

Patsy Cline's recording was later named the most played song on American jukeboxes; by one account, Nelson first pitched it by playing his demo on a bar's jukebox.

Which ballad did Elvis Presley record weeks after separating from Priscilla, later a hit for Willie Nelson?

Always on My Mind won three Grammys in Nelson's 1982 version, then went synth-pop when the Pet Shop Boys took it to number one in Britain in 1987.

Which Nat King Cole ballad did his daughter Natalie rework into a Grammy-winning duet with his 1951 vocal?

Unforgettable won Record and Song of the Year in 1992; Natalie had already been singing along to a tape of her late father on stage through the 1980s.

Who sang 'Somethin' Stupid' with her father in 1967, the only father-daughter duet to top the Hot 100?

Nancy Sinatra laughed off people calling it 'the Incest Song'; her producer Lee Hazlewood had told Frank that if he didn't sing it with her, he would.

Which songwriter gave his bride, Ellin Mackay, the royalties to his ballad 'Always' as a wedding present?

Irving Berlin wrote it while courting Mackay, an heiress whose father, a telegraph tycoon, objected to the match; they married in 1926 all the same.

Which Rodgers and Hart ballad was first sung in the 1937 Broadway musical Babes in Arms?

My Funny Valentine is sung to a character renamed Valentine to fit the lyric, and its teasing about his 'laughable' looks echoed lyricist Lorenz Hart's fear that he was too short and ugly to be loved.

Which former Drifters singer based his hit 'Stand by Me' on an old gospel hymn?

Ben E. King wrote it for the Drifters, who passed on recording it, so he cut it himself; the hymn was Charles Albert Tindley's 'Stand by Me', drawn from Psalm 46.

Which girl group's 'Be My Baby' opens with one of the most copied drum beats in pop?

The Ronettes made it their debut for producer Phil Spector, and it so impressed Brian Wilson that he wrote 'Don't Worry Baby' as an answer song.

Which Motown trio's 'Baby Love' was the second of five US number-one singles in a row?

The Supremes became the first Motown act with more than one US chart-topper, and 'Baby Love' also spent two weeks at number one in Britain.

Which singer recorded the original 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough' as a duet with Marvin Gaye?

Tammi Terrell collapsed into Gaye's arms on stage in October 1967 and was found to have a brain tumour; she died in 1970 at the age of 24.

Whose version of 'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face' became a hit after Clint Eastwood used it in a film?

Roberta Flack's album track waited three years to become a single; Ewan MacColl had written the song for Peggy Seeger and taught it to her over the telephone.

Who first recorded 'I Say a Little Prayer', a year before Aretha Franklin's hit version?

Dionne Warwick took the original to number four in 1967; lyricist Hal David meant it as a woman's worry for her man serving in the Vietnam War.

Which singer wrote 'Annie's Song' for his wife in about ten minutes while riding a ski lift in Aspen?

John Denver had just come down a difficult run on Aspen Mountain in January 1973 when the tune arrived; he skied home and wrote it down.

Which country singer claimed to have written 'Stand by Your Man' in 20 minutes, then spent decades defending it?

Tammy Wynette wrote it with producer Billy Sherrill and meant no political message, but feminists attacked it and Hillary Clinton took a swipe at it on 60 Minutes in 1992.

Which singer wrote 'You're Still the One' to answer critics who doubted her marriage to producer Mutt Lange?

Shania Twain and Lange drew scepticism for their different backgrounds and 17-year age gap, so the two of them wrote the ballad as a tribute to the marriage.

Which R&B quartet turned a country number one, John Michael Montgomery's 'I Swear', into a pop smash?

All-4-One spent 11 straight weeks atop the Hot 100 with a cover released only five months after Montgomery's original came out.

Which country star's duet 'It's Your Love', sung with his wife Faith Hill, led the country chart for six weeks?

Tim McGraw shot the video with Hill while she was pregnant with their first daughter, Gracie; no single had topped the country chart for so long since 1977.

Which singer wrote her 2007 breakthrough 'Love Song' out of frustration with her own record label?

Sara Bareilles kept getting a thumbs down for the songs she handed in, so she wrote one just for herself; the label liked it, and it spent 41 weeks on the Hot 100.

Which rock singer took 'I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)' to number one in 28 countries?

Meat Loaf shares the closing duet with English singer Lorraine Crosby, whom the album notes credit only as 'Mrs. Loud'.

Which rock band's 'I Want to Know What Love Is' is backed by a gospel choir from New Jersey?

Foreigner scored their only number one on either side of the Atlantic with it, knocking Band Aid off the top in Britain and Madonna in America.

Which band's 'True' did guitarist Gary Kemp write about his feelings for Altered Images singer Clare Grogan?

Spandau Ballet's Kemp kept the friendship platonic because he already had a girlfriend, and he drew on Marvin Gaye and Al Green records for the song's soul sound.

Which band's 'Eternal Flame' was inspired by a memorial at Elvis Presley's grave, seen on a private tour of Graceland?

The Bangles' Susanna Hoffs sang the studio vocal naked after her producer fibbed that Olivia Newton-John recorded that way; he later owned up to the prank.

Which singer wrote 'Right Here Waiting' as a love letter to his wife while she was filming in South Africa?

Richard Marx wrote it for actress Cynthia Rhodes and planned to give it away to Barbra Streisand, who turned it down; his own version spent three weeks at number one.

Which band's 'Sweet Child o' Mine' began as a guitar warm-up and became a song about Erin Everly?

Guns N' Roses got their only US number one from it; Slash was pulling faces at the drummer and playing a 'circus' melody when the riff took shape.

Which funk-metal band topped the Hot 100 in 1991 with the acoustic ballad 'More Than Words'?

Extreme's ballad asks a lover to show her feelings instead of just saying 'I love you'; Gary Cherone sings it over Nuno Bettencourt's acoustic guitar.

Which synth-pop duo found worldwide fame by reworking Gloria Jones's 1964 soul recording 'Tainted Love'?

Soft Cell knew it as a Northern soul favourite; their version needed 19 weeks to crack the American Top 40, then stayed on the Hot 100 for a then-record 43.

Which band wrote and first recorded 'Love Is All Around', later a 15-week UK number one for Wet Wet Wet?

The Troggs' Reg Presley wrote it in about ten minutes after watching a Salvation Army band perform 'Love That's All Around' on television.

Which group kept 'How Deep Is Your Love' for themselves after it was nearly given to Yvonne Elliman?

Bee Gees manager Robert Stigwood insisted that the brothers sing it themselves; it topped the Hot 100 on Christmas Day 1977 and stayed in the Top 10 for 17 weeks.

Which band's 'You Make Loving Fun' was about an affair, though its writer told her husband it was about her dog?

Fleetwood Mac's Christine McVie wrote it about the band's lighting director, Curry Grant, and gave bassist John McVie the cover story 'to avoid flare-ups'.

Which soul singer wrote 'Love's Theme', an orchestral instrumental that reached number one on the Hot 100?

Barry White wrote it in 1965 but waited until late 1973 to record it with his Love Unlimited Orchestra; it became one of the best-selling pop instrumentals ever.

Which singer wrote the wedding favourite 'Have I Told You Lately' as a prayer, before Rod Stewart's hit cover?

Van Morrison released it on his 1989 album Avalon Sunset, and British DJs later voted his recording a top-ten first dance; Stewart's cover reached number five in Britain and America.

Which rock band's only US number one, 'Babe', was written as a birthday present for the singer's wife?

Styx's Dennis DeYoung wrote it for his wife Suzanne; it spent two weeks at the top in December 1979, making it the second-to-last number one of the 1970s.

Which English actress sang Serge Gainsbourg's 1969 duet 'Je t'aime... moi non plus', denounced by the Vatican?

Jane Birkin was the second to record it: Gainsbourg wrote it for Brigitte Bardot, who had demanded 'the most beautiful love song he could imagine' after a bad date.

Which band's 'Hey There Delilah' was written for a real steeplechase runner who had turned the singer down?

Plain White T's frontman Tom Higgenson had to imagine the romance; he handed Delilah DiCrescenzo a disc of the finished song in late 2004.

Which singer's 2008 hit 'I'm Yours' set a then-record of 76 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100?

Jason Mraz never took it higher than number six, yet it outlasted the 69-week run of LeAnn Rimes's 'How Do I Live' before later hits beat it in turn.

Which band's 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' has its title carved on singer Ian Curtis's memorial stone?

Joy Division released it a month after Curtis died in 1980; he had written it about his troubled marriage to Deborah, who chose the inscription.

Which band's 'Chasing Cars' took off in America after closing a season of the medical drama Grey's Anatomy?

Snow Patrol's ballad was named the most-played song of the 21st century on UK radio in 2019, thirteen years after that season finale aired.

Which Welsh band wrote and first recorded 'Without You', later a number one for Harry Nilsson and Mariah Carey?

Badfinger's Pete Ham and Tom Evans won an Ivor Novello Award for it in 1972, and more than 180 artists have recorded the ballad since their 1970 original.

Which singer's worldwide number one 'Bleeding Love' was first written for and recorded by Jesse McCartney?

Leona Lewis had won The X Factor in 2006; co-writer Ryan Tedder had never heard of the show but said she had one of the best voices he had ever heard.