Songs have been written about every subject imaginable, but the best ones - from '50s ballads to modern ballads - have been written about the ups and downs of being in love. We're counting the top 50 Hot 100 hits with a form of the word "love" in the title. The romantic songs span all eras of Hot 100 history, ranging from 1958's "To Know Him Is To Love Him" by the Teddy Bears to 2019's Lewis Capaldi's "Someone You Loved". and this list has all kinds of love songs: melodies for "The Power of Love" (Huey Lewis), "The Greatest Love of All" (Whitney Houston), eternal love (Donna Lewis "I Love You Always Forever" ) and NSFW lovin' ("Justify My Love" by Madonna).
It's proof that while musical fads and fads change with each generation, love - and the songs inspired by it - will never go out of style. And we have the numbers to prove it: 9.6% of all Hot 100 No. 1s have the word "love" in the song title.
Ranking is based on actual performance on the weekly Billboard Hot 100 chart.advertising sign'The Top 50 Love Songs of All Time ranking is based on weekly performance on the Hot 100 (from its inception on August 4, 1958 to February 4, 2023) and includes songs with the word "love" in the title (or a variation, such as 'loving', 'affectionate', 'wonderful' etc.). Songs are ranked based on a reverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning more value and weeks at No. 1 earning less. Due to changes in chart methodology over the years, stations are weighted differently to account for chart turnover rates over various periods. Songs are ranked based on a formula combination performance as described above, with weeks at No. 1 earning the most and weeks at No. 100 earning the least. To ensure a fair representation of the biggest hits from each era, some time slots have been weighted to account for the difference between turnover rates for those years.
"Lovin' You" - Minnie Riperton | Hot 100 Peak: Νο. 1 (1975)
After signing with The Gems and Chess Records' Rotary Connection, Riperton joined Stevie Wonder's backing vocalist Wonderlove in 1973. A year later, she signed with Epic, with Wonder producing her first album. The initial single failed to chart, but the follow-up was "Lovin' You".
"You lost that feeling of love" - The Righteous Brothers | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for two weeks (1965)
Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil wrote this song on a rented piano at the Chateau Marmont on the Sunset Strip, inspired by "Baby I Need Your Loving" by The Four Tops. Its fake lyrics were "You've lost that loving feeling", but producer Phil Spector liked them so much that he kept them. The trio finished the song by writing the bridge at Spector's house.
"I love a rainy night" – Eddie Rabbitt | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for two weeks (1981)
After Elvis Presley recorded Eddie Rabbitt's "Kentucky Rain," Elektra signed the Brooklyn-born songwriter as a recording artist. While researching 300 tapes of music and lyrics, Rabbitt heard a six-second track he had recorded 12 years earlier: "I love a rainy night, I love a rainy night." He eventually finished the song and scored his first (and only) number 1 on the Hot 100.
"This guy is in love with you" - Herb Alpert | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for four weeks (1968)
Alpert sang this Burt Bacharach/Hal David song to his wife on the beach in Malibu on a CBS special. The next day, the network was flooded with calls from viewers asking where they could buy the song. A day later, A&M released a single that became the label's first number 1.
"Justify My Love" - Madonna | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for two weeks (1991)
The video for this song was very uncomfortable for MTV, which refused to air it. A few hours after the network's decision, Warner/Reprise Video announced that "Justify My Love" would be the first commercial video single. ABC's "Nightline" aired the entire video, uncensored.
"That's How Love Happens" - Janet Jackson | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for eight weeks (1993)
Jackson's first single for Virgin was based on a sample of James Brown's 1974 #1 R&B hit, "Papa Don't Take No Mess". On first listen, Jackson was unimpressed with the Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis track. The producers asked her to take him on the two-week Christmas break, and when she returned, she said she was "the bomb".
"The Power of Love" - Celine Dion | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for four weeks (1994)
Jennifer Rush, originally from Queens, NY, signed to CBS in Germany and found international success with her fourth single, written for her boyfriend Steven. The song continued to fail in America, with low-successful versions from Rush themselves and Air Supply and a slightly better showing for Laura Branigan. It turned out to be a No. 1 hit for Dion, who told Billboard, "If you want to open up and sing loud, you don't get a better song than 'Power of Love'".
"I just called to say I love you" - Stevie Wonder | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for three weeks (1984)
Dionne Warwick told the producers of Gene Wilder's film "The Woman in Red" that they should ask Wonder to compose the soundtrack. That's how the film won an Oscar. this song, written for the film, won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
"The greatest love of all" - Whitney Houston | Hot 100 Peak: 1 for three weeks (1986)
Michael Masser and Linda Creed wrote this song for the movieThe biggest,a biopic of Muhammad Ali. The single from the George Benson soundtrack reached No. 24 in 1977. Later, when Houston auditioned for Clive Davis, he sang the song, which became the B-side to Arista's first single, "You Give Good Love". . Months later, radio forced it to be released as the fifth single from Houston's debut album.
"The Power of Love" - Huey Lewis & the News | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for two weeks (1985)
Asked to contribute a song toBack to the futuresoundtrack, Lewis said it had the perfect melody: "In the Nick of Time". Negotiations continued for so long that Lewis gave the song to another film,Brewster's Millions. The "Future" people were upset, but Lewis said he had a perfect second song, "Back in Time". For another scene, Lewis created "The Power of Love", which became the film's hit.
"Dreamlover" - Mariah Carey | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for eight weeks (1993)
Carey and producer Dave Hall did not have the title "Dreamlover" when they started writing the song. “Usually… [I] do a song without a title,” says Hall. "Let's take the hook and use it as a title." Their collaboration gave Carey her longest-running #1 hit at the time.
"Love Hangover" - Diana Ross | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for two weeks (1976)
Other companies were heavily into disco in 1976, but not Motown. So it was an anomaly for Ross to record this Pam Sawyer/Marilyn McLeod song. Ross had no problem with the seductive slow first beat, but she started laughing as the beats per minute increased, protesting that she couldn't sing that part. Producer Hal Davis created a club atmosphere in the studio and Ross joined in, resulting in another No. 1 hit for the ex-Supreme.
"Can't Help Falling in Love" - UB40 | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 por sete semanas (1993)
Elvis Presley's version reached #2 in 1962. Three decades later, UB40 was asked to cover the song for the soundtrack.Honeymoon in Las Vegas.The producers passed their version in favor of one by Bono from U2. The UB40 recording may not have been released, but the music supervisor for another film,switches, rescued the track from the vaults of the Virgin.
"I Knew I Loved You" - Savage Garden | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for four weeks (2000)
After producer Walter Afanasieff delivered the new Savage Garden album to Columbia, he received a message to return to the band: “It is an artistic masterpiece. But we want another 'Truly Madly Deeply.'" (the duo's first No. 1). A furious Darren Hayes left for 10 minutes with bandmate Daniel Jones and returned with a full song, "I Knew I Loved You" (the second number 1 of the duo).
"I want to know what love is" - Stranger | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for two weeks (1985)
There was unanimous agreement among the members of Foreigner that this song would make a great single for the group. Lou Gramm thought it could do irreparable damage to rock's image, and Rick Willis thought it was "cute". Mick Jones told Billboard that the track came out "because it was coming out at Christmas and I was in the right mood".
"What's Love Got To Do With It" - Tina Turner | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for three weeks (1984)
Recently signed to Capitol, Turner's first single for the EMI-owned label was a cover of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together", which peaked at a disappointing No. 26 on the Hot 100. The quartet Bucks Fizz recorded it first. Their version was not released and Turner had his first US No.1.
"She Loves You" - The Beatles | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for two weeks (1964)
John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote "She Loves You" on a tour bus in Yorkshire, England. It was producer George Martin's idea to start with the chorus of "She loves you, yes, yes, yes" instead of the first verse.
"Love Child" - Diana Ross and the Supremes | Hot 100 Peak: No 1 for two weeks (1968)
After 10 No. 1 hits written and produced by Holland-Dozier-Holland, Diana Ross and the Supremes entered the studio with a new set of Motown collaborators, leading the trio to their 11th top 10 hit on the Hot 100. "Love Child" was just one of the more socially conscious Motown songs released in early 1968, including "Cloud Nine" by the Temptations and "War" by Edwin Starr.
"(Love is) thicker than water" - Andy Gibb | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for two weeks (1978)
Robin Gibb was considered the 'chart freak' in the family, but Andy was also an avid chart watcher, following the progress of his second Hot 100 single, he recalled. “I missed…the jump in sales activity. And then... it just took off and nothing stopped it."
"I Think I Love You" - The Partridge Family | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for three weeks (1970)
David Cassidy and his stepmother Shirley Jones were the only cast members from the TV series to appear on the group's recordings, and Jones says, “I did very little... I was literally David's lead vocals. I never thought it would have a gold record... it hangs on my wall and I'm very proud of it."
"Love Rollercoaster" - Ohio Players | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for a week (1976)
After 15 years of struggle, the group reached No. 1 in 1975 with "Fire", from their first Mercury album. The next LP,Mel,it yielded a single, "Sweet Sticky Thing", which peaked at number 33. It was the second single, "Love Rollercoaster", which returned the group to pole position.
"I want to dance with someone (who loves me)" - Whitney Houston | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for two weeks (1987)
George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam wrote "How Will I Know" for Houston. Asked to submit another song, they submitted "Waiting for a Star to Fall", and when the response was negative, they recorded it themselves as Boy Meets Girl. Encouraged to try again, it took them just two days to write "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)". This time, Clive Davis said yes.
"Love Will Keep Us Together" - Captain and Tennille | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for four weeks (1975)
Four months after hitting #1 on the Hot 100 with "Laughter in the Rain," Neil Sedaka was back on top as a songwriter thanks to Captain and Tennille's cover of a song by A&M's Kip Cohen.Sedaka’s Backalbum.
"Roses Are Red (My Love)" - Bobby Vinton | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for four weeks (1962)
An unsuccessful Vinton was about to be scrapped by Epic when he found this song in a scrap pile and asked to be given another chance. He recorded it as an R&B song. "It was the worst sound you've ever heard in your life," he admits. The record company agreed to a second session with a new arrangement, added strings and a vocal chorus, and the result was No. 1 on the Hot 100.
"Crazy in Love", Beyonce featuring Jay-Z | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for Eight Weeks (2003)
The first single from Beyoncé's first post-Destiny's Child album (dangerously in love) became the first number 1 of his solo career. "I asked Jay to play the song the night before I had my album delivered," Beyoncé told Billboard. “Thank God he did. It never gets old, no matter how many times I sing it."
"Love the Way You Lie" - Eminem feat. Rihanna | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 por sete semanas (2010)
The combination of Eminem rapping and Rihanna singing about an abusive relationship, something both artists have personally experienced, albeit from different angles, was powerful enough to send the song to No. 1 on the Hot 100 for seven weeks in the summer of 2010. 12x platinum, it is both artists' best-selling song.
"To the Lord With Love" - Lulu | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for five weeks (1967)
Lulu hated the songs of the film's producersFor the gentleman with lovethey were thinking about the soundtrack. She asked her friend Mark London to write a title song that she could sing. He wrote the music in five minutes and the next day Don Black wrote the lyrics. "I was over the moon," says Lulu.
"Vision of Love" -Mariah Carey | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for four weeks (1990)
Shortly after signing with Columbia, Carey wrote her first single with Ben Margulies. She described the composition not so much as a love song, but as a celebration of her life at the time.
"It must have been love" - Roxette | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for two weeks (1990)
Originally recorded as a Christmas song in Sweden in 1987, this track was revised by Per Gessle when asked to update it for thepretty Womansoundtrack. "I heard the director really loved the music," says Gessle. "I also heard that he re-edited the film to get there."
"Love takes time" - Mariah Carey | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for three weeks (1990)
Her first album was completed when Carey played a demo of this song to company president Don Ienner on an airplane. Carey said the song was a "career builder", and despite her protests, the guys stopped and the song was added to her first release.
"Love Yourself" - Justin Bieber | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 por duas semanas (2016)
Ed Sheeran wrote "Love Yourself" for himself, intending it to be on his albumto divide. But then he gave it to Justin Bieber, who also wrote the song, which spent two weeks at the top of the Hot 100 in early 2016 and became Billboard's No. 1 song of the year.
"Woman in Love" - Barbra Streisand | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for three weeks (1980)
Barry and Robin Gibb wrote the song for Streisand, but the former told Billboard that he gives the artist most of the credit. "At least 80 percent of the record's success belongs to her."
"Someone You Loved" - Lewis Capaldi | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for three weeks (2019)
Although Scottish-born Lewis Capaldi first entered the charts in his native UK in 2017, he was unknown in the US when his single 'Someone You Loved' was released. The piano ballad proved to be a huge hit, reaching No. 1 in its 24th week on the Hot 100. The song, which Capaldi wrote for his late grandmother, reigned for three non-consecutive weeks in November 2019.
"Love is Blue" - Paul Mauriat | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for five weeks (1968)
Five years after co-writing Peggy March's #1 hit "I Will Follow Him", Mauriat topped the Hot 100 again with an instrumental cover of "L'Amor Est Bleu", Luxembourg's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1967. . Vicky Leandros performed the song, which placed fourth at the annual music festival.
"To know him is to love H" - The Teddy Bears | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for three weeks (1958)
Phil Spector was inspired to write the song by a photograph of his father's headstone in Beth David Cemetery in New York City. The inscription read: "To know him was to love him".
"Crazy Little Thing Called Love" - Queen | Hot 100: No. 1 for four weeks (1980)
Freddie Mercury wrote the song while in his bathroom at the Munich Hilton. He jumped out of the bathtub and ran to the guitar and piano to play the song. His label was reluctant to release the song in the US, but radio stations played the UK import single anyway, forcing an American release.
"Because You Loved Me" - Celine Dion | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for six weeks (1996)
After watching the movieup close and personal, Diane Warren sat down with director Jon Avnet to talk about her vision for the music she would compose for his film. The next morning, in her office, she recalls, "The chorus made it lyrically and musically."
"My Love" - Paul McCartney and Wings | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for four weeks (1973)
McCartney wrote "My Love" for one of the members of his post-Beatles band, Wings. The inspiration for the sentimental ballad was Linda Louise Eastman, born in Scarsdale, New York, who was a professional photographer before marrying McCartney on March 12, 1969.
"Bloody Love" -Leona Lewis | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for four weeks (2008)
Ryan Tedder and Jesse McCartney wrote the song, inspired by the latter's long-distance romance with his girlfriend. McCartney wanted the song for himself, but his record company wasn't interested, so it went to the season three winner.Or coefficient xnot UK.
"I Can't Stop Loving You" - Ray Charles | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for five weeks (1962)
In 1958, Don Gibson wrote two songs on a hot afternoon in Knoxville, Tennessee. - "Oh Lonesome Me" and "I Can't Stop Loving You". Four years later, Charles was only able to hear the first two lines of the latter before he decided to record it on his album.Modern sounds in country and western music.
"Best of My Love" - The Emotions | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for five weeks (1977)
When the Stax record company went bankrupt, the three Hutchinson sisters had to find a new home. They signed to a production company run by Maurice White of Earth, Wind & Fire. With band member Al McKay, White wrote this song specifically for them and lead vocals by Wanda Hutchinson.
"I Love Rock n' Roll" - Joan Jett and the Blackhearts | Hot 100 Peak: No 1 for seven weeks (1982)
Joan Jett tried to get '70s band The Runaways to record a cover of The Arrows' "I Love Rock n' Roll", but they didn't like it. She recorded a B-side version of a Dutch single (a remake of Lesley Gore's "You Don't Own Me"), but it was her version with backing band the Blackhearts that ruled the Hot 100 for seven weeks in 1982. .
"Because I Love You (The Postman's Song)" - Stevie B | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for four weeks (1990)
Songwriter Warren Allen Brooks says his No. 1 hit was a "spiritual song", even though people think he was writing about the love between a man and a woman. "It's really about me and God having a personal relationship."
"Let Me Love You" - Mario | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for nine weeks (2005)
Mario didn't imagine that this song would be so big. "I didn't know it would touch so many people," he says. "But it was emotional music and these records last forever."
"I Will Always Love You" - Whitney Houston | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for 14 weeks (1992)
Whitney Houston's Signature Song - #1The bodyguard- was originally a No. 1 hit for the woman who wrote the song, Dolly Parton. Her version topped the Hot Country Songs chart in 1974 and again in 1982.
"Silly Love Songs" - Wings | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for five weeks (1976)
1976 was a very good year for love songs reaching pole position on the Hot 100. First was "Love Rollercoaster" by The Ohio Players, followed by "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" by Paul Simon, "Love Machine" by Miracles, The "Let Your Love Flow" by Bellamy Brothers, "Love Hangover" by Diana Ross and the year's longest-running #1 "Silly Love Songs" by Wings.
"We Found Love" - Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 por 10 semanas (2011)
What's more romantic than finding love in a "hopeless place"? Rihanna scored the biggest hit of her career (and the best love song of the 21st century) with just her fourth Hot 100 entry with "love" in the title, following 2005's "If It's Lovin' That You Want", "Hate That I Love You" (2007) and her lead role in Eminem's "Love the Way You Lie" (2010).
"How Deep Is Your Love", Bee Gees | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for three weeks (1977)
Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb had not seen the script for the movie that was made.Saturday Night Feverwhen they wrote "How Deep Is Your Love" for the soundtrack. They weren't even sure if there was a love scene in the movie. They intended the song for Yvonne Elliman, but their manager Robert Stigwood insisted that they record it themselves.
"I'm Gonna Make Love To You" - Boyz II Men | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for 14 weeks (1994)
When the members of Boyz II Men first heard Babyface's composition "I'll Make Love to You", they were concerned about recording a song too close to their previous hit, "End of the Road". Explains Nathan Morris: "The record company told us to do this and, thank God, it worked."
"Endless Love" Diana Ross and Lionel Richie | Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for nine weeks (1981)
Producer Jon Peters and director Franco Zeffirelli asked Lionel Richie to compose an instrumental based on the theme fromRomancefor the movieEndless Lovestarring Brooke Shields. When Zeffirelli changed his mind and asked Richie if he would add lyrics, the Motown star agreed to write some. Zeffirelli then made one more request - to add a female singer, someone like Diana Ross.