Who is the original singer of i want to know what love is

I Want to Know What Love Is

Who is the original singer of i want to know what love is

Featured in Episode

"Rites of Passage"

Artist(s)

Foreigner

Top Chart Position (Hot 100)

1 (February 2, 1985, two weeks)

Year Released

1984

Album

Agent Provocateur

Writer(s)

Mick Jones

RIAA Certification

Gold

Sequence song appears

Diane is killed by Lyle while Tubbs & Valerie are in bed

Previous Song

"Till the End"

Next Song

"Renegades of Funk"


"I Want to Know What Love Is" is a song by Foreigner, featured on the album Agent Provocateur in 1984 and released as a single in November of that year. It appeared in the Miami Vice episode "Rites of Passage".

Notes

  • This was Foreigner's only #1 hit on Billboard's Hot 100, and was #1 at the time of "Rites of Passage's" airing. "Waiting For A Girl Like You", from their album 4, remained at #2 for ten weeks in 1981-82 without reaching #1, a feat not matched for 20 years.
  • Additional background vocals are provided by the New Jersey Mass Choir (who appears in the video for the song), Jennifer Holliday (star of Dreamgirls), and the new wave group Thompson Twins.
  • The song is one of several featured in Miami Vice that was later included in the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, which was heavily inspired by the show. The song appears on the fictional in-game radio station Emotion 98.3.

Performers

  • Dennis Elliott - drums, vocals
  • Lou Gramm - percussion, vocals
  • Mick Jones - guitar, keyboard, vocals, background vocals, multiple instruments
  • Rick Wills - bass, background vocals

Video

Miami Vice - Foreigner - I want to know what love is

Scene from "Rites of Passage"

A Timeless Track

Power ballads may often be dismissed or frowned upon by purists but numbers say otherwise – Foreigner’s “I Want to Know What Love Is” topped the US Billboard Hot 100 and UK Singles. It was also a massive hit in several countries and has been used countless times in films. Over three decades after its release, it remains as one of the most enduring radio hits.

It was written and composed by guitarist Mick Jones. According to him, “I always worked late at night, when everybody left and the phone stopped ringing. “I Want to Know What Love Is” came up at three in the morning sometime in 1984. I don’t know where it came from. I consider it a gift that was sent through me. I think there was something bigger than me behind it. I’d say it was probably written entirely by a higher force.”

Speaking to Classic Rock magazine, Jones admitted that “The song was an expression of my tempestuous private life over the three years before.” He added, “I’d been through a divorce, and met someone else who I was going to marry. There’d been turmoil in the band through the huge pressure of selling millions of albums, and me and Lou [Gramm, vocals] were entering a cold-war situation. I’d just come back to England from New York and was happy to be in touch with my roots. So it was an emotional time that stirred up a lot of things.”

Although he “only managed the title, the opening chords and the chorus” that night, he was still able to create the backbone for the track. When he told his soon-to-be wife that about the song, she responded with, “What do you mean? Don’t you already know what love is?” He then took her into the studio and played it for her.

He added, “You always know when you’ve got something strong, and this song definitely moved me.”

When he showed it to his bandmates for their fifth album, Agent Provocateur, he admitted that he “was still looking for ways to enhance it in a spiritual way” and even considered asking Aretha Franklin for advice. He listened to an album by the New Jersey Mass Choir and “immediately had the finished song in my head.”

For the studio sessions, he explained: “We got about 30 of the choir into the Right Track studio in New York. We did a few takes, and it was good, but it was still a bit tentative. So then they all got round in a circle, held hands and said The Lord’s Prayer. And it seemed to inspire them, because after that they did it in one take. I was in tears, because my mum and dad were in the studio too, and it was so emotional.”

Aside from movies, this song was also featured on TV shows, and ads.

Who is the female singer in I Want to Know What Love Is?

Foreigner lead singer Lou Gramm sang lead vocals on the song. The song also features backing vocals from the New Jersey Mass Choir affiliated with the Gospel Music Workshop of America. There are also backing vocals from Dreamgirls star Jennifer Holliday, and keyboard work by Thompson Twins frontman Tom Bailey.

Who wrote the song I wanna know what love is?

Mick JonesI Want to Know What Love Is (1999 Remaster) / Lyricistnull

Who is the original singer of My Love?

"My Love" is a 1965 single release by Petula Clark which, in early 1966, became an international hit, reaching No. ... My Love (Petula Clark song).

Who has covered I Want to Know What Love Is?

Versions.