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Endless Love (song)

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For other uses, see Endless Love (disambiguation).
"Endless Love"
Song
B-side"Endless Love (instrumental)"
"Endless Love"
Diana Ross and Lionel Richie "Endless Love" from Endless Love: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
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"Endless Love" is a song written by Lionel Richie and originally recorded as a duet between Richie and fellow soul singer Diana Ross. In this ballad, the singers declare their "endless love" for one another. It was covered by soul singer Luther Vandross with R&B singer Mariah Carey and also by country music singer Shania Twain. Richie's friend (and sometimes co-worker) Kenny Rogers has also recorded the song. Billboard has named the original version as the greatest song duet of all-time.[1]

About the record

Ross and Ritchie recorded the song for Motown, and it was used as the theme for the Franco Zeffirelli's film Endless Love. Produced by Richie and arranged by Gene Page, it was released as a single from the film's soundtrack in 1981. While the film Endless Love was a modest box-office success, the song became the second biggest-selling single of the year (first was "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes) in the U.S. and reached number 1 on the Hot 100, where it stayed for nine weeks from August 15 to October 10, 1981. It also topped the Billboard R&B chart and the Adult Contemporary chart, and reached number 7 in the UK.

The soulful composition became the biggest-selling single of Ross' career, and her 18th and final career number-one single (including her work with The Supremes). It also was Ritchie's highest charting single, and the first of several hits for Ritchie during the 1980s. Ross recorded a solo version of the song for her first RCA Records album, Why Do Fools Fall in Love, the duet version being her last hit on Motown. The song was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for Ritchie, and was the second song with which Ross was involved that was nominated for an Oscar. It also won a 1982 American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Single.

Chart performance

Preceded by Billboard Hot 100 number-one single (Ross/Richie version)
August 15, 1981 - October 10, 1981 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Billboard Hot Soul Singles number-one single (Ross/Richie version)
August 22, 1981 - October 3, 1981 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Billboard Adult Contemporary (chart) number-one single (Ross/Richie version)
September 5, 1981 (3 weeks) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
"You Drive Me Crazy" by Shakin' Stevens
 Australian Kent Music Report number-one single (Ross/Richie version)
October 5, 1981 - October 26, 1981 		Succeeded by
"You Weren't in Love with Me" by Billy Field

Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey version

"Endless Love"
Song
"Endless Love"
Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey's "Endless Love" from Songs
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Walter Afanasieff produced Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey's cover of the song for Vandross' Epic Records-released album Songs, and it is known for being Carey's first "high-profile" duet (an earlier duet, "I'll Be There", was with the then-unknown background singer Trey Lorenz). At the 1995 Grammy Awards, the song was nominated in the new category of Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals, losing to "Funny How Time Slips Away" by Al Green and Lyle Lovett. Columbia Records later included the song on Carey's compilation album Greatest Hits (2001) and then again on her next compilation album, The Ballads (2008). It was released as the second single from Songs in 1994.

Recording

Sony Music Entertainment President Tommy Mottola suggested that Vandross record Songs, an album of cover versions. Featuring Vandross' versions of songs like Stephen Stills' "Love the One You're With", Heatwave's "Always and Forever", and Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly", the album was shaping up to be a major career accomplishment. To give the album a bigger boost, Mottola's then-wife, Mariah Carey, came up with the idea to remake "Endless Love" as a duet with her. Lionel Richie and Diana Ross had originally recorded "Endless Love" in 1981, and the song spent nine weeks at number 1. Although Luther's album was already set to contain one Lionel Richie composition, "Hello", it was obvious that having the most-popular female singer on the Sony label singing on the album would be a benefit.[11]

Critical reception

AllMusic senior editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine highlighted this track.[12] Entertainment Weekly's Jeremy Helligar wrote that if Luther wants a No. 1 he needs something less drippy than "Endless Love".[13]

Track listings

7" single[14][15]

  1. "Endless Love" - 4:21
  2. "Endless Love" (instrumental) - 4:22

Japanese 3" CD single[16]

  1. "Endless Love" - 4:21
  2. "Endless Love" (Mariah only) - 4:22
  3. "Endless Love" (Luther only) - 4:22
  4. "Endless Love" (instrumental) - 4:22

UK and European CD maxi single[17][18]

  1. "Endless Love" - 4:21
  2. "Endless Love" (instrumental) - 4:22
  3. "Never Too Much (live) - 5:00
  4. "Any Love" (live) - 5:22
  5. "She Won't Talk to Me" (live) - 5:14

Chart performance

"Endless Love" debuted on September 10, 1994 at number 31 and peaked at number 2 being held back from the top position by Boyz II Men's "I'll Make Love to You". The song became Luther Vandross' biggest pop hit ever and gave Lionel Richie his first top ten as a songwriter in seven years. It became Vandross's fifth top-ten single and Carey's twelfth. It remained in the top forty for thirteen weeks, and was ranked number 56 on the Hot 100 1994 year-end charts. It was also an improvement over Carey's previous single, "Anytime You Need a Friend", which had missed the top ten. It was certified gold by the RIAA.

The song was a success outside the U.S, reaching the top of the chart in New Zealand (for five weeks) and the top five in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, and the Netherlands. It also reached the top 20 in most of the countries. It was certified Platinum in Australia by ARIA and in New Zealand by RIANZ.

Total sales in the UK stand at 230,000.[19]

Music video

Two music videos were released for the single; one features Carey and Vandross recording the song in a studio, and the other shows the two performing the song live at Royal Albert Hall. The latter performance is included on the Luther Vandross: From Luther with Love music video collection in DVD format.

Some versions of the song itself were released, in which Carey or Vandross sings solo.

Charts and certifications

Lionel Richie and Shania Twain version

"Endless Love"
Song

Lionel Richie re-recorded the song in 2011 as a duet with country singer Shania Twain. It was released as the lead single from his album Tuskegee on February 7, 2012. The recording process of song was documented in the final episode of Twain's reality docudrama series, Why Not? with Shania Twain, which aired on June 12, 2011.

Music video

A music video for the song was recorded in the Bahamas in February 2012. The video, directed by Paul Boyd, was released to country music channels CMT and GAC on March 23, 2012.

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2012) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders)[59] 99
US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100[60] 16
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[61] 12

Year-end charts

Chart (2012) Rank
US Adult Contemporary[62] 30

Song appearances

The song was included in Adam Sandler's movie Happy Gilmore when Happy and his girlfriend Virginia are ice skating, and the song begins to play. Virginia says to Happy "I thought we were just going to be friends." To which he responds, "What, friends listen to 'Endless Love' in the dark."

In A Night at the Roxbury, there was a wedding going on with the couple singing the song, and the Butabis were dancing.

The song was included as well in the third season of Friends, in which Phoebe walks into Chandler's apartment, to find him singing the song and holding Lionel Richie's first album (even though the song is included on his fourth album, Back to Front).[63]

On an episode of The Steve Harvey Show, Steve and Regina perform the song at a janitor's urging (who thought they were Ross and Richie); at the end of the song, the janitor quips "no wonder you guys haven't had a hit in a while."

On an episode of Glee Matthew Morrison, the Glee Club instructor and Lea Michele as one of his students (Rachel) sing the song as a duet in class with Lea Michele remarking in an interior monologue, "I never noticed before, but Mr. Shue is really cute." This leads to a series of increasingly embarrassing high school crush scenes.

Namibian singer Nianell and South African singer Dozi included it on their duet covers album "It Takes Two" in 2009.[64]

Live cover performances

The song has been performed four times on American Idol, by Rickey Smith, Chris Sligh, Danny Gokey, and Deandre Brackensick. The song was also performed on Australian Idol in 2007 by eventual winner Natalie Gauci on the Final 7 Birth Year (the contestants performed songs from the year they were born) theme night. It was also performed by Whitney Houston and her brother Gary Houston in some of her 1997-1998 concerts, including the Classic Whitney concert in Washington D.C.

See also

References

  1. ^ "The 40 Biggest Duets of All Time". Billboard. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  2. ^ Lwin, Nanda. Top 40 Hits: The Essential Chart Guide. Mississauga, Ontario: 1999.
  3. ^ http://irishcharts.ie/search/placement?page=1&placement%2Btitle%5D=Endless_Love
  4. ^ http://50.6.195.142/archives/80s_files/19811010.html
  5. ^ https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.4689&type=1&interval=50&PHPSESSID=s3jrbmuuv1949he9ao2513njd7
  6. ^ "Top Selling Singles of 1981". THE OFFICIAL NZ MUSIC CHART. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  7. ^ "Top 100 1981". top-source.info. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  8. ^ "Top 100 Hits of 1981/Top 100 Songs of 1981". musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  9. ^ http://50.6.195.142/archives/80s_files/1981YESP.html
  10. ^ Trust, Gary (12 November 2015). "Greatest of All Time Hot 100 Singles". Billboard. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  11. ^ http://www.mariahdaily.com/infozone/insidestory/storybehindno2s.shtml#el
  12. ^ Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "Songs". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  13. ^ "Album Review: 'Songs' - EW.com". Entertainment Weekly's EW.com. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  14. ^ "Luther Vandross & Mariah Carey - Endless Love". Discogs. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  15. ^ "Luther Vandross & Mariah Carey - Endless Love". Discogs. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  16. ^ "Luther Vandross & Mariah Carey - Endless Love". Discogs. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  17. ^ "Luther Vandross & Mariah Carey - Endless Love". Discogs. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  18. ^ "Luther Vandross & Mariah Carey - Endless Love". Discogs. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  19. ^ a b "Mariah Carey Official Top 20 Best Selling Singles in the UK". MTV. MTV Networks Europe. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved 2010-11-10. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  20. ^ "Luther Vandross & Mariah Carey – Endless Love". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
  21. ^ "Luther Vandross & Mariah Carey – Endless Love" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
  22. ^ "Luther Vandross & Mariah Carey – Endless Love" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
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  29. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Endless Love". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
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  32. ^ "Luther Vandross & Mariah Carey – Endless Love" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
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  55. ^ David Kent (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. Australia: St Ives, N.S.W. : Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
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  57. ^ "British single certifications – Luthor Vandross & Mariah Carey – Endless Love". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved May 22, 2015. Select singles in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type Endless Love in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  58. ^ "American single certifications – Luthor Vandross & Mariah Carey – Endless Love". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
  59. ^ "Lionel Richie feat. Shania Twain – Endless Love" (in Dutch). Ultratip.
  60. ^ "Bubbling Under Hot 100 Week of February 25, 2012". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved September 13, 2012.
  61. ^ "Lionel Richie Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard.
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  63. ^ Friends-Chandler and Phoebe singing together. 29 October 2006. Retrieved 28 March 2016 – via YouTube.
  64. ^ http://www.kalahari.com/Music/It-Takes-Two_p_34516058?gclid=CKeQ-t3v67sCFYUewwodXAsAGw Retrieved 7 January 2014
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