"I Want to Know What Love Is" is a song by the British-American rock band Foreigner. The power ballad was released in November 1984 as the lead single from their fifth album, Agent Provocateur. The song reached number one on both the United Kingdom singles chart and the United States Billboard Hot 100 and is the group's biggest hit.
"I Want to Know What Love Is" remains one of Foreigner's best-known songs and most enduring radio hits, charting in the top 25 in 2000, 2001, and 2002 on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Recurrents chart. The song has continued to garner critical acclaim, and is listed as one of Rolling Stone magazine's greatest songs of all time at number 476 in 2004 and at number 479 in 2010.
Contents
Song information
"I Want to Know What Love Is" was the first single released from Foreigner's album Agent Provocateur (1984). It is credited to Mick Jones, although former Foreigner frontman Lou Gramm asserts that he contributed to the song and should be credited to its creation (somewhere between 5% according to Jones and 35% according to Gramm). Despite Gramm's claims, Foreigner's then-bassist Rick Wills states that "I Want to Know What Love Is" was solely written by Jones. It was produced by Jones and Alex Sadkin. The song features backing vocals from the New Jersey Mass Choir affiliated with the Gospel Music Workshop of America, Dreamgirls star Jennifer Holliday, and featured keyboard work by Thompson Twins frontman Tom Bailey. The choir also appears in the song's music video, directed by Brian Gibson.
According to Gramm, Jones was originally reluctant to let Gramm hear his initial rough version of the song. Gramm speculated that the song was emotional to Jones because it "represented things in his own life that he hadn't been able to resolve, and he wasn't too sure he wanted to have millions of people hear about it".
Cash Box reviewed the single, calling it "a highly dramatic and ultimately very touching song which amply displays Foreigner's musical talents and versatility." Cash Box specifically praised the band's performances, especially that of lead singer Gramm, who they said "delivers a moving and personal quality which captures the essence of the lyrics. Billboard said that the "dramatic mood piece grows out of quiet introspection into a full-blown production number with choir."
"I Want to Know What Love Is" reached number one on the UK Singles Chart on January 15, 1985, displacing Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?", staying there for three weeks, and knocked Madonna's long-running "Like a Virgin" out of number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on February 2, 1985. It was Foreigner's first and only pop chart-topper in either country, although the band had four number one Mainstream Rock hits and a number one adult contemporary radio hit in the US. This was the band's third of four number one singles on the Mainstream Rock chart. The song spent five weeks at number one in Australia and also hit the top of the charts in Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden, while peaking at number two in Switzerland and South Africa.
The song has received positive retrospective reviews from critics, with Bret Adams of AllMusic writing: "It's not hard to see why it became Foreigner's first number one single. Its dreamy, hypnotic feel is due in part to Lou Gramm's soulful lead vocals and the New Jersey Mass Choir's background vocals."
Personnel
Foreigner
Lou Gramm – lead vocals
Mick Jones – keyboards, synthesizers, backing vocals
Rick Wills – bass, backing vocals
Dennis Elliott – drums
Personnel
Produced by Mick Jones and Alex Sadkin
Mixed by Frank Filipetti
Guest Musicians
Tom Bailey – synthesizers
Don Harper – backing vocals
Jennifer Holliday – backing vocals and arrangements
New Jersey Mass Choir of the GMWA – backing vocals
Tina Arena version
"I Want to Know What Love Is" was covered by Australian singer Tina Arena and her recording was released as a single in 1998 from her album In Deep. Arena's version of the song was produced by Foreigner band member Mick Jones, who wrote the song. This version of the song includes a previously unrecorded bridge between the second and third choruses, specifically written for Tina Arena by Mick Jones.
Track listings
European Maxi Single
"I Want to Know What Love Is" (Single Edit)
"I Want to Know What Love Is" (R & B Mix)
"I Want to Spend My Lifetime Loving You" (G-Vo Extended Mix)
"Not For Sale"
Australian CD1 Maxi Single
"I Want To Know What Love Is" (Single Edit)
"Now I Can Dance" (Spanglish Version)
"Now I Can Dance" (Live)
"If I Didn't Love You" (Remix)
Australian CD2 Maxi Single – The Remixes
"I Want to Know What Love Is" (R'n'B Mix)
"I Want to Know What Love Is" (Urban Mix)
"I Want to Know What Love Is" (Extended Urban Mix)
"I Want to Know What Love Is" (Single Edit)
Wynonna Judd version
"I Want to Know What Love Is" was covered by American country singer Wynonna Judd and her recording was released on August 24, 2004, as the fourth single from her album What the World Needs Now Is Love. Wynonna's version of the song was produced by Narada Michael Walden, known for his work with Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin and George Michael. This version of the song was included in a popular Brazilian soap opera, Senhora do Destino.
Track listings
Digital download
"I Want to Know What Love Is" – 5:41
Remixes
"I Want to Know What Love Is" (Piper Remix) – 4:05
"I Want to Know What Love Is" (Piper Club Mix) – 7:42
Charts
In the US, the song peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. On the Hot Dance Club Songs of Billboard, it debuted at number 50 and peaked at number 12. It is also her first single to chart in Sweden, where it debuted at number 67 and peaked at number 15.
Mariah Carey version
"I Want to Know What Love Is" was covered by American singer Mariah Carey and released as the second single on September 22, 2009, from her twelfth studio album, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel (2009). The single, produced by Carey, C. "Tricky" Stewart and James "Big Jim" Wright, was sent to European radio stations on August 28 and first impacted US radio on September 14, 2009. Mick Jones said of her version: "I think she's actually retained the integrity of the song. You know, the arrangement is very similar to the original. They haven't tampered with the song too much. She's captured a certain emotional thing, a feeling." The remixes of her rendition were released on October 20, 2009.
Critical reception
The single was generally well received by critics; Australian magazine Rhyme & Reason stated that "[While Carey stayed] [...] true to the original, this piano-led remake is less an overhaul of the classic '80s hit than it is a modest but impressive update." Bill Lamb from About.com said that "Mariah Carey's new version could leave you speechless. The diversity of vocal coloring expressed in this recording is stunning. While the single 'Obsessed' remains disappointing, this single is a reminder of just how formidable Carey's talents are given a strong production and arrangement".
Writing in a Los Angeles Times music blog, Todd Martens said, "[T]ackling a well-known power ballad seems like a safe choice. It's a comfortable fall-back plan after "Obsessed" performed well, but did far from blockbuster numbers. It will undoubtedly be a hit, but it's giving me more reason to fear Imperfect Angel."
Chart performance
The song peaked on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart at number 10 bringing Carey's total number of Top Ten hits on that chart to 20, one short of Celine Dion's record. She has since surpassed this and is now tied with Dion after her single "Oh Santa!" reached number one in 2010. However, it only peaked at #60 on the US Hot 100. On the UK Singles Chart, the song debuted at number 19 on the week ending November 29, 2009, becoming her highest debuting and peaking song since 2008's "Touch My Body", which peaked at number five. "I Want to Know What Love Is" was also a successful hit on the Dance Club Songs chart, peaked at #2 on the week of December 19, 2009.
The song debuted at number six in France, selling 1,910 CDs in its first week.
Carey's version particularly found massive success in Brazil. Boosted by its inclusion in the international soundtrack for the popular telenovela Viver a Vida, the song stayed at number one for 27 consecutive weeks on the airplay chart, becoming the longest running number one song ever in the country. The song has since been certified Diamond in Brazil.
Music video
Carey filmed a music video for "I Want to Know What Love Is" in September 2009 in New York City, directed by Hype Williams.
The video premiered on Carey's official website on November 13, 2009.
The video features Carey singing in Yankee Stadium, intercut with shots of the audience, often accompanied by loved ones, and some glimpses into the tough times in their past, as they grow emotional from the song's performance. A gospel choir joins Carey at the center of the stadium at the video's end. Carey wears the signature curly hairstyle from the initial stages of her career circa 1990–1993, maintaining the Memoirs theme of the album.
Live performances
Carey debuted "I Want to Know What Love Is" at her Live at the Pearl concerts in the Pearl Arena at the Palms Casino & Resort, Las Vegas, on September 11 and 12, 2009. She later performed the song live on The Oprah Winfrey Show on September 18. Following the album's release, she performed at Rockefeller Plaza for Today on October 2, where she sang the song along with "Obsessed" and "H.A.T.E.U.", also from the album, as well as "Make It Happen" (1992). New York radio station WWPR-FM contest featured as its prize a mini concert by Carey at the P.C. Richard Theater in TriBeCa, New York on October 5, where she performed the song as well as "Obsessed" and "H.A.T.E.U.". While in Asia, Carey performed the track on TV shows You Hee-yeol's Sketchbook and Music Station, in South Korea and Japan, respectively. In Europe, Carey performed the single on X Factor Italia on November 11, 2009. She also performed the single on the British version of The X Factor on November 22, 2009. Carey additionally performed "I Want to Know What Love Is" on British talk shows Alan Carr: Chatty Man and GMTV.
In response to the song's success in the region, Carey performed the song during a concert in Brazil on August 21, 2010. More than a decade later, Carey performed the song as an encore in both concerts she did in Brazil in September 2024. The next year, she returned to the country and performed "I Want to Know What Love Is" at The Town Festival on September 13, 2025.
Formats and track listings
Digital download
"I Want to Know What Love Is" (album version) – 3:27
UK bundle
"I Want to Know What Love Is" (album version) – 3:27
"I Want to Know What Love Is" (Moto Blanco Club Edit) – 3:25
"I Want to Know What Love Is" (Chew Fu Radio Fix) – 3:51
European CD single
"I Want to Know What Love Is" – 3:37
"Obsessed" (Cahill Club Mix) – 6:23
Digital maxi-single
"I Want to Know What Love Is" (album version) – 3:27
"I Want to Know What Love Is" (Moto Blanco Club Edit) – 3:25
"I Want to Know What Love Is" (Chriss Ortega Club Edit) – 3:36
"I Want to Know What Love Is" (Cutmore's Club Shakedown) – 6:44
"I Want to Know What Love Is" (Donni Hotwheel Tempo Mix) – 3:05
"I Want to Know What Love Is" (Low Sunday Tempo Mix) – 3:14
"I Want to Know What Love Is" (Chew Fu Radio Fix) – 3:51
"I Want to Know What Love Is" (Nu Addiction Club Edit) – 3:29
Credits and personnel
Adapted from CD liner notes.
Recording locations
Recorded at The Boom Boom Room (Burbank, California), The Setai (Miami, Florida) and Honeywest Studios (New York City).
Additional background vocals and mixing at Soapbox Studios (Atlanta).
Personnel
