"I Want to Know What Love Is" is a power ballad by the British-American rock band Foreigner. It 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.
"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."
The song was also issued as a 12-inch single with a longer running time of 6:23. This version contains a slightly longer intro and an extended vocal chorus/fadeout ending. The single's B-side, "Street Thunder (Marathon Theme)," is an instrumental track originally appearing on The Official Music of the XXIII Olympiad – Los Angeles 1984 and later on the band's 2-CD compilation Jukebox Heroes: The Foreigner Anthology (2000).
Soon after Foreigner's single topped the charts, the New Jersey Mass Choir released its own similar-sounding version of the song on an album also titled I Want to Know What Love Is. The choir's single peaked at number 37 on the then-Hot Black Singles chart and number 12 on the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart.
"I Want to Know What Love Is" was ranked as the number four Billboard Hot 100 single of 1985. It was the band's third platinum single in the US and their first and only gold single in the UK. It was certified double-platinum in the UK in 2023.
Jones has rated it as one of his 11 favourite Foreigner songs.
Originally consisting of three verses, a pre-chorus and a chorus, the song was extended with a bridge written by original songwriter Mick Jones specifically for Tina Arena's cover in 1998.
"I Want to Know What Love Is" was later covered by other artists including the aforementioned Tina Arena, Wynonna Judd and Mariah Carey.
Foreigner - I Want To Know What Love Is (Official Music Video)
