What Is Love (Haddaway song)

"What Is Love" is a song recorded by Trinidadian-German Eurodance artist Haddaway for his debut album, The Album. It was written and produced by Dee Dee Halligan (Dieter Lünstedt a.k.a. Tony Hendrik) and Junior Torello (Karin Hartmann-Eisenblätter a.k.a. Karin van Haaren) of Coconut Records in Cologne. The song is recognizable by its refrain "What is love? Baby don't hurt me, don't hurt me no more."

Recorded in the early 1990s, it later experienced a revival as the song from the Saturday Night Live "Roxbury Guys" sketches (later expanded into a movie called A Night at the Roxbury), where two brothers (played by Chris Kattan and Will Ferrell) frequently went to dance clubs with a third person (including actors such as Sylvester Stallone and Jim Carrey), credited as "Barhop".

"What Is Love" peaked at number 2 in the United Kingdom and Germany and hit number 1 in 13 other countries. Debuting at number 87 on 28 August 1993, the song reached number 11 on the Hot 100 in the United States. The song also peaked at number 12 in Australia. By March 1994, worldwide sales of "What Is Love" had already reached 2.6 million.

What Is Love

What Is Love or What's Love may refer to:

Television and film

Music

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Haddaway

Nestor Alexander Haddaway (born January 9, 1965), better known by his stage name Haddaway, is a Trinidadian-German musician best known for his 1993 hit single "What Is Love".

Early life

Born in Trinidad and Tobago, Haddaway moved to the Washington, D.C. area at the age of nine, where he grew up to the sounds of Louis Armstrong, which encouraged him to learn how to play trumpet at the age of 14. He attended Meade Senior High School. This eventually resulted in him forming his first group which he called Chances. Haddaway moved to Cologne, Germany in 1987 where he mostly worked in bars. Later, he formed his own company, Energy, which was involved in organizing fashion shows and photo-shoots.

Musical career

Haddaway's break came in 1992 when he was signed by German label Coconut Records. His first single "What Is Love" rapidly became popular in Europe, reaching number 2 in Germany and in the United Kingdom. In Germany, the single sold 900,000 copies, in the UK, it was certified Gold for shipment of 400,000 units. It later reached number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified Gold for shipments of 500,000 units. By the beginning of 1994, worldwide sales of "What Is Love" had already reached 2.6 million.

Love

Love is a variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes that ranges from interpersonal affection ("I love my mother") to pleasure ("I loved that meal"). It can refer to an emotion of a strong attraction and personal attachment. It can also be a virtue representing human kindness, compassion, and affection—"the unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another". It may also describe compassionate and affectionate actions towards other humans, one's self or animals.

Non-Western traditions have also distinguished variants or symbioses of these states. This diversity of uses and meanings combined with the complexity of the feelings involved makes love unusually difficult to consistently define, compared to other emotional states.

Love in its various forms acts as a major facilitator of interpersonal relationships and, owing to its central psychological importance, is one of the most common themes in the creative arts.

Love may be understood as a function to keep human beings together against menaces and to facilitate the continuation of the species.