Love makes the world go round, and who doesn’t love being in love? Well in the 80s and 90s, the middle of hair bands, punk rock, and experiential ‘Tainted Love’ sounds, the love ballad remained powerful. What were the best love ballads of the 80s and 90s?
Here’s our favorites…
Journey’s “Faithfully,” “Open Arms,” and “When You Love a Woman” are the anthems of love that doubled ticket and album sales, and made Steve Perry the Lionel Richie of his era.
It would be hard to pick one song from the mega-group Boyz II Men who dominated the airwaves in the 80s and 90s, but “I’ll Make Love to You,” “One Sweet Day” (with Mariah Carey) and “End of the Road” is a three way tie for awesome love songs that blew our minds.
Foreigner’s “Waiting for a Girl Like You,” and “I Don’t Want to Live Without You” were the darlings of the MTV audience that craved to hear more than rock music played at 11. These are great songs from Mick and Lou that still sound terrific today.
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Photo credit: Matt Becker