Endless Love – Diana Ross & Lionel Richie | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning
Chart Performance: Pop (#1 for 9 weeks) & R&B (#1 for 7 weeks); 1981
Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne
Pre-MTV, movie soundtrack music – apart from Saturday Night Fever and Grease – provided little hit material. In 1964 the A Hard Day’s Night album generated seven chart singles, however, any new Beatles release would have done likewise, film-related or not.
Then there were one-offs such as Debby Boone’s massive cover recording of the title song from You Light Up My Life (#1 for 10 weeks; 1977). Just behind Debby in the weeks-at-the-top movie honors came Diana Ross and Lionel Richie’s Endless Love which, unlike Debby’s recording, was featured in the film itself.
When approached to compose some music for Endless Love, the movie, Lionel offered up some music he’d earmarked for the Commodores. The powers-that-be liked it and gave him the go-ahead to write lyrics, too.
For the recording, Lionel and Diana traveled from other cities to Reno in time for an early morning session. There Richie handed Ross the lyrics, they started singing at 3:30 AM, and by 5:00 AM the master was complete.
This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.
Produced by:
Lyrics Written by:
- Lionel Richie
Ed Osborne
Hi. I got my first record at age two and never looked back, spending a decades-long career in radio and the music business. Even after years of reading about and listening to all types of music, I am still fascinated by it. Apart from that, I’m endlessly intrigued by art, nature, and the inner lives of people (and dogs).