"What About Love" is a song originally recorded by Canadian rock group Toronto but is best known for the 1985 release by the American rock group Heart. The song was Heart's "comeback" single. It was the first Heart track to reach the top 40 in three years, and their first top 10 hit in five. It was released as the first single from the band's self-titled 1985 album, Heart, as well as their first hit single on their new record label, Capitol Records. Grace Slick and Mickey Thomas, co-lead vocalists of Starship at the time, provide additional background vocals on the song.
Background
The song was originally recorded in 1983 by Canadian rock group Toronto, of which songwriters Sheron Alton and Brian Allen were members. However, the rest of the band elected not to release the song, and the frustration Allen and Alton faced in being unable to convince their bandmates to feature this and other material on Toronto's albums led to their departure from the group. Later, Michael McCarty at ATV Music Publishing was reviewing his song catalogue when he came across "What About Love". He offered the song to Heart, who turned it into a worldwide hit. Toronto's original version remained commercially unreleased until 2002, when it appeared as a bonus cut on the CDs Get It On Credit and Toronto: The Greatest Hits.
Reception
The song's sound marked a considerable change in the musical direction for Heart, moving from the hard rock and folk rock of their earlier work to a more polished, power ballad sound. "What About Love" received extensive airplay on MTV and returned Heart to the Top-10 of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for the first time in five years, peaking at #10. The song peaked at #14 on the UK Singles Chart upon its re-release in 1988. Exclusively in its UK release, "What About Love" was also featured in an extended version on 12" and CD single versions. The song's chorus was featured in a series of Swiffer WetJetTV commercials from late 2010 into the following year. The campaign followed a series of previous Swiffer commercials using popular songs of the '70s and '80s.
Mari Hamada covered the song in her 1985 album Blue Revolution.
On the, the song was performed by finalist Melissa McGhee. Janell Wheeler performed the song in Season 9 of the series. Season 11Erika Van Pelt sang the song in the top 12 Girls night. In Season 12, Amber Holcomb sang it during the Top 7's Rock week.
Rick Ross samples "What About Love" in his song "Shot to the Heart."
Lil Wayne samples "What About Love" in his song "Something You Forgot."
On the TV show , finalist Chrystina performs this song in the series finale which eventually leads to her making the final group.
Rytmus samples "What About Love" in his song "Na Toto Som Cakal."
