eed a few good love songs for Valentine’s Day? Make sure “American Idol” judge Lionel Richie makes your playlist!
On February 12, 2026, Billboard released its ranking of the Top 50 Love Songs of All Time, revealing that Richie and fellow R&B legend Diana Ross share the number one spot with their 1981 hit “Endless Love,” which Richie wrote.
‘Endless Love’ Was Nominated for Grammys & an Oscar
Richie wrote “Endless Love” for a movie of the same name starring Brooke Shields. The movie didn’t fare nearly as well as the song, which spent an incredible nine weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
The soaring ballad also topped the R&B and adult contemporary charts, per Classic Motown, and sold more than three million copies. It was a massive hit around the world, too, including in Australia, Canada, Holland, and Sweden, according to the outlet.
“Endless Love” was also nominated for five Grammys in 1981, including for Record of the Year, and for an Oscar, so Richie and Ross performed the song live at the 54th annual Academy Awards in 1982.
Although Billboard says its Top 50 list marks all love songs across time, it actually was compiled of songs with the word “love” in their title that have topped the Billboard charts from 1958 through 2026.
Billboard says the “songs are ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the greatest value and weeks at lower spots earning the least. Due to changes in chart methodology over the years, eras are weighted differently to account for chart turnover rates during various periods.”
Lionel Richie Has Said ‘Endless Love’ Was Supposed to Be an Instrumental
“Endless Love” was not initially intended to be a duet, Richie told Andy Cohen on “Watch What Happens Live” in 2021.
“It was supposed to be an instrumental, and it was just supposed to be a simple (tune), it was like ‘Love Story,’” Richie recalled. “So at the very last minute, they said, ‘There’s going to be one part in the movie where we can have a lady to sing one part of the song. Would you write a first verse?’ I did.”
“From that point on,” Richie continued, “they came to me and said, ‘Hmm, we’re going to have a duet. We’re going to get Diana Ross to sing. Who do you think should be the person to sing with her?’ It’s me!”
Richie shared a similar story with ABC News in 2018, noting that he and Ross were both so busy that they wound up recording the song in the middle of the night. When she got into the studio, he said she was fretting about each note.
Richie recalled, “So I basically said to her, ‘Whatever notes that feel comfortable to you, you sing.’ What I wrote as ‘Endless Love’ and what I sang are two different things because there were certain parts that she just killed on.”