Love Is the Hero

Last updated
"Love Is the Hero"
Single by Billy Squier with Freddie Mercury
from the album Enough Is Enough
B-side "Learn How to Live" (live)
ReleasedOctober 1986
Genre AOR, pop rock
Length
  • 4:48 (single and album version)
  • 5:22 (12" version)
Songwriter(s) Billy Squier
Producer(s) Peter Collins
Billy Squier singles chronology
"Eye on You"
(1984)
"Love Is the Hero"
(1986)
"Don't Say You Love Me"
(1989)

"Love Is the Hero" is a song performed by American Rock singer and guitarist Billy Squier, with Freddie Mercury from Queen on backing vocals. It appears as the second track on his fifth studio album Enough Is Enough from 1986.

After an incredibly bad video for his hit song "Rock Me Tonite", Squier's career had taken a downturn. As a result, he stopped selling out concerts and his album and singles success waned. "Love Is the Hero" became a commercial disappointment, peaking at #65 in Cash Box magazine and #80 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. [1] It fared much better on AOR (Album Oriented Rock) radio and received rotation on MTV. It is often deemed one of the best songs from his later career and the standout track of Enough Is Enough. [2]

Mercury originally recorded an intro sung solely by himself, but it was cut from the album and single version. It was kept on the extended 12" version and later restored on Squier's compilation album Reach For the Sky: The Anthology and Mercury's The Solo Collection box set. In the spring of 2021, the afromentioned version was finally released as a digital single.

Personnel

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References

  1. "Billy Squier". Billboard. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
  2. Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Top 10 Billy Squier Songs". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 2020-04-10.