Love Hurts is the 21st studio album by singer Cher, released in 1991 for Geffen Records.

Album information

Love Hurts was released on June 11, 1991 and was the third and final studio album released by Cher for Geffen Records. The record featured production by Bob Rock and saw her continue to collaborate with John Kalodner, Diane Warren and Desmond Child. The album was recorded in late 1990/early 1991, during the first year of Cher's relationship to Bon Jovi's guitarist Richie Sambora. She dedicated the album to him and "every man that ever made me shed a tear".

The album contained three covers: the worldwide hit "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)" originally recorded by Merry Clayton in 1963, Kiss song "A World Without Heroes" recorded in 1980 and "Love Hurts" a remake of the 1975 version which Cher had previously recorded for her album Stars. This time the song was more pop/rock rather than a ballad. The originally version was released by Everly Brothers in 1960.

The European cover of the album was different from the American release, it featured Cher laying on a white background wearing a red wig. The European release also included the world wide hit, The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss) which reached #1 in over 10 countries and has sold over six million copies. In the United States, The Shoop Shoop Song was available only through the original soundtrack, Mermaids OST for the film of the same name.

Unlike Heart of Stone and Cher, Love Hurts received less attention in the North America, only achieving a gold certification in the U.S. while in European countries the album was certified multi-platinum. In the U.K, the album debuted at #1 and held this position for 6 consecutive weeks. The album became her second biggest selling album worldwide at the time (behind Heart of Stone)

The David Cassidy co-written song, I'll Never Stop Loving You, was released a year later on Cassidy's album, Didn't You Used to be? (album)

In 2001 it was re-released in a special collector's version and featured tarot cards with the lyrics of every song on the album.

Track listing

#	Song	Composers	Duration
1	Save Up All Your Tears	Diane Warren; Desmond Child	4:01
2	Love Hurts	Boudleaux Bryant	4:21
3	Love and Understanding	Warren	4:44
4	Fires of Eden	Goldenberg; Hain	3:43
5	I'll Never Stop Loving You	Sifrin; David Cassidy; Wetton	3:58
6	One Small Step (performed by Cher & Richard Page)	Mann; Waldman; Parker	3:27
7	A World Without Heroes	Paul Stanley; Gene Simmons; Lou Reed; Bob Ezrin	3:10
8	Could've Been You	Arnie Roman; Bob Helligan Jr.	3:31
9	When Love Calls Your Name	Scott; Snow	3:34
10	When Lovers Become Strangers	Warren	4:46
11	Who You Gonna Believe?	Fontano; Marquez	4:46
	Europe only
12	The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)	Rudy Clark	2:53

Credits

• Production: See Above
• Mixing/Engineering: John Aguto, Ken Allardyce, Martin Brumbach, Jeff DeMorris, Mike Fraser, Greg Goldman, Phil Kaffel, Fred Kelly, Mike Kloster, Nathaniel Kunkel, Greg Ladanyi, Julie Last, Mario Lucy, George Massenburg, Gil Morales, Jeff Rach, Randy Staub, David Thoerner, Frank Wolf, Steve Heinke

Musicians

• Drums, Percussion: Luis Conte, Michael Fisher, Jim McGillveray, Carlos Vega, Mickey Curry, Mark Williams
• Bass: Randy Jackson, Larry Klein, Hugh McDonald, Mike Porcaro
• Guitars: Andrew Gold, Michael Landau, Steve Lukather, Glenn Sciurba, Keith Scott, Josh Sklair, Michael Thompson, Richie Zito
• Keyboards: Richie Zito, John Webster, Guy Roche, David Paich, David Garfield, Robbie Buchanan
• String Arrangements By Howie Vickers, Scott Harper & David Campbell

Singles

#	Singles	Date
1.	"The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)"	January 1991
2.	"Love and Understanding" (Edit)	June 1991
3.	"Save Up All Your Tears"	September 1991
4.	"Love Hurts" (Europe only)	December 1991
5.	"Could've Been You" (Europe only)	February 1992
6.	"When Lovers Become Strangers" (Edit) (U.S. only)	March 1992

Charts

Chart positions

Chart (1991)	Peak position
Australian Albums Chart	15
Austrian Albums Chart	1 (2w)
German Albums Chart	6
Irish Albums Chart	1
New Zealand Albums Chart	4
Norwegian Albums Chart	1 (6w)
Swedish Albums Chart	4
Swiss Albums Chart	3
UK Albums Chart	1 (6w)
U.S. Billboard 200	48

Certifications

Country	Providers	Certification	Sales
UK	BPI	3x Platinum	900,000
USA	RIAA	Gold	500,000+
Canada	CRIA	Platinum	100,000+
Germany	IFPI	Platinum	600,000+
Austria	IFPI	Platinum	20,000+
Switzerland	IFPI	Gold	50,000+
New Zealand	RIANZ	Platinum+	15,000

References