What Is Love

"What Is Love" is the debut single by Trinidadian-German Eurodance singer Haddaway from his debut album, The Album (1993). The song was released by Coconut Records in 1993 and was a hit in Europe, becoming a number-one hit in at least 13 countries and reaching number two in Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Outside Europe, the single was a hit worldwide, reaching number 11 in the United States, number 12 in Australia, number 17 in Canada, and number 48 in New Zealand. The song earned Haddaway two awards at the German 1994 Echo Award, in the categories "Best National Single" and "Best National Dance Single". The music video for "What Is Love" was directed by Volker Hannwacker and received heavy rotation on music television such as MTV Europe. Background "What Is Love" was written and produced by German music producer and composer Dee Dee Halligan (Dieter Lünstedt a.k.a. Tony Hendrik) and his partner/wife Junior Torello (Karin Hartmann-Eisenblätter a.k.a. Karin van Haaren) of Coconut Records in Hennef (Sieg) near Cologne. They had previously produced songs for successful groups like Bad Boys Blue and Londonbeat, and were waiting for the right singer for their new song. Trinidadian-born singer Nestor Alexander Haddaway was then chosen to sing it. He used to work as a producer, dancer and choreographer before he was signed to the label. The producers wanted Haddaway to try singing the song like Joe Cocker. He told them, "I love Joe Cocker, but I'm no Joe Cocker." He then came up with his own idea on how to sing it and after the producers let the singer try it his way, "What Is Love" was created. Hendrik would lock himself in the studio, and eight or nine days later he came out with the song as we know it. Haddaway told Simon Price of Melody Maker in 1994, that the song was originally a ballad and arrived after a year in a basement studio, "In the beginning it was like five different pies, then those five pies became one pie."