"Love of a Lifetime" is a song performed by the American rock band

FireHouse __NOTOC__ A fire station (also called a fire house, fire hall, firemen's hall, or engine house) is a structure or other area for storing firefighting apparatuses such as fire engines and related vehicles, personal protective equipment, fire h ...

. It was the band's third single and its highest charting single in the United States, entering the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 June 29, 1991 at No. 81 and peaking at No. 5 the week of September 28, 1991. It is also the band's first and most popular

power ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner.J. M. C ...

. The song was written by vocalist C. J. Snare and guitarist

Bill Leverty William G. Leverty II (born January 30, 1967) is an American guitarist. He is best known as a founding and current member of the rock band, FireHouse. Leverty is responsible for writing many of the band's hit songs. Throughout the 2000s, Leverty ha ...

. The song is arguably what FireHouse is most known for, and has been used as a first dance song at countless weddings since its release. In a 2005 interview, Snare commented "now I have the benefit of time to look back over this and there isn't a show that goes by where people don't come up to us and are like "'Love of a Lifetime' - we got married to that song!"

Origin

The song was written by C. J. Snare; he wrote it while playing solo gigs at a

Holiday Inn Holiday Inn is an American chain of hotels based in Atlanta, Georgia. and a brand of IHG Hotels & Resorts. The chain was founded in 1952 by Kemmons Wilson, who opened the first location in Memphis, Tennessee that year. The chain was a division ...

. When the band brought the demos for their first album to

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

, the label felt that the album needed a stronger ballad. Snare said "I remember raising my hand sheepishly and saying 'Well, I have a song...,' so we played it for them and they absolutely loved it and it did become a big hit."

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Cover versions

The project

Collage Collage (, from the french: coller, "to glue" or "to stick together";) is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. ...

recorded the song in 1998 and released it as a single. It peaked at No. 4 on the

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

chart and was the last single released by the project. Country singer

Katie Armiger Kaitlyn Michelle Armiger (born June 23, 1991) is a country artist from Sugar Land, Texas, U.S. She was first inspired to pursue country music after winning a Houston, Texas, citywide competition for young country singers. As of 2014, Armiger has ...

, who was coincidentally born in 1991, recorded a cover version on her eponymous first album in 2007, but did not release it as a single.

References

External links

Music Video for "Love of a Lifetime"
{{authority control 1990 songs 1991 singles Collage (American duo) songs Epic Records singles FireHouse (band) songs Glam metal ballads Songs written by Bill Leverty Songs written by C. J. Snare