"Put a Little Love on Me" is a song by Irish singer

Niall Horan Niall James Horan ( ; born 13 September 1993) is an Irish singer-songwriter. He rose to prominence as a member of the boy band One Direction, formed in 2010 on the singing competition ''The X Factor''. The group released five albums and went ...

. It was released through

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

as the second single from his second studio album '' Heartbreak Weather'' on 6 December 2019.

Background and promotion

Horan first performed the song on 7 August 2019 at the Capitol Congress 2019, where he also announced his previous single " Nice to Meet Ya". About the song, the singer revealed that his upcoming project would not be his album "if it didn't have a sad, sad, sad ballad on it" and that the song "could potentially be my favorite song I've ever written". Lyrically, the song reportedly deals with the break-up with singer

Hailee Steinfeld Hailee Steinfeld (born December 11, 1996) is an American actress and singer. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Hailee Steinfeld, various accolades, including a Peabody Award, and nominations for an Academy Award ...

in December 2018. He announced the release of the song and shared a snippet on his social media on 5 December 2019.

Live performances

On December 15, 2019 Horan performed the song for the first time on

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

. On March 10, 2020 Horan performed the song on

The Late Late Show with James Corden ''The Late Late Show with James Corden'' (also known as ''Late Late'') is an American late-night talk show on CBS. It is the fourth and current iteration of '' The Late Late Show''. Airing in the U.S. from Monday to Friday nights at 12:37:28am ...

Critical reception

Mike Wass of ''

Idolator An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry. Idolater or Idolator may also refer to: Books *''Os Idólatras'', 1968 Portuguese novel by Maria Judite de Carvalho Music * Idolator (website), an American music blog * ''Idolator'' (album), third album ...

'' called the song the Irish star’s best ballad since " This Town", particularly complimenting "the lovely chorus" and his decision to go back "to the stripped-back sound palette of '' Flicker''. Madeline Roth, writing for

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

, described the song as a "heartbreaking ballad" while writing that Horan "managed to completely tug at our heartstrings with this one".

Charts

Certifications

References

{{Niall Horan 2010s ballads 2019 singles 2019 songs Niall Horan songs Folk ballads Songs written by Jamie Scott Songs written by Niall Horan Songs written by Dan Bryer Songs written by Mike Needle