"Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough" is a

duet A duet (italian language, Italian: ''duo'') is a musical composition for two Performing arts, performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a har ...

between American singers Patty Smyth and

Don Henley Donald Hugh Henley (born July 22, 1947) is an American musician who is a founding member of the rock band the Eagles, for whom he is the drummer and co-lead vocalist, as well as its sole continuous member. Henley sang the lead vocals on Eagles ...

. The

rock 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. Ball ...

was written by Smyth and Glen Burtnik and was released as a single in August 1992. It reached 1 in Canada, where it was the most successful single of 1992, and peaked at No. 2 in Ireland and on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

History

Smyth is the lead singer for the band

Scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way a ...

, whose hits included " The Warrior" and " Goodbye to You"; Henley is a longtime member of the

Eagles Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

(singing lead vocals on " Desperado", "

Hotel California "Hotel California" is a song by American rock band the Eagles, released as the second single of their album of the same name on February 22, 1977. The song was written by Don Felder (music), Don Henley, and Glenn Frey (lyrics), featuring H ...

", among many others) as well as a successful solo artist (" The Boys of Summer", " Dirty Laundry"). Smyth had previously provided backing vocals on Henley's solo albums '' Building the Perfect Beast'' (1984) and '' The End of the Innocence'' (1989). "Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough" was written by Smyth and Glen Burtnik and would appear on her self-titled 1992 album.

Reception

The single was certified gold by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA) and spending six weeks at No. 2 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in late 1992 during the 13-week reign at No. 1 of

Boyz II Men Boyz II Men ( ) is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. Formed in 1985, they have been a trio composed of baritone Nathan Morris, tenor Wanya Morris, Wanyá Mo ...

's song, " End of the Road". It remained in the top 40 for 20 weeks. The duet also topped the ''Billboard''

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

for four weeks. In Canada, "Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough" spent seven weeks at No. 1 on the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

'' 100 Hit Tracks chart, becoming the best-performing single of 1992, while in the United Kingdom, the song reached No. 22 on the UK Singles Chart. In Ireland, it reached number two. The song was nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

in the category Best Pop Vocal, Duo or Group.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Cover versions

* Filipino diva-actress Jennylyn Mercado revived it as a carrier single of her third album ''Love Is'' (2010). *

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

an singer

Stefanie Sun Stefanie Sun Yanzi (; born Sng Ee Tze; 23 July 1978) is a Singaporean singer and songwriter. Known for her Ballad, ballads and girl next door image, Sun made her debut with the album ''Yan Zi (album), Yan Zi'' in 2000. Featuring the single "Cl ...

also covered the song for her fourth album ''

Start Start can refer to multiple topics: * Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports * Track and field#Starts use in race, Starts use in sport race * S ...

'' (2002). * In 2013, country singer

Travis Tritt James Travis Tritt (born February 9, 1963) is an American country music, country singer-songwriter. He signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1989, releasing seven studio albums and a greatest hits package for the label between then and 1999. In t ...

and his daughter Tyler Reese recorded a version for the re-release of Tritt's album '' The Storm'' (2007). The re-released album was titled ''The Calm After...'' and released on Tritt's own Post Oak Records on July 9, 2013. Tritt's version was released as a single in June 2013.

References

{{Authority control 1992 songs 1992 singles 2013 singles 1990s ballads Patty Smyth songs Don Henley songs Travis Tritt songs Black-and-white music videos Male–female vocal duets MCA Records singles Rock ballads RPM Top Singles number-one singles Songs written by Glen Burtnik