Love Will Never Do (Without You)

Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis considered the idea of making this song a duet. According to Fred Bronson's The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits, they thought about possibly getting Prince, Johnny Gill, Ralph Tresvant, or someone else working with them at the time. However, there was no concrete plan. During the recording of the first verse, Jimmy Jam told Jackson, "Sing it low like some guy would sing it." As a result, they kept the idea of her singing the first verse in a low octave but go an octave up on the second verse.^[1]

The Single Edit was included on Jackson's 1995 greatest-hits compilation Design of a Decade: 1986–1996. In 1996, the song was remixed by Roger Sanchez. Although being one of the album's last singles, it was one of the first songs recorded for Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814. The song's background vocals were recorded in late 1988, while Jackson recorded the lead vocals in January 1989. Herb Alpert plays trumpet on the track.^[2] "Love Will Never Do" is written in the key of A♭ major and has a tempo of 103 beats per minute^[3] in common time. Jackson's vocals span from F₃ to C₆ in the song.^[4]

Andy Healy from Albumism noted that "the slinky bassline" of "Love Will Never Do (Without You)" "seduces with ease as Jackson sings about the desire for a fulfilling love, even one against the odds." He added further, "With a shimmering arrangement beneath her, Jackson delivers one of her finest moments on record. Often characterized as having a whispering vocal, here Jackson sings with strength and confidence and layers the song in lush backing harmonies that glisten with every passing line."^[5] Larry Flick from Billboard wrote, "Here's yet one more sparkling gem from La Jackson's bejeweled "Rhythm Nation 1814" epic. This time, she strikes a sexy swing-funk pose".^[6] A reviewer from Music & Media described it as "a suspenseful, sparsely arranged dance-floor track sporting some great vocals and subtle licks."^[7]

The song became Jackson's fifth number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 and the final of seven top five singles from the album, making her the only artist to achieve seven top five singles from one album. The success of "Love Will Never Do (Without You)" also helped the album to become the first in history to produce number-one hits on the Billboard Hot 100 in three separate calendar years, those being "Miss You Much" in 1989, "Escapade" and "Black Cat" in 1990, and "Love Will Never Do (Without You)" in 1991. The single was certified gold by the RIAA.

The accompanying video was directed by American photographer Herb Ritts, and choreographed by Ritts, Jackson and Tina Landon on September 13, 1990. Jackson originally planned to wear a dress for the video, but Ritts envisioned Jackson in nothing more than a black top, a pair of jeans, and light brown hair. The video features cameos by actors Antonio Sabàto Jr. and Djimon Hounsou.^[8] Ritts commented,

"Because Janet is known for her instinctive talent for dance, as well as being an all around entertainer, Janet and I decided to try something innovative on the video. The video is a departure from her elaborate dance production routines and focuses, instead, on her alone, She is fresh, sensual, womanly and vulnerable as she reveals herself to the camera. We wanted to show this intimate and more personal side of Janet".^[9]

The video begins with the shadows of Jackson and a dancer, leading to images of a man running through a desert. As she starts singing the song, accompanied by her love interest, a man doing stunts also appears. As the video advances, a black man is seen running in a large wheel, and also begins lip-synching to the song. He then appears on top of a white half circle. The video ends with Jackson sharing caresses with her lover. Calvin Thomas on his book Masculinity, Psychoanalysis, Straight Queer Theory noted a lightening of Jackson's skin tone and a notable transformation of the shape of her body in the music video.^[10] Two versions of the video were produced, one in black-and-white, and the other colorized, both of which appear on the Design of a Decade: 1986–1996 video compilation.

The video won for Best Female Video and was nominated for Best Choreography and Best Art Direction at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards. It ranked 13 on Rolling Stone's The 100 Top Music Videos, 72 on VH1's 100 Greatest Videos, and 88 on MTV's 100 Greatest Videos Ever Made. Britney Spears was inspired by the video for her "Don't Let Me Be the Last to Know" clip, saying "he did Janet Jackson-remember when she made her comeback?" she says, alluding to Janet's makeover, which was orchestrated by Ritts when he directed her "Love Will Never Do (Without You)" video."^[11] American recording artist Nicole Scherzinger revealed that she was inspired by the video for her "Your Love" clip.^[12]

Jackson has performed the song on most of her tours including the janet. Tour, The Velvet Rope Tour, All for You Tour, Rock Witchu Tour, Number Ones, Up Close and Personal, Unbreakable World Tour, and State of the World Tour. It was included on her 2019 Las Vegas Residency Janet Jackson: Metamorphosis.It was also performed on her 2023-2024 Janet Jackson: Together Again tour.

With the release of "Love Will Never Do (Without You)", Janet became the third woman in the chart's history to amass four number one hits from one album, following Paula Abdul and Whitney Houston.^[13] Additionally the song's success gave her the distinction of being the only recording artist in the history of the chart to have seven commercial singles from one album peak within the top five positions, surpassing a record held by Michael Jackson and Bruce Springsteen.^[14] Although released as a single in 1990, Pitchfork included it on their list of "The 200 Best Songs of the 1980s."^[15]

Sally Yeh and Alex To covered the Cantonese version "信自己" (Believe Myself) in 1991 on Sally 14th album. Macy Gray sang the song live as a tribute to Jackson during MTV's MTV Icon special in 2001.^[16] The song was recorded by Sahara Hotnights in 2009 on their album Sparks.Manilyn Reynes performed the song on the film, Kung sino pa ang minahal (1991). Carnie Wilson revealed to Billboard that while creating a song for a Trident commercial as a task for The New Celebrity Apprentice it was inspired by this song.^[17]

• Herb Ritts