Love the Way You Lie

Love the Way You Lie,

 is the second single by American rapper Eminem from his seventh studio album, Recovery. The song features vocals from Barbadian singer Rihanna and is produced by Alex da Kid with additional vocal production on Rihanna vocals by Makeba Riddick. The song gave Eminem his fourth US number one and Rihanna her seventh. It also claimed the top spot on six other charts. "Love the Way You Lie" has currently been number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 for three consecutive weeks.

Background

Alex da Kid declared that the song was recorded by Eminem in two days, having Rihanna in mind as a guest vocalist.The rapper commented, "[The song] I did with Rihanna is one of those tracks that I felt like only she could pull it off, only she could do it." The track was sent to the singer's team, after which she agreed to be featured on it:

"They reached out to us directly and they just said, 'We have this song and we just think Rihanna would be perfect to sing it.' And, of course, I was like, 'OK, if I love it, I'll definitely do it, because I love Eminem.' And I love the song. It's really beautiful, and it really stands out. It's a really unique record. I'm really excited about it."

Rihanna also talked about this collaboration with Eminem in an interview with "Access Hollywood": "It's something that, you know, [Eminem and I have] both experienced, you know, on different sides, different ends of the table. [...] It was believable for us to do a record like that, but it was also something that needed to be done and the way he did it was so clever."

Chart performance

For the week of July 10, 2010, "Love the Way You Lie" made its first chart appearance, debuting on the US Billboard Hot 100 at number two. The song also debuted at number one on the Billboard Digital Songs chart, selling 338,000 downloads in its first week. The song topped the chart without the benefit of a video, becoming Eminem's fourth Hot 100 number one following "Not Afraid". For Rihanna, the track became her seventh number one since the start of her career in 2005. Also in the fourth week, the song rose from number 13 to eight on the Billboard Pop Songs chart, becoming Eminem's ninth and Rihanna's fifteenth top ten on that chart. The song has currently been atop the Digital Songs chart for five consecutive weeks, selling 332,000 copies in its latest week, for a digital sales total of over 1.6 million. It has also held the "Airplay Gainer" award for four straight weeks.

"Love the Way You Lie" appeared on the UK charts in the week ending July 3, 2010, entering at seven on the UK Singles Chart and three on the UK R&B Chart. The song has since climbed to number two on the singles chart and number one on the R&B chart.

"Love the Way You Lie" also reached number one in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Ireland. The song has been certified Platinum in Australia.

Live performances

Eminem performed this song at the T in the Park festival in Scotland and Oxegen 2010 festival in Ireland. The rapper made a surprise appearance on Rihanna's Last Girl on Earth Tour when he sang with her on July 21, 2010, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Music video

Joseph Kahn announced that he would be directing the video. Shooting for the video was set to begin on July 20, 2010. On July 22, 2010, photos were released of the video showing Rihanna performing in front of a burning house. On July 24, 2010, Kahn updated his Twitter page saying, "And that's a wrap! Eminem/Rhianna [sic] premieres in a week!" Megan Fox and Dominic Monaghan play a couple in the video. Scenes include the celebrities on top of a liquor store. Fox and Monaghan also filmed inside the store and "at a seedy dive bar next door" to the store. The video is set to premiere on August 5, 2010 at 9:00 PM on MTV, MTV Jams and VEVO.

Charts and certifications

Charts

Chart (2010) Peak

position

Australia (ARIA) 1

Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) 11

Belgium (Ultratop Flanders) 24

Belgium (Ultratop Wallonia) 20

Canada (Canadian Hot 100) 1

Czech Republic (IFPI) 64

Denmark (IFPI) 7

European Hot 100 Singles 6

Finland (Mitä hittiä) 9

France (SNEP) Download Chart[39] 24

Ireland (IRMA) 1

Korea (GAON) 30

Morocco (Hitradio) 2

Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) 9

New Zealand (RIANZ) 1

Norway (VG-lista) 2

Scotland (The Official Charts Company) 3

Slovakia (IFPI) 47

Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) 7

Switzerland (Media Control AG) 4

UK Singles (The Official Charts Company) 2

UK R&B (The Official Charts Company) 1

US Billboard Hot 100 1

US Pop Songs (Billboard) 2

US R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard) 68

US Rap Songs (Billboard) 2

[edit]Certifications

Country Certifications

Australia Platinum

Chart procession and succession

Preceded by

"California Gurls" by Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg US Digital Songs number-one single

July 10, 2010 – Succeeded by

Incumbent

US Billboard Hot 100 number-one single

July 31, 2010 –

Canadian Hot 100 number-one single

July 31, 2010 –

Australian Singles Chart number-one single

July 19, 2010 –

New Zealand Singles Chart number-one single

July 19, 2010 –

Irish Singles Chart number-one single

July 22, 2010 – July 29, 2010 Succeeded by

"We No Speak Americano" by Yolanda Be Cool vs. DCUP

Preceded by

"Airplanes" by B.o.B. featuring Hayley Williams UK R&B Chart number-one single

July 25, 2010 – July 31, 2010 Succeeded by

"Billionaire" by Travie McCoy featuring Bruno Mars

Release history

Country Date Format Label

United Kingdom August 9, 2010 CD Single Polydor

Austria August 17, 2010

Germany

Spain

United States

(source:wikipedia)