"Love Never Felt So Good" is a song performed by American recording artist Michael Jackson,
released posthumously on May 2, 2014.
Two reworked versions of the 1983 demo track originally composed by Jackson and Canadian
singer-songwriter Paul Anka form the first single released from Jackson's second posthumous
album, Xscape.
The first version is a solo produced by American record producer John McClain and Dutch record
producer Giorgio Tuinfort.
The second version is a duet featuring American recording artist Justin Timberlake, produced
by American record producers Timbaland and Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon.
It is the second collaboration between Jackson and Anka to be released since Jackson's 2009
death.
The single charted on number 9 in the US and on number 8 in the UK.
Background First worked on as a demo, Jackson co-produced
the song during a 1983 recording session with Anka.
The original version only featured Jackson's vocals, handclaps and a piano, played by Anka.
In 1984, Anka sent the song to Johnny Mathis, who recorded a new version of the song with
revised lyrics by Anka and Kathleen Wakefield.
Mathis' version made it on his 1984 album, A Special Part of Me.
In 2006, Jackson's demo leaked online.
During the 2013-2014 recording sessions for the Xscape album, the song was given a revision
as a disco-sounding track.
The first version, which only features Jackson, was produced by John McClain and Giorgio Tuinfort
and was featured as the first track on the standard version of Xscape.
The second version, featured as the last track on the deluxe version of the album, was co-produced
by Timbaland and Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon and featured Timberlake in duet vocals with Jackson.
While producing Timberlake's duet version, Timbaland sampled the percussion and breaths
from Jackson's 1979 song "Workin' Day and Night".
Release On April 30, 2014, it was revealed that "Love
Never Felt So Good" would be unveiled at the iHeart Radio Music Awards on May 1 as the
album's first single.
During the show on May 1, 2014, the song premiered with a tribute by American R&B singer Usher.
The digital download for the single became available on iTunes at 0:01 EDT on May 2,
2014 for the album version and the duet version with Justin Timberlake.
The release date of the single to urban radio stations confirmed as May 6, 2014, though
actually the single hit the radios on May 2, 2014.
On the 10th of May, a Fedde Le Grand remix was announced and world-premiered by Danny
Howard on his BBC Radio 1 show, Dance Anthems.
The remix was released on May 19, 2014.
The song made its debut on Fuse's Top 20 Countdown on May 27, 2014 at #10.
Critical reception Since its release, "Love Never Felt So Good"
has received positive reviews from critics.
Surprised by the quality of the song, Aisha Harris from Slate writes that Timberlake's
version "sounds like an outtake from Off The Wall" and further commented: "If producers
are going to put out more MJ music, let's hope it continues to sound this good."
Carl Willott of Idolator offered a positive outlook on the duet version, "where [Timberlake
and Jackson's] voices make for an uncannily natural combination...
the other great thing is that it’s not trying to be an event, it's just a breezy dance floor
strut that wouldn’t feel out of place on Off The Wall or The 20/20 Experience."
Chris Richards of The Washington Post called the solo Jackson rendition "terrific.
It's airy, sweet, funky and pretty much impossible to dislike," though he would go on to pan
the Timberlake remix, which he commented "surfaces all the grody feelings that came rushing in
2010 with Jackson's first posthumous album, Michael."
Gavin Edwards from Rolling Stone said, "even if it isn't on a par with Jackson's best work,
it sounded like it could have easily been the sixth single off Bad, which is more impressive
than it sounds."
Stephanie Chase from Contactmusic said that "It's not groundbreaking or an exceptional
example of his artistry, but it gives a good indication that Xscape could serve as a fitting
tribute to Jackson and his legacy.
Jon OBrien from Yahoo! said the classy disco-soul of this single could easily have been lifted
from Off The Wall or Thriller.
Commercial performance The single debuted on the UK Single Chart
at Number 27 issued on May 4, 2014 after just 24 hours on sale.
In US, the single sold more than 60,000 downloads from the debut date to May 4, 2014, and drawn
31 million all-format radio audience impressions since its first plays on Friday.
With the Clear Channel's promotional synergy after the premiere of the song on the iHeartRadio
Music Awards, the song received hourly plays on May 2, 2014 on the company's pop, adult
and R&B/hip-hop stations, greatly contributing to its airplay, which made the song debut
on the following Billboard radio charts: Adult R&B Songs, Adult Contemporary, R&B/Hip-Hop
Airplay and Adult Pop Songs.
The song made splashy debuts at No. 20 on the Hot 100 and No. 6 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
by 80,000 downloads sold, 34 million in audience from 358 radio stations, and 1.9 million U.S.
streams, which made it, at the time, Jackson's highest-charting entry since the 2002 single
"Butterflies".
After its first full week on sale, the song reached to Number 6 of Billboard Digital Songs
chart with the sale of 101,000 copies, but the whole week radio audience impressions
reduced 36% to 22 million which generates the song dropped to No. 38 at Radio Songs,
and caused the song's Hot 100 position #22 for the second week.
In its third week, the song rose to No. 9, becoming Jackson's first top-ten hit since
2001's "You Rock My World".
Jackson also became the first act in the Hot 100's history to score top ten hits in five
different decades, as he has done for each decade from the 1970s to the 2010s.
Counting Jackson's entire chart career in addition to his solo career, the 2010s is
actually Jackson's sixth decade with a single charted in the Top 10, as the The Jackson
5 single "I Want You Back" first reached the Top 10 the week of December 27, 1969, on its
way to a number one peak in late January 1970; however, Jackson was not credited on that
single by full name.
The song eventually reached #1 on the Billboard Top Adult R&B Songs chart as well as reaching
number-one in South Korea and South Africa.
The song has since been certified gold by the RIAA for selling over 500,000 digital
downloads and streams combined.
Music videos The music video for the duet debuted in the
morning on May 14, 2014, which was regarded as "a careful visual tribute of the late pop
singer's lasting legacy on future generations."
It was directed by Rich Lee and Justin Timberlake.
A crowd of young dancers and Justin Timberlake sang along and made some memorable moves from
Michael Jackson's classic music video or live shows.
Clips from the following music videos appeared in the "Love Never Felt So Good" music video:
A month later, a music video for the solo version was uploaded to the official Michael
Jackson YouTube channel.
The music video featured clips from the duet version, as well as clips from other Michael
Jackson music videos, such as "Dirty Diana" and "You Rock My World", along with some of
Jackson's live performances, such as "Billie Jean".
Live performance The song was performed live at 2014 iHeart
Radio Music Awards on May 1, 2014.
American R&B singer Usher dancing across the stage, moonwalking, and even hopping on a
table to spin during the play of this song.
Other dancers dressed in Michael Jackson's style and performed his signature moves, capturing
the late legend's energy in front of digital backdrops flashing graffiti and brick walls.
Track listing
Digital download – solo version
"Love Never Felt So Good" – 3:54
Digital download – duet version
"Love Never Felt So Good" – 4:05
Digital download – Fedde le Grand remix
"Love Never Felt So Good" – 4:43
CD Single
"Love Never Felt So Good" – 3:54 "Love Never Felt So Good" – 4:05
Digital EP
"Love Never Felt So Good" - 8:23 "Love Never Felt So Good" - 4:11
"Love Never Felt So Good"(with Justin Timberlake) - 7:54
"Love Never Felt So Good" - 6:52 Official versions
Original Version 3:21 Album Version 3:54
Duet Version 4:05 Fedde le Grand remix 4:43
DM CLASSIC RADIO MIX 4:12 Personnel
Written and composed by Michael Jackson and Paul Anka
Arrangement by Michael Jackson, John McClain, Franck van der Heijden and Timbaland
Produced by John McClain, Michael Jackson and Giorgio Tuinfort
Co-produced by Timbaland, Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon and Justin Timberlake
Additional Background Vocals: Justin Timberlake Keyboard by Michael Jackson
Horns by The Regiment Horns Charts
Weekly charts Certifications
Release history Cover versions
American pop music singer Johnny Mathis released this song for his 1984 album A Special Part
of Me with new lyrics by Anka and Kathleen Wakefield, which was the song's first released
version.
German jazz guitarists Gismo Graf Trio covered this song in his 2014 album Modus Vivendi.
See also List of number-one singles of 2014
References