"Love Lies" is a song recorded by American singers Khalid and Normani for the film Love, Simon. It was released through RCA Records on February 14, 2018, as the second single from the film's soundtrack, which was curated by Jack Antonoff. The song was written by Khalid, Normani, Tayla Parx, Jamil Chammas, and Ryan Vojtesak, with production handled by Charlie Handsome and Digi. It marked Normani's first single release outside of Fifth Harmony.
"Love Lies" reached number nine on the US Billboard Hot 100, and also peaked within the top ten in six additional countries. It was the first duet with two African-American singers to reach number one on the US Mainstream Top 40 chart in over 20 years. The song also peaked at number two on the Rhythmic Top 40 chart. It was certified 5× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling over five million units; and was also certified diamond in Brazil, 5× platinum in Australia, and platinum or higher in five additional countries.
The song broke the record for the highest first-week position for a debut single by a girl group member. It was the top R&B song of 2018, according to BuzzAngle Music, and was the most Shazammed R&B song of 2018. "Love Lies" spent a record-tying 45 weeks on Billboards Mainstream Top 40 radio airplay chart, this record has since been broken and is currently held by Harry Styles' "As It Was". In 2019, Billboard named it the seventh biggest song of the 2010s decade on the Mainstream Top 40 chart. In 2021, the song was revealed to be the fifth most thumbed up duet on Pandora, of all time.
Background
Normani first hinted at a possible collaboration between her and Khalid via an Instagram post in July 2017. Khalid also opened up about the collaboration during an interview with MTV News the next month. Later, Normani confirmed to Billboard that they were working together on collaboration ideas, calling him "an important artist and a great friend". She divulged to Kode in an interview in October 2017, when asked to share information on the collaboration: Khalid and I have been wanting to work together for some time. We actually got into the studio and were excited about a record we wrote together along with Tayla Parx. It was all one huge vibe session. We wanted to create something that our peers would fall in love with. I remember him telling me "I want this to be my favorite record, if I were listening, I want it to be something I vibe with that's just dope," which is something I relate to because I listen to our song every day. Issa vibe. But the greatest part of it all is that were genuinely two friends that created something special that were so proud of. We're in two different countries on tour but we still text each other sometimes like, "but that record though..."
The duet was officially announced on January 16, 2018. On February 12, 2018, Normani posted a photograph of her and Khalid, captioning the photo: "2/14". Similarly, Khalid posted the single artwork with the same caption. The two artists also teased a few lyrics from the song, with Khalid replying Normani's announcement with "tell me where your love lies", to which Normani replied: "waste the day and spend the night". Normani spoke to Zane Lowe on his Beats 1 radio show about the song, saying that recording it was a "growing process" for her. "I feel like people are actually getting like a sense of who I actually am," she said. "Being in the studio and partnering with Khalid, it actually tells me more about myself that I didn't necessarily know was even there. This is definitely [a] growing process and I can't wait. I'm so excited for the journey."
Composition
Musically, "Love Lies" is an R&B, song that contains elements of snap, as well as synths and vocal effects. The song's verses are resigned and have a quaint 1980s sound, laden with a simple finger-click beat and drums. Khalid and Normani's vocals are both in E minor.