from the album Recovery Released August 5, 2010 (2010-08-05) Format CD single, digital download Recorded 2010 54 Sound, Effigy Studios (Ferndale, Michigan) Sun Studios (Temple Bar, London) Genre Hip hop Length 4:23 Label Shady, Aftermath, Interscope Writer(s) M. Mathers, A. Grant, H. Hafferman, M. Riddick Producer Alex da Kid, Makeba Riddick (co) Certification 3x Platinum (ARIA) Platinum (RIANZ) "Love the Way You Lie" is a song by American rapper Eminem, released as the second single from his seventh studio album, Recovery. The song features vocals from Barbadian singer Rihanna and is produced by Alex da Kid. Additional vocal production on Rihanna's vocals were provided by Makeba Riddick. The song gave Eminem his fourth US Billboard Hot 100 number-one hit and Rihanna her seventh. It also claimed the top spot on twenty other charts. "Love the Way You Lie" was number one on the Hot 100 for seven consecutive weeks. The song won the Best Rap/Hip-Hop Track award at the Teen Choice Awards 2010. Background Alex da Kid said that the song was recorded by Eminem in two days, and that he had Rihanna in mind as a guest vocalist. Eminem 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." Critical reception The song has received a very positive reception from critics. Michael Menachem from Billboard gave a positive review of the song saying, "Rihanna's chorus is exquisitely melodic and surprisingly hopeful, complementing the turmoil of Em's dark, introspective rant. Producer Alex da Kid has a knack for mainstreaming classical instrumentation, and here he cements the story with a slick, midtempo percussive punch that showcases both performers on equal planes." Nick Levine of Digital Spy awarded the song four out of five stars. BBC Radio 1 also gave the song four out of five stars stating, "This is not an autobiographical lyric [...] It's one of Eminem's flights of fancy, albeit one into a very real situation. Clearly he understands the psychology well, and can express the feelings with enormous clarity. Rihanna's role in all of this is interesting though." 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 was atop the Digital Songs chart for six consecutive weeks, before falling off the top spot for one week. For the chart week of August 28, 2010, the song regained its number one position again on the chart, selling 254,000 copies for the week. In its latest week it sold 207,000 digital copies. In the week of August 14, 2010, the song made US digital chart history after selling 300,000 digital copies or more of the single for five consecutive weeks. It also held the "Airplay Gainer" award for five straight weeks. In the same week, it reached new peaks on the Pop Songs and Radio Songs charts, both at number two. The song reached number one on the Pop Songs chart on August 21, 2010. It gave Eminem his fourth number one on the chart and Rihanna her sixth, tying her with Mariah Carey, Beyoncé and Lady Gaga for the artists with the most number ones in the charts history. Moreover, the song also reached number one on the US Radio Songs and Digital Songs charts.In the same week, it debuted on the Hot Latin Songs chart at number 48 and the Hot Latin Pop Songs chart at number 34.It has since climbed to number 35 and 30,respectively. For the week of September 4, 2010 the song debuted on the Adult Pop Songs chart at number 36. It also finally rose to number one on the Rap Songs chart also being the greatest gainer of that week. The song entered the UK Singles Chart on July 4, 2010, at seven and three on the UK R&B Chart.It has since climbed to number two on the singles chart and number one on the R&B chart on downloads alone.As of October 5, 2010, "Love the Way You Lie" had sold 698,226 copies in the UK despite not having reached the top spot. It is currently number 1 on the UK Official Singles year-to-date sales ranking.The song reached number three on the European Hot 100 Singles chart. "Love the Way You Lie" reached number one in Australia for six weeks, Canada for seven weeks,Denmark for seven weeks,Ireland for three non-consecutive weeks,New Zealand for four weeks,Norway for four weeks, Sweden for four weeks,and the US for seven straight weeks. In addition, the song reached within the top ten on 26 various charts. The song has been certified triple platinum in Australia and platinum in New Zealand. In Germany, "Love the Way You Lie" debuted at No. 18, though it hadn't yet been released as a single, due to digital downloads. In its second week, it rose to number seven and when it got released as a single, it jumped to number three. There it stayed another week before it reached No. 2 for another two weeks. In its seventh week on the German Singles Chart, it finally reached No. 1, making "We No Speak Americano" by Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP down to No. 2 after seven weeks at No. 1. For Rihanna, the song is her third No.-1-single there (after "Umbrella" and "Don't Stop The Music") and for Eminem it's also his third No. 1-single and the first one in eight years (after "Stan" and "Without Me"). Live performances Eminem performed the 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. The duo also performed the song at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards. The performance was voted the best of those performed on the show. Rihanna was shooting for her new film, Battleship and therefore originally could not perform but Eminem managed to persuade the singer to leave the set for the performance. Music video The video depicts a couple (portrayed by actors Dominic Monaghan and Megan Fox) in a love-hate relationship. The couple repeatedly fight, break things, steal, and make up again, with scenes flashing back to happier times in their relationship. Other scenes include the two celebrities on top of a liquor store, inside the store and "at a seedy dive bar next door" to it. Towards the end of the video, both Fox and Monaghan's characters are engulfed by flames. Monaghan was cast in the video first, and suggested Fox for the role of the girlfriend. Shots of Rihanna in front of a house that bursts into flames are featured while she sings the chorus, with Eminem rapping his verses in a desolate field, as well as joining Rihanna in front of the burning house toward the end of the video. The video became an online phenomenon, gaining 6.6 million hits in its first 24 hours on VEVO, and 18 million views in five days.[58] It broke a YouTube record for having the most views in 24 hours. Cover versions Taylor Momsen's band The Pretty Reckless covered the song in August 2010 for BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge. It was mixed with "Islands" by The xx. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License and may also be available under the GNU FDL.