<P> Written and composed by Mick Jones, with an uncredited portion (somewhere between 5% according to Jones and 40% according to Gramm) by Lou Gramm, and produced by Jones and Alex Sadkin, "I Want to Know What Love Is" was the first single released from Foreigner's album Agent Provocateur (1984). The song features backing vocals from the New Jersey Mass Choir affiliated with the Gospel Music Workshop of America, Dreamgirls star Jennifer Holliday, and featured keyboard work by Thompson Twins frontman Tom Bailey . The choir also appears in the song's music video . </P> <P> "I Want to Know What Love Is" reached #1 in the UK Singles Chart on January 15, 1985, displacing Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?", staying there for three weeks, and knocked Madonna's long - running "Like a Virgin" out of #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on February 2, 1985 . It was Foreigner's first and only pop chart topper in either country, although the band had four #1 Mainstream Rock hits and a #1 Adult Contemporary radio hit in the US . This was the band's third of four #1 singles on the Mainstream Rock chart . The song spent five weeks at #1 in Australia and also hit the top of the charts in Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, and Sweden, peaking at #2 in Switzerland and South Africa . </P> <P> The song has received positive retrospective reviews from critics, with Bret Adams of AllMusic writing: "It's not hard to see why it became Foreigner's first #1 single . Its dreamy, hypnotic feel is due in part to Lou Gramm's soulful lead vocals and the New Jersey Mass Choir's background vocals ." </P> <P> The song was also issued as a 12" single with a longer time length of 6: 23 . This version contains a slightly longer intro and an extended vocal chorus / fadeout ending . The single's B - Side "Street Thunder (Marathon Theme)" is an instrumental track originally appearing on The Official Music of the XXIII Olympiad--Los Angeles 1984 and later on the band's 2 - CD compilation Jukebox Heroes: The Foreigner Anthology (2000). </P>

I wanna know what love is lead singer