Dave Stewart, Evanescence’s Amy Lee Release Cover of The Everly Brothers’ 1960 Hit “Love Hurts”

Dave Stewart and Amy Lee of Evanescence have recorded their own reimagined version of The Everly Brothers’ 1960 ballad “Love Hurts.”

The stirring rendition, accompanied by a black and white video, starts with Stewart nearly talking through the opening verses of the song as Lee joins in on To take a lot of pain, take a lot of pain / Love is like a cloud / Holds a lot of rain / Love hurts Ooh, ooh, love hurts, with both sharing a duet throughout the remainder of the song.

Written by Boudleaux Bryant and first recorded and released by The Everly Brothers on their 1961 album A Date with the Everly Brothers, “Love Hurts” peaked at No. 8 on the Hot 100 but was never released as a single. The song found more success later in that same year when Roy Orbison covered it and released it as a B-Side to “Running Scared.” Throughout the past six decades, Emmylou Harris and Gram Parsons have covered the song as a duet, and it was later reimagined as a power ballad by Nazareth in 1974 and revisited again in1975 by Jim Capaldi. Everyone from Joan Jett, Cher, Rod Stewart, and more artists have covered the song over time.

Stewart, who was recently inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame as one half of the Eurythmics with Annie Lennox will repeat the honor for the duo at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame fall of 2022. The singer, musician, producer, and songwriter recently released his latest album Ebony McQueen, a musical memoir documenting pivotal moments during his teen years in the mid-to-late 1960s, and the influence of a voodoo blues queen. Evanescence recently released their fifth album, The Bitter Truth, in 2021.

“My collaboration with Amy happened by chance, but turned into a magical adventure,” said Stewart in a statement. “She’s a creative force and we work so well together. We quickly realized our version sounded nothing like the original but once we started, we couldn’t stop!”

Lee added, “A few weeks back Dave Stewart called and asked if I wanted to collaborate on the iconic Everly Brothers song, ‘Love Hurts. We clicked like magic and obsessed over it until it became this crazy new thing. I’m beyond excited about our new friendship and our new track.”

Photo: Milestone Publicity