Released December 3, 1990 Length 5:23 (album version) | Genre Country Label RCA/Curb | |
B-side "This Country's Rockin'" Writer(s) John Barlow Jarvis, Naomi Judd, Paul Overstreet | ||
"Love Can Build a Bridge" is a song written by Naomi Judd, Paul Overstreet and John Barlow Jarvis, and recorded by American country music duo The Judds. It was released in December 1990 as the second single and title track from their album of the same name. It was a Top 5 country hit in mid-1991.
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It was later covered by Children for Rwanda as a charity single in aid of Save the Children, reaching number 57 in the UK singles chart in September 1994. A new version recorded by American singers Cher, Chrissie Hynde, Swedish singer Neneh Cherry, British singer/guitarist Eric Clapton and with arrangements by David Campbell was released and reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart for one week in March 1995. It was chosen as 1995's official Comic Relief single.
Declan Galbraith sang the song on his 2002 self-titled debut album. Irish boy band Westlife covered it on their eighth studio album The Love Album.
The song was also sung by 10-year-old Britney Spears on Star Search in 1991.
The song's title was also used for a 1995 television miniseries about The Judds, Naomi & Wynonna: Love Can Build a Bridge.
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The song is a country ballad about the importance of always standing together, and was co-written by Naomi Judd and dedicated to the Judd family and fans as almost a goodbye, as at the time Naomi was chronically ill with Hepatitis-C and was forced to retire as it had been speculated that she had only three years left to live.
The Judds
"Love Can Build a Bridge" debuted on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of December 8, 1990.