Songfacts®:

• Like many of Ricky Martin's songs, "Nobody Wants To Be Lonely" is a romantic song with a Latin flavor. Originally released as a slow ballad on his 2000 album Sound Loaded, it was re-recorded as a fast-paced duet with Christina Aguilera and issued as a single in 2001. This is the best-known version, a global hit by two artists with vast international appeal at the peak of their powers.
• Super-producer Desmond Child was Ricky Martin's main hitmaker around this time, responsible for "Livin' La Vida Loca," "The Cup Of Life," and "She Bangs."
  
  Child produced "Nobody Wants To Be Lonely" and wrote it with two songwriters better known in the country genre: Gary Burr and Victoria Shaw. Other songs Burr worked on include "Love's Been A Little Bit Hard On Me" by Juice Newton and "This Is The Night" by Clay Aiken. Shaw co-wrote the Garth Brooks songs "Baby, Let's Lay Down and Dance" and "The River."
• After the duet with Aguilera was recorded, it replaced Martin's solo version on Sound Loaded. Fans who had already bought the album were allowed to download the new version or send away for a free copy.
• Sound Loaded was Ricky Martin's second English-language album after releasing his first four in Spanish. Christina Aguilera's debut album was in English, but her second, Mi Reflejo (2000) was in Spanish.
• Wayne Isham directed the music video, which was shot at the Miami Biltmore Hotel. Martin and Aguilera are in separate scenes for most of it but come together at the end in an embrace.
• Martin performed this on January 8, 2001 on The American Music Awards.