Songfacts®:

• Tonio K wrote this with longtime collaborator John Keller and composer Michael Caruso. The song was recorded by Vanessa Williams and Brian McKnight for the soundtrack of the TV show Beverly Hills 90210. Not only did it feature in two episodes of the television drama series, It was also included in the spin-off show Melrose Place. As a result of its exposure the song became a #1 Pop and AC (Adult Contemporary) radio single and also peaked at #3 on the Hot 100.
• Speaking to us in a 2013 interview, Tonio K recalled that his original choice for vocalist on the song was the famously gruff-voiced Tom Waits. "The first person I thought of when Keller played me that track and after I had written it, the first person whose voice I wanted to hear singing that was Waits, which is ridiculous," he said, "obviously it would have been great. It's not like I knew him well enough to call him up and say, 'Hey, you want to sing a demo for us?' So that never even came through on that set. But he is the first guy I thought of when the song was completed. I thought, Well, this song is so beautiful, what it needs is Tom Waits to put an edge on it."
• Tonio K has married then divorced a women named Linda on two separate occasions. This became a huge hit after their first divorce, but it wasn't included in the document with a list of songs that he had written while they were married where she shared the royalties. Tonio told us: "She called up and at some point after that first divorce, which I think was in 1992, she called up and said, "Hey, wait a minute, how come I'm not getting anything from 'Love Is'?" And I went, "Because we weren't married when I wrote 'Love Is,' we were divorced." 'But you would never have written that song if I hadn't made you so miserable.' [Laughing] 'Well, you're probably right,' she said. 'Apparently it's in the proceeds of that song, so let it go at that.'"