Two Music Icons Made “Making Love Out Of Nothing At All” A Timeless Classic

In 1983, soft rock band Air Supply released “Making Love Out of Nothing At All” for their compilation album Greatest Hits. The song quickly reached No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, where it stayed for three weeks.

Since then, the song has been covered by several other artists, with Bonnie Tyler‘s version being the most successful one. It was even described by AllMusic as “fantastic, clocking in at nearly eight minutes, and seems perfectly suited for her voice. [Air Supply’s] version was already great, but hers is awesome.”

Tyler recorded “Making Love Out of Nothing At All” on her 1996 album Free Spirit. 

The Story Behind Such Successful Song

Written by Jim Steinman, “Making Love Out of Nothing At All” is composed of complicated lyrics about love – just like most of his songs.

“And I know the roads to riches. And I know the ways to fame. I know all the rules, and then I know how to break ’em. And I always know the name of the game. But I don’t know how to leave you. And I’ll never let you fall. And I don’t know how you do it. Making love out of nothing at all,” the song goes.

According to a 2006 article published by the Australian newspaper The Herald Sun, Steinman actually offered this song first to Meat Loaf, together with his another hit, “Total Eclipse Of The Heart.” This made sense as Steinman has already written several hits for the American singer. However, the two parties were unable to reach an agreement on the terms of finances.

“My record company was anti-Jim Steinman at the time, I was anti-record company. So, we were even,” Meat Loaf said in the article.

Apparently, the song went to Air Supply, which in 1983 had already changed most of its classic musician line-up, not only on tour but as well as in the recording studio. Still, Steinman – famous for his extravagant, rock-opera type productions – managed to musically underscore the recording with the same energy. 

He used Bruce Springsteen’s E-Street Band members on keyboards and drums. He also enlisted the help of The McCoys and Johnny Winter’s former guitarist to provide the electric guitar solo, which made the song stand so considerably apart from most other Air Supply songs.

You can listen to “Making Love Out of Nothing At All” in the video below.