"I Can't Stop Loving You (Though I Try)" is a song written by singer-songwriter William Nicholls and first recorded by his short-lived project, White Horse – a collaboration between himself, Kenny Altman, and Jon Lind – and featured on the group's 1977 self-titled album.
The following year, Leo Sayer featured a version on his self-titled album on the Chrysalis label. It reached number six on the UK Singles Chart and was classified silver. In 2002, Phil Collins also covered the song, as "Can't Stop Loving You". His version reached number 28 on the UK Singles Chart. For other versions of the song, see section below.
Release history
The Leo Sayer single was released in 1978 with "No Looking Back" as the b-side.
Charts
Personnel
Leo Sayer – vocals
Greg Phillinganes – acoustic piano
Steve Porcaro – synthesizers
Waddy Wachtel – electric guitar, acoustic guitar
Leland Sklar – bass
Russ Kunkel – drums
Lenny Castro – congas
David Campbell – string arrangements
Phil Collins version
"Can't Stop Loving You" was the lead single from English singer Phil Collins’ solo album Testify, released in 2002. It also appears on Collins’ 2004 album Love Songs: A Compilation... Old and New. Although it received minor airplay, the song became Collins’ eighth number-one Billboard adult contemporary hit. The song also reached the number ten on the Eurochart.
Collins originally recorded the song in 2000 for a love songs project, along with "The Least You Can Do", but both tracks were released on Testify instead. Collins' version has some minor changes in the lyrics and introduces a bridge after the second chorus.