‘70s Hard Rockers Never Expected Their 1976 Top 10 Hit to Take Off

In 1976, Nazareth had an unexpected hit with the song “Love Hurts.” The Scottish hard rock band found mainstream recognition and international success with the cover of the 1960 Everly Brothers’ ballad, when, in early 1976, it peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100.

But “Love Hurts” was never supposed to be a single. The song, which appeared on the U.S. version of the band’s 1975 album Hair of the Dog, was originally recorded as a less commercially focused B-side.

In an interview posted by Classic Bands, Nazareth bassist Pete Agnew recalled, “’Love Hurts’ is on Hair Of The Dog, which is the big hit in America. That’s the only album it’s on, on the American copy of Hair Of The Dog. All over the world, on Hair Of The Dog, the song that’s on there instead of ‘Love Hurts’ is ‘Guilty,’ the one written by Randy Newman. We did ‘Love Hurts’ as a B-side for a single.”

“We never intended that to be a single,” he added.

Agnew, 79, credited A&M Records boss Jerry Moss for seeing the potential in “Love Hurts” and insisting it be put on the U.S. album.

“We all loved the song,” Agnew added. “We often covered songs that we liked that we used to listen to on tape when we were a full-time professional band. And every now and then, we’d just go back and try to do something with one of these things. If you could change it and make it yours, we’d do it in the studio and see if we could do something about it. When we did, ‘Love Hurts,’ I believe there were 42 different versions recorded of it.“

“Love Hurts” was covered by everyone from Roy Orbison to Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris before Nazareth touched it. The band put their own spin on the power ballad, with lead singer Dan McCafferty belting out the emotional lyrics in his signature raspy voice.

“As I said, we would only do ’em if we could change ’em radically, to make ’em sound as if it’s your song,” Agnew explained of the decision to cover the song. “We recorded ‘Love Hurts’ as a B-side, and that’s how we saw it. Of course, when I hear it now, it’s probably one of the best rock ballads of all time and definitely the vocal is in the top three.”

Fifty years later, Nazareth remains active. “Love Hurts” continues to be a staple in their shows three years after the death of original lead singer McCafferty, who retired from touring in 2013.

Following McCafferty’s retirement, fans heard “Love Hurts” performed on stage by follow-up frontmen Linton Osborne and Carl Sentence. Since 2025, Gianni Pontillo has been the lead singer of Nazareth.

Speaking with Classic Rock in 2024, Agnew admitted, “Whenever I hear that song, regardless of the vocalist, in my head I still hear Dan singing it. But it would be impossible to drop ‘Love Hurts.’ Without it, there probably wouldn’t be a Nazareth. … Jerry Moss, God bless him, heard our version of the song recorded as a B-side and insisted it went onto the album. Thank God that he did.”

“It became such a big hit that Nazareth has lasted forever,” he added.

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