Waiting for a Girl Like You - wikipedia Waiting for a Girl Like You `` Waiting for a Girl Like You '' Single cover Single by Foreigner from the album 4 B - side `` I 'm Gonna Win '' Released October 1981 Format 7 - inch Recorded 1981 Genre Soft rock Length 4 : 35 ( single ) 4 : 49 ( album ) Label Atlantic Songwriter ( s ) Mick Jones, Lou Gramm Producer ( s ) Robert John `` Mutt '' Lange, Mick Jones Foreigner singles chronology `` Urgent '' ( 1981 ) `` Waiting for a Girl Like You '' ( 1981 ) `` Juke Box Hero '' ( 1982 ) `` Urgent '' ( 1981 ) `` Waiting for a Girl Like You '' ( 1981 ) `` Juke Box Hero '' ( 1982 ) `` Waiting for a Girl Like You '' is a 1981 power ballad by the British - American rock band Foreigner. The distinctive synthesizer theme was performed by the then - little - known Thomas Dolby, this song also marked a major departure from their earlier singles because their previous singles were mid to upper tempo rock songs while this song was a softer love song with the energy of a power ballad. It was the second single released from the album 4 ( 1981 ) and was co-written by Lou Gramm and Mick Jones. It has become one of the band 's most successful songs worldwide, peaking at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 on Billboard 's Rock Tracks chart. On the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, the song reached number 5. The song peaked at number 8 on the UK Singles Chart. `` Waiting for a Girl Like You '' achieved a chart distinction by spending its record - setting 10 weeks in the number 2 position of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, without ever reaching the top. It debuted on the Hot 100 chart dated October 10, 1981. It reached the number 2 position in the week of November 28, where it was held off the number 1 spot by Olivia Newton - John 's single `` Physical '' for nine consecutive weeks, and then by Hall & Oates ' `` I Ca n't Go for That ( No Can Do ) '' for a tenth week on January 30, 1982. Because of its chart longevity, it ended up being the number 19 song on the Top 100 singles of 1982. The song was the band 's biggest hit until `` I Want to Know What Love Is '' hit number 1 in 1985. The song lists at number 80 on `` Billboard 's Greatest Songs of All Time ''. Contents 1 Personnel 1.1 Foreigner 1.2 Additional personnel 2 Chart performance 2.1 Weekly charts 2.2 Year - end charts 3 In other media 3.1 Films 3.2 Games 3.3 Music 3.4 Stage productions 3.5 Television 4 See also 5 References 6 External links Personnel Foreigner Lou Gramm -- lead vocals Mick Jones -- backing vocals, keyboards Rick Wills -- bass guitar, backing vocals Dennis Elliott -- drums, backing vocals Additional personnel Thomas Dolby -- main synthesizers Bob Mayo -- keyboard textures Ian Lloyd -- backing vocals Robert John `` Mutt '' Lange -- backing vocals Chart performance Weekly charts Chart ( 1981 -- 82 ) Peak position Australia ( Kent Music Report ) Canada ( RPM ) Germany 29 New Zealand 16 UK Singles Chart 8 US Billboard Hot 100 US Billboard Adult Contemporary 5 US Billboard Top Rock Tracks US Cash Box Top 100 Year - end charts Chart ( 1981 ) Position Canada 34 Chart ( 1982 ) Position Australia ( Kent Music Report ) 21 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 19 In other media Films ( Chronological ) In the original Footloose ( 1984 ), Ren and Ariel slow dance to this song in a bar. The song was used in Nickelodeon movie Snow Day ( 2000 ) and was featured on the soundtrack. In the movie Swades ( 2004 ), Shahrukh Khan sings this song while taking a bath. Games ( Alphabetical by game title ) The song was featured on the soundtrack for the videogame Grand Theft Auto : Vice City ( 2002 ) on the in - game radio station Emotion 98.3 The song is featured in Karaoke Revolution Party The song is featured as downloadable content for the Rock Band franchise. Music ( Alphabetical by artist ) Paul Anka released a cover version on his album Classic Songs, My Way ( 2007 ). Cliff Richard covered the song on his 2007 album, Love... The Album ( 2007 ), which reached No. 13 on the UK Album Chart. Rick Springfield recorded a cover version of this song on his covers album, The Day After Yesterday ( 2005 ). Joe Lynn Turner 's cover version was released via an EP and an official video, in 1999. Stage productions The song is included in the rock / jukebox musical Rock of Ages and its 2009 original Broadway cast recording. Television ( Alphabetical by series ) The song was featured in `` You 've Come a Long Way, Babysitter '', a season 4 episode of Doogie Howser, M.D. In the Glee episode `` Pot o ' Gold '' ( November 1, 2011 ), the song is covered by Mark Salling ( who plays Noah `` Puck '' Puckerman ). The song is also covered by Glee 's sister show The Glee Project, in its second season. The song is featured in `` Holly, Jolly '', a season 1 episode of the Netflix original series Stranger Things. See also List of Billboard Mainstream Rock number - one songs of the 1980s References ^ Jump up to : `` Gig review : Journey / Foreigner / Styx ''. The Scotsman. 10 June 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2017. Jump up ^ Whitburn, Joel ( 2004 ). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition ( Billboard Publications ), page 234. Jump up ^ Hyatt, Wesley ( 1999 ). The Billboard Book of No. 1 Adult Contemporary Hits ( Billboard Publications ), page 333. Jump up ^ Bronson, Fred ( 2003 ). The Billboard Book of No. 1 Hits, 5th Edition ( Billboard Publications ), page 601. Jump up ^ `` Archived copy ''. Archived from the original on 2008 - 10 - 01. Retrieved 2008 - 11 - 24. Jump up ^ Kent, David ( 1993 ). Australian Chart Book 1970 -- 1992. St Ives, NSW : Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0 - 646 - 11917 - 6. Jump up ^ `` Top 100 Hits for 1981 ''. The Longbored Surfer. Retrieved 4 April 2017. Jump up ^ `` Forum -- ARIA Charts : Special Occasion Charts -- 1982 ''. Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 April 2017. Jump up ^ `` Top 100 Hits of 1982 / Top 100 Songs of 1982 ''. Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2016 - 10 - 25. External links Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics Full audio of the song at Grooveshark Preceded by `` Start Me Up '' by The Rolling Stones Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks number - one single December 5 -- December 12, 1981 Succeeded by `` Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic '' by The Police Foreigner Mick Jones Thom Gimbel Jeff Pilson Kelly Hansen Michael Bluestein Chris Frazier Dennis Elliott Lou Gramm Al Greenwood Ian McDonald Ed Gagliardi Rick Wills Jack Allen Smith Johnny Edwards Jeff Jacobs Mark Schulman Bruce Turgon Ron Wikso Brian Tichy Denny Carmassi Jason Bonham Chaz West Paul Mirkovich Jason Sutter Studio albums Foreigner Double Vision Head Games Agent Provocateur Inside Information Unusual Heat Mr. Moonlight Ca n't Slow Down Compilations Records The Very Best... and Beyond Jukebox Heroes : The Foreigner Anthology Complete Greatest Hits Hot Blooded and Other Hits The Essentials The Definitive Collection No End in Sight : The Very Best of Foreigner Live albums Classic Hits Live / Best of Live Extended Versions Ca n't Slow Down... When It 's Live ! Singles `` Feels Like the First Time '' `` Starrider '' `` Cold as Ice '' `` Long, Long Way from Home '' `` Hot Blooded '' `` Double Vision '' `` Blue Morning, Blue Day '' `` Dirty White Boy '' `` Head Games '' `` Love on the Telephone '' `` Women '' `` I 'll Get Even with You '' `` Urgent '' `` Juke Box Hero '' `` Waiting for a Girl Like You '' `` Night Life '' `` Break It Up '' `` Luanne '' `` I Want to Know What Love Is '' `` That Was Yesterday '' `` Tooth and Nail '' `` Reaction to Action '' `` Growing Up the Hard Way '' `` Down on Love '' `` Say You Will '' `` I Do n't Want to Live Without You '' `` Heart Turns to Stone '' `` Ca n't Wait '' `` Lowdown and Dirty '' `` I 'll Fight for You '' `` With Heaven on Our Side '' `` Soul Doctor '' `` White Lie '' `` Until the End of Time '' `` Rain '' `` Under the Gun '' `` Too Late '' `` When It Comes to Love '' `` Ca n't Slow Down '' `` In Pieces '' Related articles Discography Shadow King Black Sheep `` Revenge of the Mooninites '' Book Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Waiting_for_a_Girl_Like_You&oldid=843288040 '' Categories : 1981 singles Foreigner ( band ) songs Billboard Mainstream Rock number - one singles Song recordings produced by Robert John `` Mutt '' Lange Songs written by Mick Jones ( Foreigner ) Songs written by Lou Gramm 1981 songs 1980s ballads Rock ballads Atlantic Records singles Hidden categories : Articles with hAudio microformats Talk Contents About Wikipedia Español Français Italiano 日本 語 Polski Русский Edit links This page was last edited on 28 May 2018, at 04 : 28. 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Question: who sang waiting for a girl like you
Answer: Foreigner