The Best Love Song by 11 Big Metal Bands

If ever there was a love song for people who don’t do love songs, Motörhead delivered it on “Love Me Like A Reptile.”

At a blistering pace, Lemmy’s turns the concept of a love song on it's head. Sure, maybe in Motörhead's case it's more lust than love, but it still counts.

The song is basically Lemmy's ode to sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll, stripped of any pretense or real romance. The reptile comparison here isn't some kind of deep metaphor; he's talking about cold-blooded desire. This is 'love' whittled down to its most simplistic form and pushed through Marshall stacks.

"Knew I had to bite you, baby / When I first laid eyes on you / That moment turned me on / I can't believe it's true / And I like to watch your body sway / I got no choice, I'm gonna twist your tail"

Musically, the song charges forward in typical Motörhead fashion with Lemmy's signature distorted bass leading the way. "Fast" Eddie Clark is absolutely ripping up the song's iconic riff, and of course, "Love Me Like A Reptile" would be nothing without Philthy Animal himself, Phil Taylor, banging away on the skins.

While "Love Me Like A Reptile" may not resemble a conventional love song, it captures a form of connection that aligns pretty perfectly with Motörhead's spirit: straightforward and intense. It's inclusion on an album like Ace of Spades (1980) underscores how Motörhead managed to incorporate a love song without compromising their sound.

When Metallica first clawed their way out of the San Francisco Bay Area with their debut, Kill 'Em All, in 1983, no one would've ever believed that they ever had it in 'em to write anything that resembled a love song.

With a decade as a band under their belt, the band finally departed from their thrash roots with The Black Album. Even the angriest, toughest and loudest bands you know have a heart and Metallica bared theirs on their 1991 release when they recorded "Nothing Else Matters."

In a 2012 interview with The Village Voice, frontman James Hetfield dived deep into the inspiration and meaning behind the track: "That was the song that I thought was least Metallica, least likely to ever played by us, the last song anyone would really want to hear. It was a song for myself in my room on tour when I was bumming out about being away from home. It’s quite amazing, it’s a true testament to honesty and exposing yourself, putting your real self out there, and taking the risk."

As we all know, The Black Album is sometimes a sore subject amongst Metallica fans, but there's no denying that it allowed the band to hone their melodic abilities; and even gave metal fans a badass song to use for their first dance.

There could be no list about love songs by big metal bands without including the forefathers of the genre and a song about Satan falling in love with a human and contemplating changing his evil ways. Duh!

Of course we're talking about Black Sabbath's "N.I.B." — one of the most recognizable and influential riffs in heavy metal history. Over the years it's been assumed by fans that the title of the song stood for "Nativity In Black," but we're sad to say that it's just a rumor.

Turns out that Tony Iommi was inspired to write one of the most badass riffs of all-time, but wasn't feeling inspiration to name the song. The title, "N.I.B." was inspired by one thing and one thing only: Bill Ward's beard that eerily resembled a pen nib. (Google it, you'll see!)

But honestly, it doesn't get more romantic than:

"Follow me now and you will not regret / Leaving the life you led before we met / You are the first to have this love of mine / Forever with me 'til the end of time"

Black Sabbath FOREVER!

It's undecided if Pantera has ever really written a true love song, but "This Love" from 1992's Vulgar Display of Power is as close as they've ever gotten.

The song is deceptive, starting out with Dimebag's clean guitar, creating a sounding more reminiscent of Alice In Chains than anything else. Everything changes at about a minute and 18 seconds in with a chorus that kicks the familiar Pantera sound into full gear.

"This Love" leans into the theme of toxic love more than anything with Phil Anselmo snarling lyrics such as: "And sometimes, I feel so sorry, I regret this, the hurting of you / But you make me so unhappy / I'd take my life, and leave love with you / I'd kill myself for you, I'd kill you for myself"

He dives into the aftermath of intimacy; attachment, betrayal, and reconciling what love once meant. The anger behind the lyrics and chugging guitar riffs is actually potent vulnerability.

The quiet-loud dynamic of "This Love" reinforces its place as a love song at its core.

Type O Negative built an entire career out of making darkness feel strangely romantic.

"Love You To Death" from 1996's October Rust finds Peter Steele's cavernous baritone delivering lines of longing over sprawling, melancholic instrumentation that builds across the song's seven minutes.

Where other metal bands might shy away from earnest romanticism, Type O Negative leaned into it completely. Steele's lyrics are clear in their sentiment:

Yet the band's signature gothic atmosphere keeps the track from veering into saccharine territory.

October Rust marked a shift toward more overtly melodic material for the band, and "Love You To Death" became the album's emotional centerpiece. It's a song that proved heavy metal could handle genuine romance without losing its edge.

Queensrÿche built their reputation on cerebral concept albums and progressive metal complexity, but "Jet City Woman" — the fourth single from their 1990 record Empire — showed they could wear their heart on their sleeve without sophistication.

The song captures the ache of separation that comes along with life on the road. The title is a nod to Seattle, the band's hometown and often referred to as "Jet City." Former Queensrÿche frontman Geoff Tate wrote the song about his wife at the time, who also made a living traveling around the country and through different time zones as a flight attendant. His delivery is both powerful and vulnerable, while the band builds to the song's climax; arena-rock grandeur.

Chris DeGarmo's guitar work soars, mimicking the sounds of take-off, landing and the distance between.

The standout power ballad became one of the band's biggest hits, although still falling behind the band's biggest hit to date, also from Empire: "Silent Lucidity" (which went on to earn the band a Grammy nomination).

"Jet City Woman" is a song about real distance, real devotion and real love grounded in the unique experience of living your life out of a suitcase. It remains a highlight in Queensrÿche's impressive catalog.

Judas Priest weren't most known for their tender side, but "Love Bites" proved that the Metal Gods could tackle romance without sacrificing their metal cred. Featured on 1984's Defenders of the Faith, the track finds Rob Halford exploring the painful side of desire.

Defenders of the Faith came along during Judas Priest's commercial peak, and while tracks like "Freewheel Burning" and "The Sentinel" got most of the attention, the vampiric "Love Bites" showed a different dimension to the band's songwriting. It demonstrates that even in the midst of the band’s most aggressive and speed-driven material, there was still room for melody and emotional nuance.

Lyrically, Rob Halford presents the idea of love as something intoxicating and lust fueled:

"Now you are mine / In my control / A taste of your life / And I own your soul"

As a love song, “Love Bites” remains a compelling example of how the band expanded their thematic range during the Defenders of the Faith era, adding emotional weight to one of the most celebrated periods of their career.

Ghost have become the modern day giants of the genre; known for writing love songs that are drenched in Satanic imagery, ancient latin, and melodies that more often than not you'd find sung on the altar of a cathedral.

Although they have a myriad of tracks that could find their way onto this list, it'd be criminal to not feature the beautiful (and vastly underrated) "Life Eternal" — the closing track from the band's fourth studio release, Prequelle (2018).

The song starts out with a haunting piano that slowly climbs into a bombastic album closer that explores the ambiguous concept of mortality. Some may say that "Life Eternal" resembles a song about love lost more than anything else, but it's hard not to listen Forge's ardent lyrics and think of it as being anything other than a love song.

"Can you hear me say your name forever? / Can you see me longing for you forever? / Would you let me touch your soul forever? / Can you feel me longing for you forever, forever?"

Those lines capture the song’s emotional core: a yearning for connection that transcends time, flesh and even death itself. Rather than framing love as fleeting or earthly, “Life Eternal” presents it as something vast and enduring.

By 1991, Ozzy Osbourne had spent the better part of two decades living the rock and roll lifestyle to its absolute extremes, but "Mama, I'm Coming Home" found the Prince of Darkness in surprisingly reflective territory. Although it may seem like Ozzy is referring to his "mama" here, he is actually speaking to Sharon Osbourne, his (then) wife of nine years. Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne would go on to be married for forty three years.

Written for the No More Tears record with Ozzy's personal confidant Zakk Wylde and the legendary Lemmy Kilmister, "Mama, I'm Coming Home" is Ozzy's personal reflection of a time filled with turmoil; particularly substance abuse that he often expressed wouldn't have been escapable without Sharon's help in the early 1980s.

The song is tender, and somehow, has become even sadder and melancholic after Ozzy's passing in July of 2025. It's near impossible to get through the song's four minutes and eleven seconds without shedding a tear.

The song became one of his most commercially successful solo tracks and once against showed the same tender and vulnerable side of Ozzy that we had seen on "Goodbye To Romance" and even "You're No Different."

"Mama, I'm Coming Home" remains one of the Ozzman's most enduring tracks and a reminder that behind the bat-biting godfather of heavy metal was a person just like the rest of us.

Iron Maiden going full-on pop metal wasn't exactly expected, but that's what happened when they covered FM's "That Girl" for the B-Side of their single — "Stranger In A Strange Land" — in 1986. The track later appeared on various compilations giving fans a glimpse of Maiden tackling straightforward rock romance instead of their usual fare of dystopian futures and Egyptian mythology.

The original FM version was pure melodic rock and Maiden didn't stray far from the track's original blueprint. Bruce Dickinson's vocals bring his signature power to what's essentially Maiden's version of a love song.

What's most interesting about Maiden's lesser-known choice to cover a track at all during the Somewhere In Time era, when they were pushing into more complex, synth-layered territory, "That Girl" stands as a palette cleanser of sorts, showing the band could strip things down and deliver a good 'ole catchy love song too.

To our dismay, the cover never became too well known or even a notable part of Maiden's legacy, but it remains a fun entry into their catalog... proof that even when singing about romance, Iron Maiden could not only do it, but do it well!

Few power ballads in heavy metal history have achieved the cultural penetration of Scorpions "Still Loving You." Released on 1984's Love At First Sting, the track became a worldwide phenomenon, topping charts across Europe, the United States, and establishing itself as one of the defining ballads of the '80s rock era.

Parts of the melody were by Rudolf Schenker back in the mid-1970s, but unfortunately, it was rejected by Schenker's fellow guitarist at the time, Uli Jon Roth, for being too commercial at the time. Time and tastes changed, and Schenker revisited the song almost a decade later. Vocalist Klaus Meine added the lyrics, and the rest is history,

Musically, "Still Loving You" follows the classic power ballad song structure, but executes it extremely well. The slow-burning verses, the subtle build-up and the eventual explosion into a chorus you can't help but sing along to proves the song's brilliance.

The song transcended the traditional audience and become a staple on mainstream radio; become a frequent wedding and slow dance favorite. Nearly four decades later, "Still Loving You" remains a touchstone not just for the Scorpions, but the entire genre.