About You Give Love a Bad Name

"You Give Love a Bad Name" is a song by American rock band Bon Jovi, released as the first single from their 1986 album Slippery When Wet. Written by Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, and Desmond Child about a woman who has jilted her lover, the song reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 on November 29, 1986 and became the band's first number one hit. In 2007, the song reentered the charts at No. 29 after Blake Lewis performed it on American Idol. Despite the lyrics of the chorus, the song should not be confused with "Shot Through the Heart", an unrelated song from Bon Jovi's 1984 self-titled debut album.

"You Give Love a Bad Name" was originally written for Bonnie Tyler under the title "If You Were a Woman (And I Was a Man)" with different lyrics. Dissatisfied with its success in the US and the UK, Desmond Child re-wrote the song with Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora. The song is written in the key of C minor and has a tempo of 123 BPM. The album version of the song ends with the title being repeated until it fades. Upon the release of the Ava Max song "Kings & Queens", comparisons were drawn with that song, "You Give Love a Bad Name" and "If You Were a Woman (And I Was a Man)", and reviews highlighted Desmond Child's credit as a songwriter for "Kings & Queens".