This is a single off Rihanna’s sixth studio album Talk that Talk. It was also included on 18 Months, the third album from Scottish electronic artist and this song’s producer Calvin Harris, who penned the lyrics as well.

This song became one of the bestselling singles of all time, and Rihanna’s longest running single, outlasting her smash hit “Umbrella” on top of the Billboard Hot 100 charts. During the trackling week ending February 25, 2023, the song re-entered the Hot 100 at #48. This was Harris' first time on the Hot 100, and became a huge boon to his career. He’d been releasing music since 2007. Harris said:

It changed absolutely everything. Career-wise it was the best thing that could ever have happened. For example, in America my tune ‘Feel So Close’ came out about three months before. But when ‘We Found Love’ came out, the radio started playing ‘Feel So Close’ like it was the single after. Then that did really well, it charted well and sold a lot of copies."

Harris was able to tap Rihanna for the song after he opening for her on a leg of her Loud tour in 2011. When Rihanna announced the collaboration to Twitter fans, the Rihanna Navy jumped on Harris, ensuring he would produce a hit. Luckily he didn’t disappoint.

The original version of the song was recorded by UK singer Leona Lewis. She told NME:

It was a bit annoying to see how big a hit it was but if I’d released it maybe it wouldn’t have done as well.

The music video, directed by Melissa Matsoukas, depicts two lovers are in an unsustainable relationship based on passion and drugs, more like an addiction than a healthy interest. The video features a lot of drug usage and a Chris Brown lookalike, which was controversial, given their real-life abusive relationship. Matsoukas addressed the rumors about the controversial video in an interview with MTV:

Again, it goes back to a story that we all can relate to. It’s not Rihanna’s story; it’s her story in the video, and she’s acting. But everybody’s [as well]. Obviously, there’s a lot of comparisons to her real life , and that’s not at all the intention.