What a Fool Believes

"What a Fool Believes"
Song by Kenny Loggins
from the album Nightwatch
ReleasedJuly 12, 1978
GenreSoft rock
Length3:37
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)
  • Kenny Loggins
  • Michael McDonald
Producer(s)Bob James
Audio
"What a Fool Believes" by Kenny Loggins on YouTube
"What a Fool Believes"
US 7-inch vinyl picture sleeve (also used for the parent album)
Single by The Doobie Brothers
from the album Minute by Minute
B-side"Don't Stop to Watch the Wheels"
ReleasedJanuary 1979
RecordedAugust 1978
StudioWarner Bros. Recording Studios (North Hollywood, California)
Genre
Length3:41 (Album / Single Version)
5:28 (Extended Version)
LabelWarner Bros.
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Ted Templeman
The Doobie Brothers singles chronology
"Nothin' But a Heartache"
(1977)
"What a Fool Believes"
(1979)
"Minute by Minute"
(1979)
Audio
"What a Fool Believes" on YouTube

"What a Fool Believes" is a song written by Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins. The best-known version was recorded by the Doobie Brothers (with McDonald singing lead vocals) for their 1978 album Minute by Minute. Debuting at number 73 on January 20, 1979, the single reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on April 14, 1979, for one week.[6] The song received Grammy Awards in 1980 for both Song of the Year and Record of the Year. In 2024, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[7]

The song was one of the few non-disco No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 during the first eight months of 1979.

  1. ^ Phill (February 12, 2012). "Smokin' Doobie Brothers should roll into the Rock Hall of Fame". Goldmine. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
  2. ^ "VH1's 40 Most Softsational Soft-Rock Songs". Stereogum. May 31, 2007. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
  3. ^ Breihan, Tom (January 27, 2020). "The Number Ones: The Doobie Brothers' "What A Fool Believes"". Stereogum. Retrieved July 8, 2023. "What A Fool Believes" stood out...Today, the song is considered a foundational yacht rock classic.
  4. ^ Billboard Staff (October 19, 2023). "The 500 Best Pop Songs: Staff List". Billboard. Retrieved February 19, 2024. The defining hit of the Michael McDonald-era Doobie Brothers, a soaring yacht-rock track that defies singalong attempts.
  5. ^ "Michael McDonald". Goldstar.
  6. ^ Joel Whitburn, The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 1996, Billboard Books, p. 189
  7. ^ "GRAMMY Hall Of Fame | Hall of Fame Artists | GRAMMY.com". grammy.com.

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