The classic song “Love Hurts” was written and composed by American songwriter Boudleaux Bryant.

Quick Scoop: Key Facts

  • Songwriter: Boudleaux Bryant (often credited simply as Boudleaux Bryant).
  • First recording: The Everly Brothers in July 1960.
  • Famous later versions:
    • Nazareth’s powerful rock ballad version (1974), which gave the song huge international exposure.
* Jim Capaldi’s 1975 hit version in the UK.

* Roy Orbison’s early 1961 hit version, which brought it into the charts before Nazareth.

* Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris’s country‑rock take in the early 1970s.

So, when people ask “who wrote ‘Love Hurts’?”, the precise answer is: it was written by songwriter Boudleaux Bryant, not by Nazareth, Roy Orbison, or any of the later artists who covered it.

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