1981 Iconic Ballad Became the Longest-Running No. 2 Hit in Rock History
Close but no cigar - it's a phrase Foreigner knows all too well. Despite its massive popularity, the band's signature 1981 power ballad, "Waiting for a Girl Like You," never reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Instead, it spent an astonishing 10 weeks camped out at No. 2, blocked from the coveted pinnacle spot by a pair of chart heavyweights.
The "almost there" run ultimately cemented the song's legacy as thelongest-tenured No. 2 in rock history, American Songwriterrecently shared.
The first blockade came courtesy of Olivia Newton-John, whose catchy earworm "Physical" enjoyed a whopping 10 weeks at No. 1. Newton-John's hit ascended to the top spot a week before Foreigner's ballad took over the the No. 2 spot. So, for nine weeks, the pop vs. rock chart battle played out, with "Waiting for a Girl Like You," well, waiting patiently for its turn at No. 1.
Then along came a certain Pennsylvania pop rock duo. Just as "Physical" began to fade, Hall & Oates' "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)," jumped from No. 4 to No. 1. In its 11th week on the chart, Foreigner's rock ballad fell to No. 3. The leap-frog moment pretty much locked in the track's fate as a permanent runner-up.
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Co-written by guitarist Mick Jones and vocalist Lou Gramm, "Waiting for a Girl Like You" was the fourth track off the group's 4 album. Jones described the song's creation as an epiphany moment, with Gramm's vocal performance driven by emotion and atmosphere.
"[It] just came out," Jones told Songfacts in 2009. "It's the kind of song where the pen does the writing, and you don't even know where it came from."
With producer Mutt Lang's polished synth-heavy production, for which he brought on Thomas Dolby, the song was elevated into a crossover hit. Foreigner believed they were on to something special. Alas, it would be three more years before they had a No. 1 hit with "I Want to Know What Love Is."
"I think Mutt Lange's production was great. The songwriting was at its best," Gramm told the Greensboro News and Record in 2003. "I think Mick and I were working as hard as we ever worked. We knew in our hearts that we had something really special, but we didn't know how well it would be received."
Today, "Waiting for a Girl Like You" shares the No. 2 record with Missy Elliott's "Work It." But let's be real here: Chart position doesn't define legacy. Decades later, Foreigner's early-years power ballad continues to live on through pop culture moments, radio rotations, nostalgia playlists, and stories just like this one.
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This story was originally published May 11, 2026 at 6:35 PM.