"Real Love" was the first single from Jody Watley

Jody Watley

Jody Vanessa Watley is an American, singer, songwriter, record producer, and founder of Avitone Records whose music crosses genres from Pop, R&B, Jazz, Dance and Electronic Soul....

's second album, Larger than Life. "Real Love" became one of the biggest pop and R&B singles of 1989

1989 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1989.-Events:*January 14 – Paul McCartney releases Снова в СССР exclusively in the USSR...

. The single reached number-one on the US Billboard Hot R&B Singles

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...

 chart and dance chart.

On the U.S. Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 singles chart, "Real Love" rocketed into the Top 40 from #51 to #37, the week of April 1, 1989. The single lingered in the Top 10 for six weeks, peaking at #2 for two weeks, beginning May 20, 1989, held out of the top position by Paula Abdul

Paula Abdul

Paula Julie Abdul is an American singer-songwriter, dancer, choreographer, actress and television personality.In the 1980s, Abdul rose from cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers to highly sought-after choreographer at the height of the music video era before scoring a string of pop music-R&B hits...

's "Forever Your Girl

Forever Your Girl (song)

"Forever Your Girl" is a 1989 hit song by Paula Abdul, taken from the album of the same name. It was written and produced by Oliver Leiber.After the success of "Straight Up", Virgin Records quickly released another single to satisfy the public's newfound interest in Paula Abdul...

".

During the summer of 1989, Watley's "Real Love" video, directed by David Fincher

David Fincher

David Andrew Leo Fincher is an American film and music video director. Known for his dark and stylish thrillers, such as Seven , The Game , Fight Club , Panic Room , and Zodiac , Fincher received Academy Award nominations for Best Director for his 2008 film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and...

, was nominated for seven MTV Video Music Awards

MTV Video Music Awards

An MTV Video Music Award , is an award presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in music videos...

 including Breakthrough Video, Best Art Direction, Best Dance Video, and Best Female Video at the 1989 award show. That record was held until Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson

Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...

 and Janet Jackson

Janet Jackson

Janet Damita Jo Jackson is an American recording artist and actress. Known for a series of sonically innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows, television and film roles, she has been a prominent figure in popular culture for over 25 years...

's video "Scream

Scream/Childhood

"Scream"/"Childhood" is the lead single from Michael Jackson's ninth studio album, HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I where "Scream" is the first song and "Childhood" is the tenth song on the second disc of the album HIStory Continues. The A-side, "Scream", is a duet with his younger sister...

" received eleven VMA nominations in 1995. The song was also nominated for a Soul Train Music Award for Best Female Single. The music video premiered in March 1989 on Cable television networks.

Awards and nominations

Year	Award
1989	MTV Video Music Award nomination for Best Female Video for "Real Love"
1989	MTV Video Music Award nomination for Best Dance Video for "Real Love"
1989	MTV Video Music Award nomination for Best Direction for "Real Love"
1989	MTV Video Music Award nomination for Best Art Direction for "Real Love"
1989	MTV Video Music Award nomination for Best Editing for "Real Love"
1989	MTV Video Music Award nomination for Breakthrough Video for "Real Love"

Charts

Chart (1987)	Peak position
Dutch Singles Chart	21
German Singles Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie...	15
New Zealand Singles Chart	35
Swiss Singles Chart	21
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	31
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...	2
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B Singles Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...	1
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play	1