Fight for This Love

"Fight for This Love" is the debut solo single by English singer Cheryl Cole, recorded for her debut studio album, 3 Words (2009). It was released in the United Kingdom and Ireland as the lead single in 2009 by Fascination Records (Polydor Records) and in 2010 in some European countries as the album's second single through Universal Music. It was written and produced by Wayne Wilkins and Steve Kipner with an additional writing from Andre Merrit. The up-tempo pop, dance-pop and R&B song revolves around a lyrical content of not giving up on the partner.

"Fight for This Love" divided music critics; some praised Cheryl's vocals and the powerful production, noting that it had the potential to be a hit with the clubs while other critics criticised the sluggish verses and weak vocals. The accompanying music video was directed by Ray Kay. It was generally well received by media and critics who drew comparisons to the works of Janet Jackson and the video for "Put the Needle On It" (2002) by Dannii Minogue.

Following her first performance of the song on The X Factor it topped charts in Ireland and the United Kingdom. In May 2010 it was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry for shipments topping 600,000 units. In December 2012 "Fight for This Love" became the 125th single to reach the million mark in UK Chart history, and the third to reach the feat in 2012, along with Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" and Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know". "Fight for This Love" also achieved success in Europe by topping charts in Norway, Hungary and Denmark. "Fight for This Love" received a BRIT Award nomination in the Best British Single category.

"Fight for This Love" is Cole's first solo single outside of girl band Girls Aloud following 20 top-ten singles with the group.

The song is an uptempo pop, dance-pop and R&B song with a synthy production, written in the key of G major with a time signature in common time and a tempo of 123 beats per minute. The vocal range spans from E₃ to D₅. The basic chord progression of the song is Am, G, D, G, Bm, and Em. In the middle eight it features a breakdown where the song's usual instruments are replaced with hand claps whilst some of the media reported that Cole's voice had a Whitney Houston-like tone to it. NME magazine reported that some people noticed similarities between the song and the 2007 song "Lil Star" by American singer Kelis, though Cole's representatives denied any similarities. A reviewer also noted the similarity of the melody to KC and JoJo's All My Life. "Fight for This Love" was later covered by British boyband The Wanted, who released it as the B-side to their number-one single, "All Time Low".

Critical reception towards "Fight for This Love" has been mixed. Ruth Harrison from 'Female First' was impressed by the song after initially being worried that Cole would not be able to cope going solo. She said "Whilst it does sound just a little bit Girls Aloud-y, we still love it, and can see it being a huge hit on the club circuit up and down the country ... we think this is going to send her well on her way to global superstardom." Popjustice also liked the song saying "'Fight for This Love' is very definitely not just a Girls Aloud single with one person singing it... its one of those songs you can have on repeat for an hour and a half without getting bored. One thing that hits you is – well, is this really what Cheryl sounds like? Vocally it's a big surprise... As it turns out, she sounds really great – strong, confident, direct. Like a proper pop singer. It's a sleek, powerful production..." Matthew Chisling of Allmusic picked the song as one of the best from the album, praising it for being "a terrific midtempo number with a heck of a chorus."

Meanwhile, David Balls of Digital Spy was only moderately impressed and argued that "Cole's vocals aren't terribly strong" but that she had "understated charm and lots of 'X Factor' exposure". Of the song itself he said "Cole has taken the subtle approach on her first solo single. 'Fight for This Love' is a midtempo pop-R&B track with subdued, synthy production and an infectious hook that gnaws into the consciousness – albeit after a few listens." Whilst Fraser McAlpine partially agreed "In Cheryl's favour, she's obviously made an effort to record something that sounds different from the stuff she'd be making with Girls Aloud, and as a result this solo effort is an interesting pop/dance/R&B hybrid, which actually suits her rather well, style-wise." However he too had issues with the voice "It's just a shame it's not stronger," pointing out some weaknesses, "the best thing about the song is the bridge, which is sassy but vulnerable at the same time, and underpinned by a sweet melody, but the rest of the song can't match up: the verses are sluggish...".

In the United Kingdom, "Fight for This Love" debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart. The placement marked Cole's fifth number one song in the United Kingdom, following Girls Aloud's "Sound of the Underground" (2002), "I'll Stand by You" (2004), "Walk This Way" (2007), and "The Promise" (2008). It sold 134,000 copies in one day beating the previous record held by Cole's X Factor protégé Alexandra Burke with the song "Bad Boys" which sold 187,100 over a seven-day span. The final first week sales totalled 292,000 copies beating the 213,000 that Girls Aloud's debut single, "Sound of the Underground" sold back in 2002. The single remained at number one for two weeks and consequently went on to become the best selling single of the year up to that point. By the end of 2009 it was declared the fourth best-selling single of the year, and 29th best selling of the decade (2000s). On 14 May 2010, just over six months after release, the single was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and earned Cole a nomination for Best British Single at the 2010 BRIT Awards, which she had previously won at the 2009 BRIT Awards with Girls Aloud for their single, "The Promise". However, she lost out to "Beat Again" by former X Factor runners-up JLS in what was deemed a "controversial win," as the announcer claimed Cole was the front-runner.