"Love Don't Cost a Thing" is a song by American singer Jennifer Lopez for her second studio album J.Lo (2001).

The song was written by Damon Sharpe, Greg Lawson, Georgette Franklin, Jeremy Monroe and Amille D. Harris, and produced by Ric Wake, Richie Jones and Cory Rooney.

At the time of the song's release, Lopez was transitioning into a sex symbol and in a relationship with American rapper Sean Combs.

"Love Don't Cost a Thing" was also a radio hit, becoming her first single to top the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart.

[2][3] Her debut album entitled On the 6 (1999) became an instant commercial success, and spawned the Billboard Hot 100 number one song "If You Had My Love".

In August, after a demo for "Love Don't Cost a Thing" had been recorded, Sharpe sent a CD of the song to Wake at his studio in New York.

Not soon after, the master recording of "Love Don't Cost a Thing" was cut at Sony Studios in New York City.

[15] "Love Don't Cost a Thing" is a pop[16] and R&B[17] song with a running time of three minutes and forty-two seconds (3:42).

[21] It has been reported by multiple sources that the lyrical message of "Love Don't Cost a Thing" was based around her two-year relationship with rapper Sean Combs, who allegedly "showered" her with expensive jewelry.

Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan of The Baltimore Sun speculated that materialism was the reason for their break-up, using Combs' signature hit "It's All About the Benjamins" vs. "Love Don't Cost a Thing" as an example.

[27] Entertainment Weekly's Marc Weingarten noted the song to be a "standard fare, booty thump funk, with a snapping snare and a female chorus of yes gals" but praised its "bold message", "'Love Don't Cost a Thing,' is a sharp rebuke to all of those male hip hoppers who kvetch about their women going for the bling bling".

[16] Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani called the song a "cheap carbon copy" of producer Rodney Jerkins' "style of frothy R&B.

[31][32] "Love Don't Cost a Thing" experienced commercial success worldwide, and is considered one of Lopez' biggest hits; it was especially noted for its popularity on pop radio.

[48] "Love Don't Cost a Thing" also made its debut at number one in Italy, and spent seven weeks in the top ten of the Italian Singles Chart.

[50][51] In Australia, "Love Don't Cost a Thing" debuted and peaked on the ARIA Singles Chart at number four on January 28, 2001.

[56] It was directed by Paul Hunter, a frequent collaborator with Lopez,[57][58] and choreographed by actor and dancer Darrin Dewitt Henson.

[61][62] The couple were said to have gotten close to each other during the video shoot, causing media speculation following her highly publicized split from Sean Combs.

Then she takes out the postcard he gave her; and a dance break appears on the screen, in which Lopez is supported by male dancers on a tropical beach.

David Basham of MTV News noted that she arrived on-stage in "fly girl fashion via a "prop" plane".

[73] In February 2001, Lopez performed "Love Don't Cost a Thing" along with "Play" at a special Total Request Live event, CBS Sports Presents: MTV's TRL The Super Bowl Sunday, which occurred in Tampa, Florida at The NFL Experience theme park.

[77][78] In December 2001, Lopez, Kid Rock and Ja Rule headlined a concert for the USO troops in a German military base.

Soraya Roberts of the New York Daily News commented that her dance moves weren't "highly complicated" because she was restricted by a tight leather catsuit.

[81] On October 22, 2011, she performed "Love Don't Cost a Thing" during a special concert which commemorated the 15th anniversary of the Mohegan Sun Arena.

[90] At her "The Best Is Yet To Come" concert which took place on New Year's Eve 2014 in Caesars Palace, Lopez included "Love Don't Cost a Thing" on her setlist.