"Only Love Can Break a Heart" is a popular song from 1962, performed by the American singer-songwriter Gene Pitney.

The song was written by Hal David (words) and Burt Bacharach (music) and appears on Pitney's second album Only Love Can Break a Heart.

He wrote the songs "Hello Mary Lou", "Rubber Ball", and "He's a Rebel", the last a number-one Billboard Hot 100 hit for The Crystals in 1962.

Country music singers Sonny James and Kenny Dale also recorded cover versions of "Only Love Can Break a Heart".

Both versions reached the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart during the 1970s.

As a result, "Only Love ..." just missed continuing James' record-breaking streak of consecutive number-one singles, which had reached 16.