“Hello, I Love You” spent two weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The Doors released the single in 1968, and it became their second US number-one hit after “Light My Fire.”
The song appeared on the Doors’ third studio album, Waiting for the Sun, which was also the band’s only album to reach number one on the Billboard 200. Its direct, dance-oriented rhythm helped it connect with a broad pop audience, even though Jim Morrison later said he preferred the album’s B-side, “Love Street.”
The song’s chart success brought some controversy because listeners and critics noted similarities between its vocal and melodic phrasing and the Kinks’ “All Day and All of the Night.” Another notable chart detail is that a version of “Light My Fire” by José Feliciano was also in the Top Five during the same period, giving the Doors two songs in that territory at once.