In honor of Peter Cetera’s birthday today, the Song of the Day is his smash hit, “Glory of Love”. Cetera didn’t miss a beat after leaving the legendary band, Chicago.

This song was written by Peter Cetera, his wife (at the time) Diane Nini, and David Foster, who produced Chicago’s highly successful albums Chicago 16 (1982) and Chicago 17 (1984) when Cetera was with the group. Cetera was asked by a friend to write the love song for the Karate Kid: Part II film, and was shown part of the movie. He has claimed that the song was destined to be a hit whether it was used for the film or not.

The song was released on June 4, 1986 and hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 2 weeks beginning August 2, and spent five weeks atop the US adult contemporary chart.

In addition to Karate Kid: Part II, it was featured on Cetera’s Solitude/Solitaire album.

The song earned nominations for an Academy Award for Best Original Song, and a Golden Globe in the category of Best Original Song. It was also nominated for a Grammy Award in 1987 for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Male Artist, and went on to win an ASCAP Award for Most Performed Songs from a Motion Picture and a BMI Film & TV Award for Most Performed Song from a Film.