Looking for Freedom

Looking for Freedom is the third studio album by American actor and singer David Hasselhoff, released on June 21, 1989, by White Records. It was produced by German music producer Jack White and features writing from White, Charles Blackwell, Mark Spiro and Diane Warren, among others. The album includes Hasselhoff's biggest hit, "Looking for Freedom", which was a major chart hit in Europe, reaching number one in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Background and release Though Hasselhoff's first two albums Night Rocker (1985) and Lovin' Feelings (1987) failed to achieve success in the United States, both albums were very successful in Europe due to the popularity of Knight Rider, series in which Hasselhoff starred at that time. Following his first headlining tour across Austria in 1987, Hasselhoff began working with German music producer Jack White, who previously worked with several recording artists, including Laura Branigan, Paul Anka and Barry Manilow. Their first collaboration was the song "Looking for Freedom", which was written by White and Gary Cowtan, and was first recorded and released in 1978 by German singer Marc Seaberg, and later released that year on its German version, titled "Auf der Straße nach Süden" and performed by German pop singer Tony Marshall. White produced the song for a third time, with Hasselhoff's version being more popular than the original. On June 21, 1989, Hasselhoff released his third studio album under the name Looking for Freedom, due to the song's massive success in Germany, after spending eight consecutive weeks at number one. The album was re-released that year under the title Lonely Is the Night, which was also the name of one of the tracks from Looking for Freedom. This version contains 10 of its 13 original tracks, with the songs "Lady", "Avignon" and "After Manana Mi Ciello" not being included. Promotion To promote the album, Hasselhoff embarked on several TV shows across Germany. Hasselhoff performed "Looking for Freedom" for the first time on Hitparade, aired on March 22, 1989. Three months later, Hasselhoff returned to Hitparade and performed "Looking for Freedom" for the second time, as well as received a Gold certification for the song. Other performances includes: Peters Pop Show, Na Siehste! and his performance at the Berlin Wall on New Year's Eve 1989.