Actually, the single “L'amour toujours” is not from the 90s
The song was the fifth single from the album of the same name and wasn’t released until October 2001. But the actual album, “L’amour toujours,” was released in August 1999, and the hit song can, of course, be heard on it. The song is one of Gigi D’Agostino ‘s most successful . The DJ has sold more than 9.3 million records since the 1990s, and although “L’amour toujours” is now almost 25 years old, a legal dispute over the credits only arose in 2020.
What has "Love Always" been about?
Gigi D’Agostino produced the love song himself, as he did with all of his songs from the album of the same name. The DJ also served as co-writer, along with four other songwriters. The finished hit was then performed by British-Nigerian singer Ola Onabulé , who, according to Onabulé, has also recorded other songs for Gigi D’Agostino , such as “Another Way.”
And that’s precisely the problem: In the late 90s, Ola Onabulé and several other singers were flown to Italy by an agency to participate in a session for Gigi D’Agostino . Ola Onabulé himself says he also worked on the lyrics and even the vocal melody, and his voice was recorded for “L’amour toujours.” The singer reportedly received exactly 1,275 euros for the session. Afterward, he was put back on a plane and never heard from Gigi D’Agostino or the other writers again.
Didn't Ola Onabulé know that Gigi D'Agostino used his voice in the song?
Ola Onabulé now moves more into jazz or soul, having little connection to dance or pop music. In 2018, a fan wrote to him and asked if it wasn’t his voice that could be heard in “L’amour toujours.” “I then started doing a bit of research and listened to the song. And of course, I recognized my voice, regardless of whether it had an autotune effect or not,” Onabulé told Deutschlandfunk in an interview.
Only after looking at the more than 425 million views of the YouTube video did Ola Onabulé realize that “L’amour toujours” was truly a huge hit. Neither he nor his label nor his management were ever informed that his voice was used in the song. Nor was he even mentioned in the song’s credits—not by GEMA or the music databases.
What happened next?
It wasn’t until 2020 that Ola Onabulé decided to take action against his injustice and tried to contact Gigi D’Agostino – unsuccessfully. Neither he nor his label or management responded to inquiries. The singer has now hired a lawyer, claiming he is entitled to ancillary copyright under copyright law. Being officially credited as the singer for “L’amour toujours” is what matters most to him, not the money.
The exact status of the legal dispute is currently unknown, but even today, Ola Onabulé is still not listed in the credits on official portals. Could Gigi D’Agostino ‘s poor health have something to do with the delay in the outcome of the legal dispute? The DJ had already told his fans in 2021 that he was battling an illness. The last photo on his Instagram is from 2022.
By the way, “L’amour Toujours” became a hit again in 2018. Lithuanian DJ Dynoro mashed the song with “ In My Mind” by Ivan Gough,Feenixpawl, and Georgi Kay, making it a worldwide hit.
