I Don't Know How to Love Him has been universally acclaimed as the high point of the "Jesus Christ Superstar" soundtrack since the album's September 1970 release; in 2003 "The Rough Guide to Cult Pop" would assess Elliman's performance: "It's rare to hear a singer combine such power and purity of tone in one song, and none of the famous singers who have covered this ballad since have come close." The choice for the first single release went, however, to the track "Superstar" by Murray Head. When a cover of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" by Helen Reddy began moving up the charts in the
How to Love 5 on the "Billboard" Hot 100, making it his third highest peak on the chart as the primary artist. Lil Wayne performed the song at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards. The song features a slow, "stripped down" production from Drum Up (LaMar Seymour, LaNelle Seymour) for Drum Up Digital with Noel "Detail" Fisher based largely around the sounds of an acoustic guitar and drums. Wayne has said the song is about women who "don't know how to love because there's deep reasons for them not knowing how to love...And what I mean by deep reasons is deep and dark