I Can't Stand the Rain: Rolling Stones #197 of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (2024)

I Can't Stand the Rain

Single: Ann Peebles

Album: I Can't Stand the Rain

Released: July 1973

Genre: Soul, Memphis soul

Songwriters: Ann Peebles, Don Bryant & Bernard "Bernie" Miller

Ann Peebles recorded "I Can't Stand the Rain" in 1973. She wrote the song with her future husband, Don Bryant, and the radio DJ Bernard "Bernie" Miller. Other hit versions were later recorded by Eruption and Tina Turner. The original version ranks Number 197 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.  

Ann Peebles

(I Can't Stand the Rain's) the best song ever.

John Lennon to Billboard magazine

Ann Peebles' father was a minister, and her mother a singer. Growing up, she sang in the church choir and toured the gospel circuit with the family group, the Peebles Choir. She sang secular music on the St. Louis club circuit as a teenager. 

Ann Peebles

Peebles caught her big break in 1968 when trumpeter Gene "Bowlegs" Miller, who was signed to Hi Records, brought her to Hi house producer Willie Mitchell for a tryout. Mitchell immediately offered the 20-year-old Peebles a contract. 

The inspiration for "I Can't Stand the Rain"  was a comment made by the singer to her co-writers, Mitchell and Miller. Peebles told Mojo magazine in March 2014, 

"It was pouring outside, and I just said, I can't stand this rain," recalled. "And I think it was Don who perked up: 'That's a good title.' We sat down and began to write. We started writing and forgot all about the rain."

Peebles was a star on the soul circuit after her hit. But the rise of disco slowed her career momentum.

Eruption (1978)

A disco cover of "I Can't Stand the Rain" was an international hit for Eruption in 1978, reaching the top 10 in many European charts. A British-based American R&B act, Boney M's producer Frank Farian signed Eruption. 

Eruption

They covered this track for their self-titled debut album. It topped the Australian music chart and was Number 5 in the UK. In the US, it peaked at number six on the disco chart and reached number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100. 

Tina Turner (1984)

Tina Turner

Tina Turner recorded the song for her 1984 Private Dancer album. Released as a single, it found minor success in the US and UK but sold well in continental Europe, reaching the Top 10 in Germany and France. Missy Elliott's debut single in 1997, "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)," samples Ann Peebles' version of the song.