"I Can't Stop Loving You" is a

popular song Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Funk ...

written and composed by country singer, songwriter, and musician

Don Gibson Donald Eugene Gibson (April 3, 1928 – November 17, 2003) was an American songwriter and country musician. A Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, Gibson wrote such country standards as " Sweet Dreams" and "I Can't Stop Loving You", and enjoy ...

, who first recorded it on December 3, 1957, for

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

Victor Records. It was released in 1958 as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of " Oh, Lonesome Me", becoming a double-sided

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

hit

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

. At the time of Gibson's death in 2003, the song had been recorded by more than 700 artists, most notably by

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

, whose recording reached No. 1 on the Billboard chart.

Composition

Gibson wrote both "I Can't Stop Loving You" and "Oh, Lonesome Me" on June 7, 1957, in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Di ...

. "I sat down to write a lost love ballad," Gibson said in Dorothy Horstman's 1975 book ''Sing Your Heart Out, Country Boy.'' "After writing several lines to the song, I looked back and saw the line 'I can't stop loving you.' I said, 'That would be a good title,' so I went ahead and rewrote it in its present form."

Charts

''Note'': This original recording was released as "I Can't Stop Lovin' You".

Ray Charles single

The song was covered by

in 1962, featured on Charles' '' Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music'', and released as a single. Charles' version reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1962, for five weeks. This version went to number one on the U.S. R&B and

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

charts. ''Billboard'' ranked it as the No. 2 song for 1962. Charles reached No. 1 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in July 1962, staying for two weeks. In

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

it was the first number one single on the sales chart Kvällstoppen on July 10, 1962. The Ray Charles version is noted for his saying the words before the last five lines of the song on the final chorus: "Sing the song, children". Choral backing was provided by The

Randy Van Horne Harry Randell Van Horne Jr. (February 10, 1924 – September 26, 2007) was an American singer and musician. Van Horne's musical group, the Randy Van Horne Singers, performed the theme songs for many classic Hanna-Barbera cartoons including ''Th ...

Singers. It was ranked No. 164 on

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

's list of the

500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring survey compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2004 in ...

and No. 49 on CMT's "100 Greatest Songs in Country Music". This recording was featured in ''

Metropolis (2001 film) is a 2001 Japanese animated futuristic dieselpunk drama film based upon Osamu Tezuka's 1949 manga of the same name. The film was directed by Rintaro, written by Katsuhiro Otomo, and produced by Madhouse, with conceptual support from Tezuka Pr ...

'', where it can be heard during the explosion of the skyscraper Ziggurat shortly after the climax.

Charts

All-time charts

Other versions

The song has been recorded by many other artists. Some recordings are titled as "I Can't Stop Lovin' You" (with or without an apostrophe). *1958:

Kitty Wells Ellen Muriel Deason (August 30, 1919 – July 16, 2012), known professionally as Kitty Wells, was an American pioneering female country music singer. She broke down a barrier to women in country music with her 1952 hit recording "It Wasn't God W ...

on her album ''Kitty Wells' Golden Favorites''; No. 3 on the ''

Billboard magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...

country chart Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

*1961:

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. His music was described by critics as ...

on his album '' Sings Lonely and Blue''; charted in the Variety magazine Top 100 Listings *1962:

featured on Charles' '' Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music'', and released as a single. *1962:

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

's recording, a

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

arrangement, won the 1962

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

for "Best Instrumental Arrangement". *1962:

Ray Anthony Raymond Antonini (born January 20, 1922), known as Ray Anthony, is an American bandleader, trumpeter, songwriter, and actor. He is the last surviving member of the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Biography Anthony was born to an Italian family in Ben ...

recorded the song for the album ''Ray Anthony Plays Worried Mind'' *1963:

Johnny Tillotson Johnny Tillotson (born April 20, 1938) is an American singer-songwriter. He enjoyed his greatest success in the early 1960s, when he scored nine top-ten hits on the pop, country, and adult contemporary ''Billboard'' charts, including " Poetry ...

on his album ''

Talk Back Trembling Lips "Talk Back Trembling Lips" is a 1963 song first recorded by Ernest Ashworth. The song became the most successful of Ernest Ashworth's career and was his only No. 1 song on the '' Billboard'' Hot Country Singles chart that October. The song spe ...

'' (MGM Records – E 4188) *1963:

Paul Anka Paul Albert Anka (born July 30, 1941) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter and actor. He is best known for his signature hit songs including " Diana", " Lonely Boy", "Put Your Head on My Shoulder", and " (You're) Having My Baby". Anka also ...

on his album ''Songs I Wish I'd Written'' (RCA Victor – LSP-2744) *1964:

Faron Young Faron Young (February 25, 1932 – December 10, 1996) was an American country music producer, musician, and songwriter from the early 1950s into the mid-1980s. Hits including "If You Ain't Lovin' (You Ain't Livin')" and " Live Fast, Love Hard, D ...

on his album ''Country Dance Favorites'' (Mercury Records - SR 60931) *1964:

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

recorded the song for his album ''

It Might As Well Be Swing ''It Might as Well Be Swing'' is a 1964 studio album by Frank Sinatra, accompanied by Count Basie and his orchestra. It was Sinatra's first studio recording arranged by Quincy Jones. The recording of " Fly Me to the Moon" which appears on thi ...

'', his second collaboration with

and his orchestra *1964:

Jim Reeves James Travis Reeves (August 20, 1923July 31, 1964) was an American country and popular music singer-songwriter. With records charting from the 1950s to the 1980s, he became well known as a practitioner of the Nashville Sound. Known as "Gentleman ...

on his last album ''

The Jim Reeves Way ''The Jim Reeves Way'' is a studio album by Jim Reeves, released posthumously in 1965 on RCA Victor. It was produced by Chet Atkins and Bob Ferguson. The album included 12 tracks, among which "Make the World Go Away" and "Maureen". The album op ...

'' which was released in 1965 *1964:

Ike & Tina Turner Ike & Tina Turner were an American musical duo consisting of husband and wife Ike Turner and Tina Turner. From 1960 to 1976, they performed live as the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, supported by Ike Turner's band the Kings of Rhythm and backing vocal ...

covered the song in 1964; released on their album ''Live! The Ike & Tina Turner Show'' in January 1965. *1965:

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...

recorded the song for his album '' Ellington '66'' *1965:

Andy Williams Howard Andrew Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold certified and three platinum certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hos ...

on his album ''

Andy Williams' Dear Heart ''Andy Williams' Dear Heart'' is the sixteenth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams and was released in the spring of 1965 by Columbia Records and was the last of his Columbia releases that remained exclusively within the realm of ...

'' *1966: Pavel Novak, Czech singer *1967:

Ronnie Dove Ronnie may refer to: *Ronnie (name), a unisex pet name and given name * "Ronnie" (Four Seasons song), a song by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe *"Ronnie," a song from the Metallica album ''Load'' *Ronnie Brunswijkstadion, an association football stadium ...

on his LP ''

Cry Crying is the dropping of tears (or welling of tears in the eyes) in response to an emotional state, or pain. Emotions that can lead to crying include sadness, anger, and even happiness. The act of crying has been defined as "a complex secreto ...

'' *1969:

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

performed the song live from 1969 until his final tours in 1977, first recording it on the RCA release ''

Elvis in Person at the International Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada ''From Memphis to Vegas / From Vegas to Memphis'' is the eleventh studio album and the second live album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley. It was released on October 14, 1969, by RCA Records. It is a double album, the first album, ...

'' *1969:

Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock & roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis made ...

recorded it on the album '' Sings the Country Music Hall of Fame Hits, Vol. 2'' *

Guy & Ralna Guy & Ralna are an American singing duo who appeared as regulars on television's ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' from 1970 to 1982. Musical career The act consists of Guy Hovis and Ralna English, who married in early 1969 and made their Welk debut ...

included a recording of the song on their 1973 album ''Country Songs We Love to Sing''; the duo also performed the song numerous times on ''

The Lawrence Welk Show ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' is an American televised musical variety show hosted by big band leader Lawrence Welk. The series aired locally in Los Angeles for four years, from 1951 to 1955, then nationally for another 16 years on ABC from 195 ...

,'' on which they were regulars. *1972:

Conway Twitty Harold Lloyd Jenkins (September 1, 1933 – June 5, 1993), better known by his stage name Conway Twitty, was an American singer and songwriter. Initially a part of the 1950s rockabilly scene, Twitty was best known as a country music performer. ...

on his album of the same name; reached No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart *1974:

Donna Hightower Donna Lubertha Hightower (December 28, 1926 – August 19, 2013) was an American R&B, soul and jazz singer and songwriter, who recorded and released albums for the Decca and Capitol labels. Later in her career she was based in Europe, where s ...

recorded in Spain it on her Columbia album "I'm In Love with Love" (also released as "I'm in Love with You" and "The One I Cried") *1974:

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...

and

Chet Atkins Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), known as "Mr. Guitar" and "The Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nashville sound, the country music s ...

performed the song (to Atkins' guitar accompaniment) on ''The Porter Wagoner Show'' in 1974. *1974:

Johnny Rodriguez Juan Raoul Davis "Johnny" Rodriguez (born December 10, 1951) is an American country music singer. He is a Tejano and Texas country music singer, infusing his music with Latin sounds, and even singing verses of songs in Spanish. In the 1970s an ...

covered the song on his album "Songs About Ladies And Love". This version is notable as Rodriguez alternates between singing in English and Spanish throughout the song. *1977:

Sammi Smith Jewel Fay Smith (August 5, 1943 – February 12, 2005), known professionally as Sammi Smith, was an American country music singer and songwriter. She is best known for her 1971 country-pop crossover hit "Help Me Make It Through the Night", whi ...

covered the song for her ''Mixed Emotions'' album. The song also reached No. 27 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart. *1978: Mary K. Miller reached No. 28 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart. *1981:

Rez Band Resurrection Band, also known as Rez Band or REZ, was a Christian rock band formed in 1972. They were part of the Jesus People USA Christian community in Chicago and most of its members have continued in that community to this day. Known for t ...

recorded a cover as their closing track on the platinum-selling

Mommy Don't Love Daddy Anymore ''Mommy Don't Love Daddy Anymore'' is the fourth album by American Christian rock band Resurrection Band, released in 1981. Recording history Resurrection Band's move toward a more pop-influenced hard rock sound is solidified on this release, w ...

, hitting the

Christian Rock Christian rock is a form of rock music that features lyrics focusing on matters of Christian faith, often with an emphasis on Jesus, typically performed by self-proclaimed Christian individuals. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Ch ...

charts. *1981:

Millie Jackson Mildred Virginia Jackson (born July 15, 1944) is an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and Soul music, soul recording artist. Beginning her career in the early 1960s, three of Jackson's albums have been certified Music recording certification, gold ...

recorded an upbeat, disco-influenced version for her ''Just a Lil' Bit Country'' album. The song was also released as a single in the U.S. and charted #62 R&B. *1991:

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

on his album ''

Hymns to the Silence ''Hymns to the Silence'' is the twenty-first studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was his first studio double album. Morrison recorded the album in 1990 in Beckington at Wool Hall Studios and in London at Townhouse an ...

''; also appears on a limited edition album ''

Live at Austin City Limits Festival ''Live at Austin City Limits Festival'' by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison is a limited edition live album recorded from the Austin City Limits Festival concert at which he was the first night headliner on 15 September 2006. It has ...

'' (2006) *2002:

Anne Murray Morna Anne Murray (born June 20, 1945) is a retired Canadian singer. Her albums, consisting primarily of pop, country, and adult contemporary music, have sold over 55 million copies worldwide during her over 40-year career. Murray was the fir ...

on her album ''

Country Croonin' ''Country Croonin is an RIAA Gold-certified album by Canadian country music artist Anne Murray. It was released by Straightway Records in the fall of 2002. The disc peaked at #13 on the ''Billboard'' Top Country Albums Top Country Albums is a c ...

'' *2005:

Martina McBride Martina Mariea McBride (née Schiff, born July 29, 1966) is an American country music singer-songwriter and record producer. She is known for her soprano singing range and her country pop material. McBride was born in Sharon, Kansas, and relocat ...

on her album '' Timeless'' *2014:

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...

recorded a version for his album ''

Tracks of My Years ''Tracks of My Years'' is the twelfth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Bryan Adams. The covers album was released on September 30, 2014 by Polydor Records. It is an eclectic mix of songs reflective of the time when rock was played alon ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:I Can't Stop Loving You 1958 singles 1962 singles 1972 singles 1991 singles Songs written by Don Gibson Don Gibson songs Kitty Wells songs Roy Orbison songs Ray Charles songs Johnny Tillotson songs Jim Reeves songs Frank Sinatra songs Duke Ellington songs Elvis Presley songs Song recordings produced by Owen Bradley Number-one singles in Australia Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles UK Singles Chart number-one singles Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients ABC Records singles Decca Records singles Polydor Records singles RCA Victor singles Torch songs 1957 songs