"Queen of Rain" is a

pop ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner.J. M. Cu ...

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

duo Roxette. It was released on 28 October 1992 as the second single from their fourth studio album, ''

Tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mor ...

'' (1992). The song became a top twenty hit in Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden, and spent over three months on the

German Singles Chart The GfK Entertainment charts are the official music charts in Germany and are gathered and published by GfK Entertainment (formerly Media Control and Media Control GfK International), a subsidiary of GfK, on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindust ...

, where it peaked at number nineteen.

Background and recording

The song was recorded in July 1990 at EMI Studios in Stockholm during sessions for their 1991 album '' Joyride''. It was originally set to appear as that album's final track, but was excluded in favour of "Perfect Day". However, the closing notes and sound effects contained on the outro of the album version of "Things Will Never Be the Same" – the track which precedes "Perfect Day" on ''Joyride'' – can still be heard over the crowd noise contained on the intro of "Queen of Rain". Roxette later recorded a Spanish version of the track, titled "Una reina va detrás de un rey" ("A Queen Goes After a King"), for their 1996 compilation album '' Baladas en Español''. Prior to the release of "Queen of Rain", one of the single's b-side, "Pearls of Passion", had remained unreleased outside of Sweden. The song would later be included as a bonus track on the 1997 reissue of their debut album, ''

Pearls of Passion ''Pearls of Passion'' is the debut studio album by Swedish pop duo Roxette, originally released on cassette and vinyl on 31 October 1986 in Scandinavia and Canada. The album was remastered and released on CD on 31 October 1997, with several pre ...

'' (1986).

Critical reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

editor Bryan Buss described the song as "haunting" and "hopeful" in his review of ''Tourism''.

Formats and track listings

* Cassette and 7" single (Europe 8650124 · UK EM253) # "Queen of Rain" – 4:49 # "

It Must Have Been Love "It Must Have Been Love", originally "It Must Have Been Love (Christmas for the Broken Hearted)", is a song written by Per Gessle and performed by the Swedish pop duo Roxette. The power ballad became the duo's third number one hit in the United ...

" (Live from the

Sydney Entertainment Centre Sydney Entertainment Centre (later known as Qantas Credit Union Arena) was a multi-purpose arena located in Haymarket, Sydney, Australia. It opened in May 1983, to replace Sydney Stadium, which had been demolished in 1970 to make way for the ...

on 13 December 1991) – 5:29 * CD single (Europe · Australia 8650132) # "Queen of Rain" – 4:49 # "It Must Have Been Love" (Live from Sydney) – 5:29 # "Paint" (Live from Sydney) – 3:20 # "Pearls of Passion" – 3:33 * UK CD1 single (UK CDEMS253) # "Queen of Rain" (Radio Edit) – 4:28 # "Pearls of Passion" – 3:33 # "Interview with Roxette" – 14:30 * UK CD2 single (UK CDEM253) # "Queen of Rain" – 4:49 # "It Must Have Been Love" (Live from Sydney) – 5:29 # "Paint" (Live from Sydney) – 3:20 # "

Dangerous Dangerous may refer to: Film and television * ''Dangerous'' (1935 film), an American film starring Bette Davis * '' Dangerous: The Short Films'', a 1993 collection of music videos by Michael Jackson * ''Dangerous'' (2021 film), a Canadian-Ameri ...

" – 3:46

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''

The Ballad Hits ''The Ballad Hits'' is the second greatest hits compilation album by Swedish pop duo Roxette, released on 4 November 2002 by Roxette Recordings and Capitol Records. It was the first of a two-part series of "best of" albums released by the duo in q ...

''. * Recorded at EMI Studios in Stockholm, Sweden in June 1990. * Mixed by Alar Suurna, Per Gessle and Clarence Öfwerman at EMI Studios in Stockholm. Musicians *

Marie Fredriksson Gun-Marie Fredriksson (; 30 May 1958 – 9 December 2019) was a Swedish singer, songwriter, pianist and painter, who was best known internationally as the lead vocalist of pop rock duo Roxette, which she formed in 1986 with Per Gessle. The duo ...

–

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

and

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

Per Gessle Per Håkan Gessle (; born 12 January 1959) is a Swedish singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the male half and primary songwriter of the Swedish pop rock duo Roxette, which he formed with Marie Fredriksson in 1986 and which was ...

– background vocals * Bo Eriksson –

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. ...

* Anders Herrlin

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, programming and

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

* Jonas Isaacson –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

s *

Clarence Öfwerman Clarence Öfwerman (born 22 November 1957) is a Swedish record producer, best known as the longtime producer of Roxette, having been with the band from their debut album '' Pearls of Passion'' in 1986 through to 2016's '' Good Karma'', Roxette ...

–

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, programming and

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

* Alar Suurna – engineering

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Queen Of Rain 1992 singles Roxette songs Songs written by Per Gessle Songs written by Mats Persson (musician) 1991 songs EMI Records singles Pop ballads English-language Swedish songs