"Rhapsody in the Rain" is a song written by

Twyla Herbert Twyla Herbert (born Twila Moody; July 27, 1921 – July 11, 2009) was an American songwriter known for her long songwriting partnership with the singer Lou Christie Luigi Alfredo Giovanni Sacco (born February 19, 1943), known professionall ...

and

Lou Christie Luigi Alfredo Giovanni Sacco (born February 19, 1943), known professionally as Lou Christie, is an American pop and soft rock singer-songwriter known for several hits in the 1960s, including his 1966 US chart-topper "Lightnin' Strikes" and 1969 ...

and performed by Christie with backing vocals by

The Delicates The Delicates, were an American three-girl singing group, made up of members Denise Ferri, Arleen Lanzotti, and Peggy Santiglia. The group was formed in 1958 while all three members were attending Elementary School No. Eight, in Belleville, New ...

. It reached No. 10 on Canada's ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' 100, No. 16 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, No. 37 on the UK's ''

Record Retailer ''Record Retailer'' was the only music trade newspaper for the UK record industry. It was founded in August 1959 as a monthly newspaper covering both labels and dealers. Its founding editor was Roy Parker (who died on 27 December 1964). The title ...

'' chart, and No. 40 in Australia in 1966. It was featured on his 1966 album, ''Painter of Hits''. The song was produced and arranged by

Charlie Calello Charles Calello (born August 24, 1938) is an American arranger, composer, conductor, record producer, and singer born in Newark, New Jersey. Calello attended Newark Arts High School and the Manhattan School of Music, in New York City. His track ...

. Many radio stations banned the song due to the controversial lyrics. MGM had Christie re-record the song's opening lyrics to release a "clean" version.

In popular culture

Both the official

Super Bowl XLI Super Bowl XLI was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Chicago Bears to decide the National Football League (NFL) champio ...

highlight film and an ''

NFL's Greatest Games ''NFL's Greatest Games'' is a series of television programs that air on NFL Network, ESPN and related networks. They are condensed versions of some of the most famous games in the history of the National Football League, using footage and sound ca ...

'' episode about that game took their title from this song.

References

1966 songs 1966 singles Songs written by Twyla Herbert Songs written by Lou Christie Lou Christie songs MGM Records singles {{1960s-single-stub