The Weather Girls are an American female duo whose best-known line-up comprised

Martha Wash Martha Elaine Wash (born December 28, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, and producer. Known for her distinctive and powerful voice, Wash first achieved fame as half of the Two Tons O' Fun, who sang backing vocals for the disco si ...

and Izora Armstead. Formed in 1976 in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

, California, The Weather Girls members began their musical career as Two Tons O' Fun, the female backup duo for disco singer Sylvester. After years of limited success singing background for Sylvester, the duo was signed in 1979 to

Fantasy Records Fantasy Records is an American independent record label company founded by brothers Max and Sol Stanley Weiss in 1949. The early years of the company were dedicated to issuing recordings by jazz pianist Dave Brubeck, who was also one of its invest ...

. The Weather Girls were launched into mainstream recognition following the release of their best-selling single, " It's Raining Men" (1982), which became their first number-one

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

song. Despite critical and commercial success, the duo struggled to repeat the success of "It's Raining Men" and ultimately disbanded after the release of their self-titled fifth album ''The Weather Girls'' in 1988. In 1991, Armstead reformed the duo with her daughter Dynelle Rhodes. Over the course of a decade, the duo released three albums: ''Double Tons of Fun'' (1993), ''Think Big!'', and ''Puttin' On The Hits'' (1999). In 2004, Armstead died and was replaced with Ingrid Arthur in 2005. Following the release of two albums ''Totally Wild!'' (2005) and ''The Woman I Am'' (2009), Arthur left the group and was replaced with Dorrey Lin Lyles in 2012. The group received a

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 pr ...

nomination for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal in 1983.

History

1970–1975: Formation and early years

Izora Rhodes and Martha Wash met at a young age. Wash attended

Church of God in Christ The Church of God in Christ (COGIC) is a Holiness–Pentecostal Christian denomination, and the largest Pentecostal denomination in the United States. Although an international and multi-ethnic religious organization, it has a predominantly ...

, which was an alley away from the Baptist church Rhodes was attending. Rhodes was the lead vocalist and pianist of the San Francisco Inspirational Choir. Wash and Rhodes eventually landed in a gospel group called N.O.W. (News of the World).Martha Wash Cover Story
America's AIDS Magazine. Retrieved on January 28, 2019 While performing part-time in the group, Wash worked as a secretary for UC Hospital while Rhodes worked as a bartender and a nurse assistant. Rhodes also worked as a piano and vocal teacher.

1976–1979: Sylvester and the Two Tons o Fun

In February 1976, Wash auditioned as a backup singer before American singer-songwriter Sylvester and his manager Brent Thomson. Impressed with her vocal performance, Sylvester inquired if she had another large black friend who could sing, after which she introduced him to Izora Rhodes. Although he referred to them simply as "the girls", Wash and Rhodes formed a musical duo called Two Tons O' Fun. Two Tons O' Fun debuted as Sylvester's backing vocalists on his self-titled third album '' Sylvester'', released in 1977. The duo sang backup vocals on the album's singles "Down, Down, Down" and "Over and Over", which charted at number eighteen on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' Dance chart.Sylvester , Billboard Chart History
Billboard. Retrieved on February 1, 2019 In 1978, Sylvester released his fourth album ''Step II'', which also featured The Two Tons' background vocals throughout the album. " Dance (Disco Heat)", the album's lead single which featured The Tons, peaked at number one on ''

s Dance chart and became their first number-one single on that chart. The album's second single "

You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" is a 1978 song by American disco/ R&B singer Sylvester. It was written by James Wirrick and Sylvester, and released as the second single from Sylvester's fourth album, '' Step II'' (1978). The song was already a ...

", also featuring the duo, became their second number-one single on the Dance chart. In 1979, the duo secured their own record deal with

. That same year, Two Tons O' Fun sang background on Sylvester's live album ''Living Proof'', one of their final performances together. As they began to work on their own album, the duo appeared in fewer shows with Sylvester.

1980–1981: Debut album and ''Backatcha''

On January 24, 1980, the duo released their debut self-titled album ''Two Tons o' Fun''. The album spawned two top-five dance singles: "Earth Can Be Just Like Heaven" and "I Got the Feeling".Two Tons of Fun , Billboard Chart History
Billboard. Retrieved on February 1, 2019 Shortly after the release of the album, they changed their name to The Two Tons after being informed that an Oklahoma gospel act had already registered the group name "Two Tons o Fun" with

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

since 1958. Their second album ''Backatcha'' was released later that year. The album spawned a single "I Depend On You" that peaked at number seventy-two on the Dance chart. The follow-up single "Never Like This" peaked at number fifty-five on the R&B chart.

1982–1988: The Weather Girls and breakthrough

In September 1982, the duo released their single " It's Raining Men", their first as The Weather Girls, a name chosen as a pun on the song's subject. The song became their biggest hit to date, peaking at number one on the Dance chart and number forty-six on ''Billboards Hot 100 chart.The Weather Girls , Billboard Chart History
Billboard. Retrieved on February 1, 2019 The song also peaked at number two on 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 ...

, and became certified Silver-status for sales exceeding 200,000 copies in the United Kingdom.Weather Girls - "It's Raining Men"
BPI. Retrieved on June 21, 2021 "It's Raining Men" received a nomination at the

26th Annual Grammy Awards The 26th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 28, 1984, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, and were broadcast live on American television. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1983. Michael Jackson, who had been recov ...

(1983) for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal. Following the success of the song, The Two Tons permanently changed their group name to The Weather Girls. On January 22, 1983, they released their third album '' Success''. Despite the overall success of the album's lead single, the album experienced mild success. The album's title-track "Success" was released as the second single and peaked at number eighty-nine on the

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

. Two additional singles, "

I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair" is a song from the musical '' South Pacific'', sung by Nellie Forbush, the female lead, originally played by Mary Martin in the 1949 Broadway production. Her character, fed up with a man (Emile De Becqu ...

" and "Dear Santa (Bring Me a Man This Christmas)", were also released but failed to chart. In 1984, The Weather Girls featured on the million-selling title track, "

Centipede Centipedes (from New Latin , "hundred", and Latin , "foot") are predatory arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda (Ancient Greek , ''kheilos'', lip, and New Latin suffix , "foot", describing the forcipules) of the subphylum Myriapoda, an a ...

" by

Rebbie Jackson Maureen Reillette "Rebbie" Jackson-Brown (; born May 29, 1950) is an American singer, actress, and the eldest child of the Jackson family of musicians. She first performed on stage with her siblings during shows in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the MGM ...

. The song was written, arranged, and produced by

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the " King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over ...

, who also sang background vocals on the song. It reached number 4 on the Black Singles Chart and was certified gold by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and ...

. In 1985, The Weather Girls released their fourth album '' Big Girls Don't Cry''. With the album's singles "Well-A-Wiggy" and "No One Can Love You More Than Me" experiencing moderate success and poor promotion, the duo were being considered a novelty act. In 1988, The Weather Girls released their self-titled fifth album ''The Weather Girls'', party produced by Full Force and

Reggie Lucas Reginald Grant Lucas (February 25, 1953 – May 19, 2018)Germany in 1991. Their first album together ''Double Tons of Fun'' was released in 1993. The album's lead single "Can You Feel It" peaked at number two on ''Billboards Dance chart. The song also peaked at number 75 on Germany's music chart, their second single to enter that chart since "It's Raining Men". While touring the club circuit, the album's third single "We Shall All Be Free" peaked at number 80 on Germany's music chart. Their follow-up album ''Think Big!'' was released in December 1995. The album saw Armstead's contribution as a songwriter and penning several songs, including the album's third single "The Sound of Sex (Ooh Gitchie O-La-La-Ay)", which was written with her daughter. The album also contained a cover version of Sylvester's 1979 disco hit "Stars", recorded as a duet with Scottish pop singer

Jimmy Somerville James William Somerville (born 22 June 1961) is a Scottish pop singer and songwriter. He sang in the 1980s with the pop groups Bronski Beat and The Communards, and has also had a solo career. He is known in particular for his powerful and sou ...

. In 1999, The Weather Girls released their eighth studio album ''Puttin' On The Hits'', which contained a collection of covered disco songs. In 2002, they joined the Disco Brothers for a participation in the German National Final for the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pri ...

, with their song "Get Up". In the end, the group only managed a 13th place out of 15. Their final single, the non-album track "Big Brown Girl", was released in 2004. On September 16, 2004, Izora Armstead died of heart failure at age 62.

2005–2012: Lineup change

In 2005, Rhodes continued performing with The Weather Girls (composed of Dynelle Rhodes and new member Ingrid Arthur) to honor her late mother's memory. They released a new album, ''Totally Wild''. It scored an underground club hit with the single "Wild Thang" in 2004. In 2006, Joan Faulkner began performing with Rhodes and often substituting for Arthur. In 2008, the Weather Girls released a single "Break You", which topped the Dance chart. In 2009, the duo released a new studio album titled ''The Woman I Am''. In 2012, The Weather Girls released "It's Raining Men 2K12", a newly recorded version of their 1982 hit, produced by Sebo Reed. In the same year, Arthur departed from The Weather Girls to focus on her solo career. Dorrey Lin Lyles, a singer who had worked with the duo in the past, was added to the duo in mid-2012.

2013–present: Recent activity

The Weather Girls began touring internationally in 2013. In 2018, they released a new single "We Need Love", produced by Torsten Abrolat, Terri B! and featuring, Jason Anousheh.

Legacy

Widely associated with their biggest song "It's Raining Men",

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Communi ...

ranked the song at thirty-five on their list of the 100 Greatest Dance Songs in 2000, and also at thirty-five in their 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the 1980s in 2009. ''

Paste Magazine ''Paste'' is a monthly music and entertainment digital magazine, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with studios in Atlanta and Manhattan, and owned by Paste Media Group. The magazine began as a website in 1998. It ran as a print publication fro ...

'' ranked the song twelve in their list of The 60 Best Dancefloor Classics in February 2017. "It's Raining Men" has often been perceived as a gay anthem. A campaign in

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

was launched on January 19, 2014, to get the song to UK number one in response to a UKIP councillor blaming recent UK floods and adverse weather on divine retribution for the British government's introduction of

gay marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

. The campaign was reported widely and The Weather Girls' version reached number 21 on the first day of the chart week. The song re-entered the UK Singles Chart in 2014 at number 31. In 2017, ''

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

'' included the song on their 25 Essential LGBTQ Pride Songs list. In 2018, ''

'' ranked the song at number forty-seven on their The 50 Best Gay Anthems Of All Time list. ''The Gay UK'' ranked the song at number two on their Top 40 Gay Anthems for Pride list.40 top gay anthems for Pride
The Gay UK. Retrieved on February 5, 2019 To date, The Weather Girls have accumulated an overall total of four number-one dance singles. Dynelle Rhodes holds the rights to the Weather Girls name and performs across Europe.

Members

Current members

* Dynelle Rhodes – co–lead vocals (1991–present) * Dorrey Lin Lyles – co–lead vocals (2012–present)

Touring members

* Joan Faulkner – co–lead vocals (2006–present)

Former members

– co–lead vocals (1976-1988) * Izora Armstead – co–lead vocals (1976-1988), (1991–2004) * Ingrid Arthur – co–lead vocals (2006–2012) ;Faulkner often substitutes for and performs as the second member.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Weather Girls, The 1976 establishments in California 1982 establishments in the United States African-American girl groups American disco girl groups American Hi-NRG groups American pop music groups American soul musical groups American musical duos American women in electronic music Disco duos Female musical duos Electronic music duos Columbia Records artists Fantasy Records artists Musical backing groups Musical groups established in 1976 Musical groups established in 1982 Musical groups from San Francisco