"Who's Crying Now" is a song by the American rock band Journey. It was written by

Jonathan Cain Jonathan Leonard Friga (born February 26, 1950), known professionally as Jonathan Cain, is an American musician and songwriter best known as the keyboardist for Journey. He has also worked with the Babys and Bad English. Cain was inducted into ...

and

Steve Perry Stephen Ray Perry (born January 22, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of the rock band Journey during their most commercially successful periods from 1977 to 1987, and again from 1995 to 1998. He also wrote/co ...

. It was released in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major off ...

as the first single from '' Escape'' and reached No. 4 on both the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the

Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched i ...

charts. The song charted at No. 46 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 ...

, and was the band's highest charting single in the UK until "

Don't Stop Believin' "Don't Stop Believin' is a song by American rock band Journey. It was released in October 1981 as the second single from the group's seventh studio album, '' Escape'' (1981), released through Columbia Records. "Don't Stop Believin'" shares wri ...

" (also released as a single from the ''Escape'' album in 1981) incurred a resurgence in UK popularity in 2009. The song is highlighted by

's lyrics (with vocal riffs highly reminiscent of Sam Cooke) and piano playing by

which segues into a bass riff by

Ross Valory Ross Lamont Valory (born February 2, 1949) is an American musician who is best known as the original bass player for the rock band Journey from 1973 to 1985 and again from 1995 to 2020. Valory was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as ...

, and other guitars.

Background

Singer Steve Perry said the chorus popped into his head while driving to Los Angeles, which he recorded on his personal mini cassette player. Once he arrived in LA, he went straight to keyboardist Jonathan Cain's house to show him the work in progress. Perry had come up with most of the melodies and rhythms, but was stumped on the lyrics. Cain helped write most of the verses. At the end of the song,

Neal Schon Neal (Neil) is a given masculine name and surname of Gaelic and Irish origin. The name is an Anglicisation of the Irish Niall which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "hon ...

plays a repeating

guitar solo A guitar solo is a melodic passage, instrumental section, or entire piece of music, pre-written (or improvised) to be played on a classical guitar, electric guitar or an acoustic guitar. In 20th and 21st century traditional music and popular ...

that sounds similar to Santana. According to Schon on ''

In the Studio with Redbeard ''In the Studio with Redbeard'' is a North American radio program, produced and hosted by Dallas, Texas, based rock and roll disc jockey Doug "Redbeard" Hill. The show is a weekly hour-long "rockumentary" interview with music program which looks ...

'' (which devoted an entire episode to the making of ''Escape''), originally he recorded an aggressive, experimental guitar solo which he liked but Perry and Cain did not. He then recorded a second solo, the "simplest thing he could play off the top of his head" as recalled by Perry. That one was appreciated much more by the rest of the band. Steve Smith's drumming is only found in the choruses and towards the end of the song.

Reception

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 ...

'' praised "Who's Crying Now" as "one of Journey's strongest and classiest records," and "one of the most appealing love songs" of 1981.

Cover version(s)

R&B singer

Randy Crawford Veronica "Randy" Crawford (born February 18, 1952) is an American jazz and R&B singer. She has been more successful in Europe than in the United States, where she has not entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 as a solo artist. However, she has ap ...

recorded a soulful version on her 1992 album ''

Through the Eyes of Love "Through the Eyes of Love (Theme from ''Ice Castles'')" (sometimes incorrectly referred to as "Looking Through the Eyes of Love"), is an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award-nominated ballad performed by American singer Melissa Manchester, from ...

''. Her cover of this song also features jazz pianist

Joe Sample Joseph Leslie Sample (February 1, 1939 – September 12, 2014) was an American keyboardist and composer. He was one of the founding members of The Jazz Crusaders in 1960, the band which shortened its name to "The Crusaders" in 1971. He remained ...

of The Crusaders.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control Journey (band) songs 1981 singles Songs written by Steve Perry Songs written by Jonathan Cain Song recordings produced by Mike Stone (record producer) 1981 songs Columbia Records singles