About The Song
“I Love a Rainy Night” is a country-pop song co-written and recorded by Eddie Rabbitt for his album Horizon, released on June 20, 1980, by Elektra Records. It was issued as the album’s second single in November 1980, with “Short Road to Love” as the B-side. The song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, Hot Country Singles, and Adult Contemporary Singles charts in February 1981, holding the Hot 100 top spot for two weeks. It also peaked at No. 6 in Australia, No. 8 in New Zealand, No. 11 in Canada, and No. 53 in the UK. The album hit No. 5 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and was certified gold by the RIAA for 500,000 US sales. The song earned gold certification for one million units sold.
Recorded in early 1980 at Caribou Ranch in Colorado, the track was produced by David Malloy. It features Eddie Rabbitt on lead vocals and guitar, with uncredited session musicians on bass, drums, and keyboards, and Farrell Morris on percussion. The song’s distinctive rhythm, blending finger snaps and hand claps, was crafted by Morris using two mixed tracks, per The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits. The lyrics, written by Rabbitt, Even Stevens, and David Malloy, celebrate the joy of thunderstorms, inspired by a tape Rabbitt recorded in the late 1960s during a rainy night in his apartment, rediscovered in 1980, per The Billboard Book of Number One Hits. The track runs 3:12 and was completed after Stevens and Malloy helped finalize the melody, as Stevens told The Tennessean.
Eddie Rabbitt, born Edward Thomas Rabbitt in Brooklyn, New York, on November 27, 1941, moved to Nashville in 1968, gaining notice when Elvis Presley recorded his song “Kentucky Rain” in 1969. Signed to Elektra in 1975, he became a crossover star in the late 1970s and early 1980s. “I Love a Rainy Night” followed his No. 5 Hot 100 hit “Drivin’ My Life Away” and was his only Hot 100 No. 1, marking his peak as a crossover artist, per Stereogum. The song’s gentle rockabilly style, rooted in Rabbitt’s love for Elvis Presley’s Sun Records sound, features a propulsive beat and optimistic tone, per Stereogum. Rabbitt performed it live during his 1980–1981 tours, including a 1981 appearance on Solid Gold, and it remained a staple until his death from lung cancer on May 7, 1998, at age 56.
Covers include Tom Jones’ 1998 version on Tom Jones Sings Country, The Chipmunks’ 1981 take, and Mandy Barnett’s 2006 recording. The song appeared in media like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004) and TV shows such as Family Guy (2006). Its G-C-D chord progression and catchy “I love a rainy night” refrain drove its broad appeal, per Genius. The music video, a simple performance clip, aired on early CMT. Rabbitt noted the song’s long gestation, saying it “felt right” once finished, per Songfacts. The track’s recording, per Billboard, captured Rabbitt’s knack for blending country and pop, cementing its status as his signature hit.
Video
Lyric
Well, I love a rainy night
I love a rainy night
I love to hear the thunder
Watch the lightning when it lights up the sky
You know it makes me feel goodWell, I love a rainy night
It’s such a beautiful sight
I love to feel the rain on my face
Taste the rain on my lips
In the moonlight shadowsShowers wash all my cares away
I wake up to a sunny day
‘Cause I love a rainy night
Yeah, I love a rainy night
Well, I love a rainy night
Well, I love a rainy nightI love a rainy night
I love a rainy night
I love to hear the thunder
Watch the lightning when it lights up the sky
You know it makes me feel goodWell, I love a rainy night
It’s such a beautiful sight
I love to feel the rain on my face
Taste the rain on my lips
In the moonlight shadowsPuts a song in this heart of mine
Puts a smile on my face every time
‘Cause I love a rainy night
Yeah, I love a rainy night
Ooh, I love a rainy night
Yeah, I love a rainy nightShowers wash all my cares away
I wake up to a sunny day
‘Cause I love a rainy night
Yeah, I love a rainy night
Well, I love a rainy night
I love a rainy nightWell, I love a rainy night
You can see it in my eyes
Yeah, I love a rainy night
Well, it makes me high
Ooh, I love a rainy night
You know I do
Yeah, yeah, I love a rainy nightI love a rainy night
You can see it in my eyes
I love a rainy night
It makes me high
Well, I love a rainy night
And I love you too