"Singin' in the Rain" | |
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Song by Cliff Edwards, The Brox Sisters and An All Star Cast | |
Published | May 27, 1929Robbins Music Corp.[1] | by
Genre | |
Composer(s) | Nacio Herb Brown |
Lyricist(s) | Arthur Freed |
"Singin' in the Rain" is a song with lyrics by Arthur Freed and music by Nacio Herb Brown. Doris Eaton Travis introduced the song on Broadway in The Hollywood Music Box Revue in 1929. It was then widely popularized by Cliff Edwards and the Brox Sisters in The Hollywood Revue of 1929.[2] Many contemporary artists had hit records with "Singin' in the Rain" since its release, including Cliff Edwards (number 1 for 12 weeks), Earl Burtnett (number 4 for 10 weeks) and Gus Arnheim (number 9 for 7 weeks) in 1929 alone.[3]
The song is famously associated with the history of cinema, as it reached popularity during the transition from silent films to "talkies". Years later, the lyricist of "Singin' in the Rain", Arthur Freed conceived the idea of the film based on the back catalogs of songs written during the era by himself and Nacio Herb Brown. This resulted in a musical film of the same name, Singin' in the Rain (1952), which serves a lighthearted depiction of Hollywood in the late 1920s. The performance by Gene Kelly dancing through puddles in a rainstorm garnered the song the third spot on the American Film Institute ranking of 100 Years...100 Songs.