“Ain't No Sunshine”
Single by Bill Withers from the album Just As I Am
B-side	"Harlem"
Released	September, 1971
Format	7" record
Genre	Soul, R&B
Length	2:04
Label	Sussex Records
Writer(s)	Bill Withers
Producer	Booker T. Jones
Bill Withers singles chronology
	"Ain't No Sunshine" (1971)	"Grandma's Hands" (1971)
Alternate covers
French 7-inch single cover.

"Ain't No Sunshine" is a song by Bill Withers from his 1971 album Just As I Am. The song was released as a single in September 1971 and became a breakthrough hit for Withers, reaching number six on the U.S. R&B chart and number three on the U.S. Pop chart. Withers was still working at a factory that made toilet seats for 747s when he recorded the song. He originally intended to write more lyrics for the part of the song where he repeats the phrase "I know" twenty-six times, but the other musicians told him to leave it. "I was this factory worker puttering around", Withers said. "So when they said to leave it like that, I left it."^[1] "Ain't No Sunshine" is ranked 280th on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. "Ain't No Sunshine" is one of the few songs that is still a major hit on UK radio stations. A collection of various CD singles In music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. ... Bill Withers (born July 4, 1938 in Slab Fork, West Virginia) is an American singer-songwriter who performed and recorded from the late 1960s until the mid 1980s. ... Just As I Am is a 1971 album by Bill Withers, produced by Sussex Records. ... “B-Sides” redirects here. ... A collection of various CD singles In music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Soul music (disambiguation). ... R&B redirects here. ... In the music industry, a record label can be a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. ... Sussex Records was a record label located in Hollywood. ... A songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics to songs, the musical composition (chords) or melody to songs, or both. ... Bill Withers (born July 4, 1938 in Slab Fork, West Virginia) is an American singer-songwriter who performed and recorded from the late 1960s until the mid 1980s. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, organizing and scheduling production budget and resources, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Bill Withers (born July 4, 1938 in Slab Fork, West Virginia) is an American singer-songwriter who performed and recorded from the late 1960s until the mid 1980s. ... Just As I Am is a 1971 album by Bill Withers, produced by Sussex Records. ... Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, formerly known as Top Soul Singles, Top Black Singles, and Top R&B Singles (before the hip-hop term was added in the late 1990s), is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States. ... The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. ... Flush toilet A toilet seat is the seat and lid of a toilet. ... The Boeing 747, sometimes nicknamed the Jumbo Jet,[4][5] is a long-haul, widebody commercial airliner manufactured by Boeing in the United States. ... This article is about the magazine. ... ...

Cover versions

The song has been covered by many artists, including:

There are also several songs sharing the same name and many lyrics from the hook but aren't true covers, such as by Akon, Cuban Link, Kid Frost and DMX. The last in particular is more "inspired by" than a true cover like the artist renditions listed in the above paragraph. Fall Out Boy is an American rock band from Wilmette, Illinois, (a suburb of Chicago) that formed in 2001. ... Nikki Webster (born April 30, 1987) is an Australian pop performer. ... James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, born in Belmont, Massachusetts. ... Freddie King (September 3, 1934 – December 28, 1976) was an influential American blues guitarist and singer, best known for his recordings Hide Away, Have You Ever Loved A Woman and Going Down. // King was born Frederick Christian in Gilmer, Texas on September 3, 1934. ... Betty Wright on the cover of her album 4u2njoy Betty Wright (born December 21, 1953, in Miami, Florida) is a soul and R&B singer, who influenced a generation of female singer-songwriters and also influenced the world of hip hop, who sampled some of her more famous material. ... Adam Again was the name of a rock band, lead by vocalist Gene Eugene, and backed by Riki Michele, Paul Valadez on bass, John Knox on drums, Greg Lawless on guitar, and Dan Michaels on saxophone. ... This article is about the singer. ... George Buddy Guy (born July 30, 1936) is a five-time Grammy Award-winning American blues and rock guitarist and singer. ... Tracy Chapman (born March 30, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her singles, Fast Car, Talkin Bout a Revolution, Baby Can I Hold You and Give Me One Reason. She is a multi-platinum and multi-Grammy Award-winning artist. ... George Ivan Morrison OBE (generally known as Van Morrison) (born August 31, 1945) is a Grammy Award-winning Irish singer, songwriter, author, poet and multi-instrumentalist, who has been a professional musician since the late 1950s. ... Tom Petty Thomas Earl Petty (born October 20, 1953 in Gainesville, Florida) is an American musician. ... Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, poet, entrepreneur, painter, record producer, film producer, and animal-rights activist. ... For other uses, see Tom Jones (disambiguation). ... Joe Cocker OBE (born 20 May 1944) is an English rock/blues singer who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty voice and his cover versions of popular songs. ... Kenneth Ray[2] Kenny Rogers (born August 21, 1938, in Houston, Texas) is a prolific American country music singer, photographer, producer, songwriter, actor and businessman. ... 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Horace Andy (born Horace Hinds, 19 February 1951 in Kingston, Jamaica), is a legendary Roots reggae singer, notable for such tracks as Government Land, You Are My Angel, Skylarking and a version of Aint no sunshine. Andy made his earliest recordings in the late 1960s, at Coxsone Dodds... Johnny Clarke was born on 12 January 1955 in Jamaica. ... Joan Elizabeth Osborne (born July 8, 1962) is an American singer-songwriter, known chiefly for her song One of Us. Originally from the Louisville suburb of Anchorage, Kentucky, she moved to New York City in the late 1980s, where Osborne formed her own record label, Womanly Hips, to release... Maroon 5 is a soul-influenced American band originating from Los Angeles, California. ... Benjamin Chase Ben Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American musician. ... Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, CBE (born October 2, 1951), universally known by his stage name Sting, is an Academy Award-nominated sixteen time Grammy-winning English musician from Wallsend in North Tyneside. ... Leonard Albert Lenny Kravitz (born May 26, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and arranger whose retro style incorporates elements of rock, soul, funk, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, folk, and ballads. ... Soul for Real is a R&B group from Wheatley Heights, NY that experienced significant popularity during the 1990s, made up of brothers Andre (born April 4, 1974), Brian (born December 14, 1975), Christopher (born April 30, 1971), and Jason Dalyrimple (born May 10, 1980). ... “Temptations” redirects here. ... Eva Marie Cassidy (February 2, 1963 in Washington, DC – November 2, 1996 in Bowie, Maryland) was an American vocalist described by the British newspaper The Guardian as one of the greatest voices of her generation. ... Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos on August 22, 1963) is an American pianist and singer-songwriter. ... Alwyn Lopez Al Jarreau (born March 12, 1940) is an American singer. ... Walter Maynard Ferguson (May 4, 1928 – August 23, 2006) was a Canadian jazz trumpet player and bandleader. ... For other uses, see DAngelo (disambiguation). ... For other persons named Michael Jackson, see Michael Jackson (disambiguation). ... The Jackson 5 (also spelled The Jackson Five or The Jackson 5ive, abbreviated as J5, and later known as The Jacksons) was an American popular music quintet (and briefly a sextet and quartet) from Gary, Indiana. ... William Robert Young BA (Exon) (born 20 January 1979) is a British singer and actor. ... Woven Hand (also Wovenhand) is a band from Denver, Colorado led by former 16 Horsepower lead singer David Eugene Edwards. ... 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The song has also been translated into German by songwriter Lukas Hilbert; this version, entitled "Mein Tag, Mein Licht", has been performed by artists such as Jazzkantine and Yvonne Catterfeld. Inspired by Gurus Jazzmatazz project, the German formation Jazzkantine was founded in 1993 in Braunschweig. ... Yvonne Catterfeld (born December 2, 1979 in Erfurt, Thuringia) is a German singer, actress and TV host. ...

Use in pop culture

The song has appeared in the films Notting Hill, Old School, and in Munich. On television it is briefly heard in the animated series Drawn Together (episode titled "Dirty Pranking No. 2) and also featured on an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. It is also on a commercial for The Closer on TNT for the show to return in July. Notting Hill is a 1999 romantic comedy film set in the Notting Hill district of London, England, UK. The screenplay was written by Richard Curtis who had previously written Four Weddings and a Funeral. ... Old School is a comedy motion picture released by DreamWorks SKG in 2003, about three thirty-somethings who seek to re-live their college days by starting a fraternity, and the tribulations they encounter in doing so. ... Munich is a 2005 semi-fictionalized film about the 1972 Munich massacre of Israeli Olympic athletes by Black September gunmen and of the Israeli governments secret retaliation. ... Drawn Together is an American animated television series that uses a sitcom format with a TV reality show setting. ... Dirty Pranking No. ... The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is an Emmy, BAFTA, and RTS-award winning popular American television sitcom that aired on NBC from September 10, 1990, to May 20, 1996. ... The Closer is an American television police drama series. ...

References