'You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'' Was Just One Hit

Cynthia Weil wrote pop masterpieces with her husband
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 2, 2023 5:00 PM CDT

Cynthia Weil, a Brill Building songwriter whose work included such enduring pop hits as "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin,'" "Here You Come Again," "Walking in the Rain," and "Somewhere Out There," has died. She was 82 and died Thursday night, TMZ reports. Jenn Mann said Weil "was the greatest mother, grandmother and wife our family could ever ask for," in addition to being "an idol and trailblazer for women in music." Weil's writing partner was her husband, Barry Mann; they were married for 62 years. He called her "one of the greatest songwriters in the world, my soul and inspiration," per Variety.

Mann was born in New York. In the 1960s, they were one of three married Brill couples—Carole King and Gerry Goffin along with Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry were the others—cranking out songs for the likes of the Righteous Brothers, the Ronettes, the Drifters, the Monkees, and the Animals to sing. Most of the writers actually worked a couple of blocks from the Brill Building, housed in cubicles. Mann wrote the melody and Weil the lyrics, sometimes collaborating with other songwriters, such as Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, per Rolling Stone.

They worked with Phil Spector to produce their first No. 1 hit, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin,'" a ballad recorded by the Righteous Brothers. They were inspired by the Four Tops' "Baby I Need Your Loving," which was written by Holland-Dozier-Holland. "We wanted to write something with that same feeling of yearning," Weil said. She also wrote two novels and a children's book. With her husband, Weil was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987. In 2010, they received the Ahmet Ertegun Award from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame; Weil was the first woman so honored. (More obituary stories.)

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