On His 80th Birthday, Reflecting on the Career of Eddie Rabbitt
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It was late 1980, or early 1981, and I wasn’t even five years old yet. But man, I had me a record player, and a mean record collection. Any Disney-on-record story ever published I had a copy of, bequeathed down from brothers, sisters, and cousins who’d outgrown them. I would sit and listen to them on my small suitcase style 45 record player that had little lights in the front of it that would pulsate with the words and music. I didn’t care much for the stories. I’d find where the songs were on the record, and drop the needle there.
But then everything changed when my older brother handed me a 45 of adult music, and the silver dollar-sized plug I had to put on the center of the turntable to play it. Reverberating finger snaps and hand claps immediate awakened something carnal in my tiny brain, and my ears perked up. An electric guitar was strumming on a single chord. And then I heard him for the first time. “I love a rainy night, I love a rainy night, I love to hear the thunder, watch the lightning, as it lights up the sky…”
It was Eddie Rabbitt, and country music. My entire universe changed.
Eddie Rabbitt would have turned 80 years old today, November 27th, but he died in Nashville on May 7th, 1998 from lung Cancer at the age of 56. Eddie had been a heavy smoker for many years, and it finally caught up to him. But nobody reported on the passing of Eddie Rabbitt when it happened at the behest of his family. It wasn’t until after the burial that the word got out. Not even his agent knew, nor anyone else beyond his family that after being diagnosed with Cancer and receiving radiation treatment and having part of his lung removed, Rabbitt was diagnosed as terminal. He just went on like everything was normal, until he was gone.
This is one of the many reasons the legacy of Eddie Rabbitt seems scandalously lost to country music. Aside from maybe Gary Stewart, the case could be made that Eddie Rabbitt is the most wrongfully overlooked star in country music history. Gary only had one #1 song in his career though. Eddie Rabbitt had 20 of them, and 34 total Top 10 hits, most of which he wrote himself. And all 34 of Rabbitt’s Top 10 hits came in a row, one after another, between 1976’s “Drinkin’ My Baby (Off My Mind)” and 1990 “Runnin’ With The Wind.”
Eddie Rabbitt’s career wasn’t just accomplished, it was downright Hall of Fame worthy. But do you every hear Eddie Rabbitt’s name brought up in that context of the Hall of Fame? Of course not. Hell, you barely ever hear his name at all.
Born Edward Thomas Rabbitt (yes, it was his real name), Eddie had an unlikely origin story for a country singer. Born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in New Jersey, this was the entirely wrong part of the world to be from to pursue country music as a career. But Eddie’s dad was a proficient fiddle and accordion player who had immigrated from Ireland, and would play in dance halls in New York after getting off work at the oil refinery. His mom was a singer as well. “A lot of that country music got into me through my dad’s playing, and my mom’s signing of the Irish songs,” Rabbitt said in a 1990 interview.
By the age of 12, Rabbitt was playing guitar, and listening to country music on the radio. He fell in love with the music so much, he became an encyclopedia of country music according to people who knew him at the time.
“I’m a guy who sat in East Orange, New Jersey, listening to a radio, sitting on the edge of a bed, with my guitar, listening to country music coming out of that radio and loving it, and learning it, and remembering it, who dreamed about being a country star,” Eddie says. “I later took a Greyhound bus to Nashville with $1,000 bucks in my pocket, and started knocking on doors, and slowly little pieces of the dream started coming true. I feel very fortunate that coming from where I come from, having the dream that I had which would be quite unusual anyone would think for a guy living in East Orange dreaming about being a country star. But it worked.”
After moving to Nashville and working as a truck driver and a fruit picker among other odd jobs, Eddie Rabbitt finally enjoyed his big break when none other than Elvis Presley recorded the Eddie Rabbitt original “Kentucky Rain.” In fact The King fell in love with Eddie’s writing style, and also recorded a song called “Patch It Up,” and later “Inherit The Wind” by Rabbitt. When Ronnie Milsap had a #1 with the Eddie Rabbitt-penned “Pure Love” in 1974, this is what opened up Eddie to the opportunity to sign with Elektra Records, and become a performer in his own right.
Some purists scoff at Eddie Rabbitt as one of the first pop country crossover country stars. But if you listen to some of Eddie Rabbitt’s early hits like “Drinkin’ My Baby (Off My Mind)” and “Two Dollars In The Jukebox” from the mid 70’s, this is pure traditional country music gold. Sure, as his career stretched into 1979, and specifically the song “Suspicions,” Eddie started infusing more pop sounds into his music, and when that song became a Top 15 hit in pop along with #1 in country, Rabbitt was given that “crossover” distinction dreaded by some.
But when Eddie released his signature album Horizon in 1980, it couldn’t be helped if the singles were being played on the pop dial too. They were just too damn good for anyone to ignore. “Drivin’ My Life Away” hit #5 in pop—his biggest crossover hit up to that point. But listen to the song, and try to convince someone it ain’t country.
“Hey waitress, pour me, another cup of coffee,
Pop it down, jack me up, shoot me out, flyin’ down the highway,
Lookin’ for the moooornin’…”
It’s a truck driving song for crying out loud, co-written by Eddie Rabbitt who did is own time driving big rigs when he first moved to Nashville, and actually put together an entire catalog of truck driving songs throughout his career.
Then came “I Love A Rainy Night,” which became a #1 song in country and pop. For sure, purists at this point were rolling their eyes as this pretty boy singing pop with a popped shirt collar who hailed from New Jersey, trying to play himself off as country. But listen to the arrangements of these landmark Eddie Rabbitt songs. Almost from the beginning, the songs sprung from the rhythm of the acoustic guitar strum, and featured sparse, smart arrangements that brought the soul out of the music. This was the heart of the Eddie Rabbit sound, crafted in part by producer David Malloy.
David Malloy and Eddie Rabbitt carried this magic into his next studio record Step By Step, with the title track becoming another signature hit. In the late 70’s and early 80’s, nobody was a bigger hit machine than Eddie Rabbitt, and he continued to land hits throughout the 80’s and all the way to 1990. That was the year he released an album called Jersey Boy, embracing his personal history as opposed to trying to run from it. It started with a bluegrass song, went straight into a traditional country tearjerker “On Second Thought” that became his final #1, and then into a trucker tune, “Runnin’ With The Wind,” which was also a hit. The album embraced the wide panorama of Eddie Rabbitt’s influences.
But the Class of ’89 was now in charge, and Eddie Rabbitt along with many others were soon put out to pasture. He was immediately dropped from his major label despite his continued success, and unlike many others, Eddie Rabbit never was really acknowledged by his peers in the country music industry, so his slide into obscurity was more pronounced.
Whether he was seen as too pop by some, or too much of an outsider as a Jersey boy, Rabbitt just never quite fit in perfectly. Twenty #1 hits and millions of records sold, and Eddie Rabbitt never saw even one CMA Award. He did win the Top New Male Vocalist from the ACM Awards in 1977. But after that, he was completely shut out.
The lack of reporting on Eddie Rabbitt’s death and the fact that he died so young, the fact that he wasn’t from the South but (gulp) New Jersey, the fact that he found some of his success with songs that crossed over to pop, and the fact that awards and many of his peers failed to recognize Eddie Rabbitt’s greatness is one of the reasons this legendary artist of country music history has gone so criminally forgotten in time.
Just go and listen to his songs, from the hits to the unknowns. There’s nary a bad song in the bunch, and the good ones are downright legendary. But isn’t that the way in country music, that if nobody is screaming your name to the rafters, it just sort of fades away.
Well it’s about time that Eddie Rabbitt’s legacy received a reconsideration, and a rehabilitation if necessary. So here on his 80th birthday, the least that that little boy sitting in front of his record player losing his mind to “I Love A Rainy Night” can do to return the favor of introducing me to country music is use the platform he created many years later to tell everyone about the incredible career of Eddie Rabbitt.
November 27, 2021 @ 10:28 am
I’m down with this movement. I remember my mom playing that album all the time. Riding in my dads truck hearing those songs. Solid country golf. A few years ago I jumped down the rabbit hole of Eddie Rabbit songs, and realized how many I knew and really enjoyed.
December 1, 2021 @ 12:34 pm
Author wrote, “Aside from maybe Gary Stewart, the case could be made that Eddie Rabbitt is the most wrongfully overlooked star in country music history.”
Concerning the history and legacy of Country Music, I don’t think a more truthful statement has ever been written. End of story.
March 29, 2023 @ 11:20 am
He was a favorite of mine great singer n songwriter. I’m pissed cause he didn’t get the recognition he deserved!! Shame on CMA 😡😡😡
November 27, 2021 @ 10:38 am
God Bless your older Brother!!!
And, good for you, for this tribute.
Thank you
May 7, 2022 @ 3:58 pm
Ronnie Milsap mentions Eddie at every show he does after doing Pure Love. That would be over 45 years since it hit #1 for him and Eddie.
November 27, 2021 @ 10:52 am
I didn’t know there were slanted wood shacks on dirt roads next to swamps full of toads in Brooklyn. I guess you learn something new every day.
January 26, 2023 @ 7:27 pm
Sarcasm not appreciated.
February 20, 2023 @ 3:37 pm
Yep, sarcasm is, indeed, the lowest form of wit!
February 21, 2023 @ 7:32 am
People who don’t get sarcasm always say that.
But seriously, it’s not a sarcastic comment, it was a facetious reply to someone who claimed that Eddie Rabbitt always wrote from his personal experiences. I don’t know if that comment was somehow deleted and my reply then became a comment or if I hit the wrong button and posted this as a comment rather than a reply, but at any rate I agree that without the other comment providing context it does seem sarcastic and, frankly, really doesn’t make any sense.
All that being said, the post is well over a year old so I’m not sure why it matters anyway.
November 27, 2021 @ 11:09 am
“I’m not bad. I’m just drawn that way.”
– Eddie Rabbitt
Seriously, Eddie, Earl Thomas Conley, and Keith Whitley (among others) updated the sound of country without changing the heart of country. Eddie Rabbitt is completely underrated. Good on ya, Trigger.
November 27, 2021 @ 11:51 am
Thank you for the great tribute. Now we know that there were more great country artists than the usual suspects.
November 27, 2021 @ 12:02 pm
One of the many that hasn’t been recognized. Look at his catalog and his chart success. That is what makes him a true Country Artists. Awards are icing on the cake, but Eddie proved he didn’t need them to have a bountiful career. He is one of my all time favorites. My playlist of Eddie Rabbitt singles on my computer proves this.
November 27, 2021 @ 12:08 pm
I was in college when along came “Rocky Mountain Music,” a song that immediately caught my attention. That song, along with “Tullahoma Dancing Pizza Man” off the “Rocky Mountain Music” album somehow made my brain permanently think of Eddie Rabbitt as a “progressive” country artist. Somehow, it took me a couple of years to realize “Do You Right Tonight,” “Two Dollars in the Jukebox,” and “Drinkin’ My Baby (Off My Mind)” were straight-ahead honky-tonkers. “Rocky Mountain Music” remains one of my all-time favorite albums.
I lost a lot of interest in Rabbitt’s music when he went pop, but rejoiced when he released “On Second Thought” later in his career. The strength, though, of his first two albums is way overlooked.
November 16, 2023 @ 7:08 am
Rabbit didn’t go POP, POP went COUNTRY!
I’d also put John Denver in the list of misaligned artist. He wanted to be country but country didn’t want him. While Denver has better name recognition, he really didn’t make the country scene.
November 27, 2021 @ 12:10 pm
Appreciate you doing this one. Gonna go dig a little deeper into Eddie Rabbit’s catalog now.
November 27, 2021 @ 12:19 pm
Eddie Rabbitt’s crossover music is countrier than any of the Country music being performed by the real southern boys who currently get played on the radio. And Eddie didn’t even attempt a fake accent. He was the perfect example of how an outsider should approach a career in the Country music business: sing country music, be respectful, and be yourself. No collection is complete without a cd of his top-20 songs. My favorite has always been, “I Can’t Help Myself”.
November 27, 2021 @ 12:21 pm
Nice recap of Eddie Rabbitt’s career, Trig, and the influence it had on you. But, as always, it’s any mention of Gary Stewart on this site that will immediately get my comment. “Most wrongfully overlooked star in country music history” – couldn’t have said it any better. Just wanted to take this opportunity to mention to anyone interested – saw back at the end of May (Stewart’s birthday) author Jimmy McDonough mentioned that his biography of Stewart was “rocketing along.” Cannot wait. For those of us who love Stewart’s music and McDonough’s writing, this will be the be all and end all.
November 27, 2021 @ 8:25 pm
Thanks for the update.
November 27, 2021 @ 1:27 pm
I agree Rabbitt had a Hall of Fame career. He falls in the same category as Mickey Gilley, Earl Thomas Conley, Vern Gosdin, Gene Watson & others. Their big issues is no CMA wins. It will be hard, almost impossible at this point for any of them I’m afraid.
November 27, 2021 @ 7:15 pm
David B,
Who do you think will be the next 5-10 Veteran and Modern inductees for the Hall of Fame in the following order?.
August 30, 2022 @ 9:47 pm
Mickey Gilley had a Famous Nightclub and introduced the Mechanical Bull, all that came out front in the Movie-Urban Cowboy, that started a Fad. John Travolta doing the 2 Step. Mickey’s Piano playing similar to Cousin Jerry Lee, and the Charlie Daniels Band, and Mickeys sidekick-Johnny Lee. I never could figure why Mickey wasn’t in the Country Music Hall of Fame. Now he’s gone and probably won’t be.
November 27, 2021 @ 2:48 pm
A brilliant article!!!
November 27, 2021 @ 3:24 pm
That was a delightful read. My mother loved Eddie Rabbit and played his records, but little ole me became suspect and turned off when he started singing with Crystal Gayle. Many teeth have been extracted to “You and I.”
November 28, 2021 @ 2:59 am
There are times artist’s record labels “force” two of their acts to record a duet – just because they believe it might raise a little cash for all involved and “You & I” always struck me as that kinda’ deal – neither artist had anything musically in common with the other. Seems like Crystal Gayle got this treatment twice, once with Rabbit and then – Garry Morris.
November 28, 2021 @ 2:11 pm
Gary Morris & Crystal Gayle with “Another World” is (still) one of my favourite guilty pleasure tracks…”You & I” not so much.
Eddie had a #1 hit with labelmate Juice Newton in ’86 with “Both To Each Other (Friends & Lovers)”…talking about a “forced” duet.
In the mid ’90s Eddie Rabbitt & Crystal Gayle worked together again. “I Made A Promise” was released as part of the soundtrack to a Doug Stone & Tom Lester movie called “Gordy” (about a little pig).
He was one of the original “country rappers” (together with the Bellamy Brothers):
“C-Rap (Country Rap)” was a song on his last major label album 10 Rounds (Capitol Nashville in 1991).
The Bellamy Brothers released an album called Country Rap in ’87…”Country Rap” became a Top 40 hit…after 8 #1 & Top 10 hits the first BB hit not to make the Top 10.
Eddie Rabbitt was (is) not one of my favourite artists of the ’80s.
Even the self-proclaimed “biggest record store of the world” Saturn in Cologne (Germany)…(where my uncle had to buy as many records as possible back in ’86 to ’90 & had so ship it to a very young OlaR)…had not many RCA Nashville albums in stock. Alabama, Juice Newton, Restless Heart, Baillie & The Boys, Ronnie Milsap…yes. Eddie Rabbitt, ETC, Eddy Raven, Keith Whitley…no.
When i started to listen to country in ’86 i was busy collecting all the current albums of the time…earlier work not so much.
My uncle had to search for Earl Thomas Conley & Keith Whitley albums. Eddie Rabbitt was not “my kind of country”.
So many artists of the ’80s are (more or less) gone & forgotten. Artists with #1 hits, gold/platinum albums, awards…who will never make it to the HoF…Dan Seals, ETC, Eddie Rabbitt, The Bellamy Brothers, Janie Frick(i)e, Kathy Mattea, Patty Loveless…
November 29, 2021 @ 3:09 am
I wonder if the 1986 takeover by BMG of RCA has something to do with the lack of RCA product? Anyway, I agree with you “Another World” is also one of my guilty pleasures – in fact the Gayle/Morris album “What if We Fall in Love” remains one of my secret favorites. ;0)
November 27, 2021 @ 6:21 pm
While I liked some of his more country stuff and didn’t really hate his pop stuff, overall I wasn’t a huge fan. But his numbers do reflect that he among some others deserve to be in the country hall. The problem is you have a certain group of people that feel that those type halls numbers should be kept minimized, I don’t have such thoughts. While there obviously should be some standards, I’ve never felt having more members hurts any hall. It rewards some people that while not all time great but we’re somewhat great while giving the greater acts even more respect. By minimizing it, you end up like all the halls are, with better more important people outside the hall than in it.
November 27, 2021 @ 7:16 pm
I’m definitely an Eddie Raven guy over an Eddie Rabbit guy.
I still think “Who needs you, I’ve got Mexico” is one of the great kiss-off lines. “Joe Knows How to Live” is another great one.
As for Rabbit, OK, I liked “I Love a Rainy Night,”–what’s not to like there–and “Every Which Way But Loose,” but later on–“Step By Step,” “Jersey Boy,” “On Second Thought”–we’re talking pure dreck.
November 29, 2021 @ 12:17 am
Couldn’t agree more about the Raven. Absolutely love his 80s hits, especially “Joe…”
July 29, 2022 @ 10:14 pm
I am an Eddy Raven fan, love his voice! The best in the business, as far as I’m concerned.
November 27, 2021 @ 8:58 pm
Damn good article. Thank you Trigger.
November 27, 2021 @ 9:38 pm
“I love to feel the rain on my face
Taste the rain on my lips”
Preach it, Eddie.
November 27, 2021 @ 9:46 pm
I always thought he was Jewish and his birth name was Eddie Rabinski? I saw a clip way back when (on TNN maybe) that said he changed it to Rabbit as a stage name?
March 29, 2023 @ 11:12 pm
I believe the correct spelling of his last name is Rabbitt. He dropped the second T as a stage name.
November 28, 2021 @ 2:51 am
Even though I knew some of his songs, I didn’t get a real appreciation for Eddie Rabbit until I saw him open for Dolly in 1978. Toward the end of her set, he returned to the stage and they sang “Let it Be Me” together and the crowd went nuts with excitement – which Dolly caused to joke, “Next year, I’m going to be opening for HIM, cause it ain’t me you all are cheering for”. Thanks for a great article and remembering a great entertainer.
November 28, 2021 @ 4:32 am
I have all of his LP’s and as a pre-teen listening for angst written songs, You Don’t Love Me Anymore is as good as they get!
Besides – anyone with a lead player by the name of Even Steven’s already kicks ass!!
November 28, 2021 @ 9:41 am
He had a small piece of a display in the HOF I saw the other day. I remember seeing it but can’t remember the specifics of it.
November 28, 2021 @ 10:11 am
Man, I was a big Eddie Rabbitt fan back in the day. Yeah, he IS kind of overlooked and kind of forgotten. My little sister was in love with Eddie Rabbitt (before dumping him for Michael Jackson). Thanks for the great write-up, Trig. And I didn’t know you were younger than me.
November 29, 2021 @ 8:10 am
I remember Eddie Rabbits records being on jukeboxes where I grew up in the early 1980s and hearing them being spun – played in a bar near an Army base where I was living in 1981.
I always felt like Eddie Rabbit was over looked.
Remember his song ” Driving My Life Away” in the movie “Roadie” along with pop singer Blondie,and Hank Jr,and others .
I think he’s been way overdue and overlooked for his earned spot on the Rotunda of the Country Music Hall of Fame. Thanks for the Story.
November 29, 2021 @ 9:14 am
Most people forget that Rabbitt wrote Elvis’ 50th and final Number One hit,”Kentucky Rain” in the spring of ’70,one of my favourite songs (and a sadly underplayed hit.) A Brooklyn boy,Eddie limned the area between honky-tonk country and the cowboy sound. (He was born exactly a year before another of my faves,Jimi Hendrix,who’d have been 79 Saturday.) Finally,Rabbitt perished from lung cancer at age 56 May 7,1998,exactly 23 years after my maternal grandfather,William H. Turner.RIP, Eddie,you’ll always be missed.
November 29, 2021 @ 10:29 am
Making an honorable mention for “Every Which Way but Loose”. A movie and a song that I enjoy far more than I like to admit. Of all of Eddie Rabbitt’s hits, that is likely the one that I play the most.
November 29, 2021 @ 1:24 pm
Drivin’ My Life Away version by Rhett Akins doesn’t get enough love.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn3BDDwx3xQ
November 29, 2021 @ 3:07 pm
The man even had his own Miller commercial. https://youtu.be/z76G7pBXDOw
November 29, 2021 @ 3:07 pm
There isn’t enough appreciation of 80’s country period. Keith Whitley, John Conlee, Roseanne Cash, Earl Thomas Conley, etc, etc. When people talk about the great country of the past, it’s usually the 60’s, 70’s and 90’s. It’s as though the 80’s never happened. A highly underappreciated era.
November 29, 2021 @ 9:42 pm
Funny, when I was five I was listening to the Berenstein Bears book/record combos. Buuuut my dad also had the 45s of “I Love a Rainy Night” and also “Devil Went Down to Georgia”. He probably had more but those are the ones I played over and over. Glad to see I wasn’t the only one with that experience!
November 30, 2021 @ 12:32 am
Eddie Rabbitt is deserving of legendary status as any country singer. “Country” is not exclusively a “southern” thing, even if rooted there. As far as “pop” crossover, that’s been happening since Patsy Cline. Inspiration is universal and anyone can choose “country” as a vessel to communicate. I missvthe days when you could turn on WABC and hear Dolly, Kenny, Eddie and others thrown in with the other genres. So much for the snotty “Nashville”purists who bisch about “crossover” yesterday foist drivel like “bro country” on us and tolerate sellout Taylor Swift. The “Americana”snobs are just as bad because they turn their nose up on some of artists as well. Country is a fluid form, but it should be treated with care as not to stray from its unique perspective. I first heard Eddie when was living in Accord, NY, (Upstate in Ulster County – just as country as any other rural place, less the accent)
November 30, 2021 @ 6:25 am
thanks for this. Eddie Rabbit was definitely part of the soundtrack of my life in the 70’s even if it was more my of parents listening to him on the radio than it was me playing him on a 45. TG Sheppard is another one that is criminally overlooked from that era as well. Man this brings back some memories.
November 30, 2021 @ 8:14 am
Like him or hate him, give Tim McGraw props for giving “Suspicions” a brief resurgence in Country Radio. In my opinion, his version was actually not a bad cover.
November 30, 2021 @ 11:26 am
Loved Eddie and his music. Got hooked when he did “You Don’t Love Me Anymore” written by a guy from my hometown. Saw him at ISU and got some good pics and an autograph at hotel after. Loved Kentucky Rain long before I knew he wrote it. Still one of my top 5 faves. Was sad when he left us so young. Deserving of Hall of Fame recognition if anyone ever was.
December 1, 2021 @ 6:35 pm
So glad to see this appreciation of Eddie Rabbitt. Hey country music big wigs: Put him in the Hall of Fame already!
December 5, 2021 @ 11:02 am
Thank you for this article. Have enjoyed several of Eddie Rabbit songs, did not know that he wrote ‘Inherit the Wind’ and ‘Patch it Up’ Always love ‘Kentucky Rain’ Elvis picked good ones to record. And Bless Eddie’s Irish roots 🙂 The Irish and Country Music go well together 😉
January 1, 2022 @ 7:50 pm
Eddie Rabbit deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. Although some of his later hits were country rock, his core fans were country. He sang with many of the older country artists, like Marty Robbins. I think if he was asked today, he would say he was a country singer. He helped popularized country music. What a talent!
January 19, 2022 @ 5:23 pm
There were a handful of us that knew he was going to pass. He wanted to spend more time with his family after being diagnosed- especially his young son. He came to our farm to teach him how to fish for bream in the privacy of our land. Most of the people who lived around us were musicians (many very well known), and it was my honor to take them to the pond and show them the best tricks for catching our fish. Lovely, lovely man.
March 13, 2022 @ 8:41 pm
Would have loved to know him like that.
February 6, 2022 @ 12:28 pm
I’m a jersey boy to! And I fucking love country music! I love Pure Love. Probably one of his best songs written, next to Jersey boy.
March 13, 2022 @ 8:50 pm
When I turned 13 I was gifted two vinyl albums to play on my parents stereo (before that it was 45’s on the suitcase record player, lol) The two albums were Foreigner Double Vision and Eddie Rabbit’s I love a Rainy Night. I played that over and over on Sundays…the day of rest on the farm. Got distracted for years with high school, college and career and one day found out Eddie Rabbit had died. Sorry I never got to hear him live. All the other vinyl was my parents. Eddie Rabbit was mine. I recently visited his grave and Keith Whitley in Nashville to pay respects. I echo the sentiment of how great he is as a songwriter and singer. For fun go request his songs from the up and coming artists at a Nashville bar…lol. Someone will rediscover them both.
May 3, 2022 @ 4:55 pm
I’m a Detroit girl who LOVES country music–the older, the better (40’s thru the 90’s). Me and my sister use to sing Eddie Rabbit songs all the time, Driving my Life Away and Every Which Way But Loose were our favorites. I’ve listened to ALL of his stuff since his passing, and I think he had a great voice for country music, and he wrote some awesome songs. We cried when we heard he passed…yes, Eddie is truly underrated. RIP Eddie
May 25, 2022 @ 4:50 am
I’m a bit late to this party but I whole heartedly agree that ER was overlooked many times. I had the opportunity to see him perform in 1986 at the Carlton Celebrity Room in Bloomington, MN. My parents took me to see him on my 16th birthday. At the time his baby boy was seriously ill after a liver transplant and he talked about him during a break between songs. He asked if people would donate to his charity organization and then went back to give a stellar performance. The fan girl in me was ecstatic, I gave him a flower, he kissed me on the cheek and told me Happy Birthday. My mom was so shocked, she just stood there with the camera and never took a picture! Best day ever.
June 13, 2022 @ 2:11 pm
Wish Eddie were still here.In addition to his great songs,he wrote Elvis’ 50th and final Number One hit,”Kentucky Rain,” in the spring of ’70,when I was 16.RIP,Eddie, you’ll ALWAYS be remembered !!!!
June 29, 2022 @ 8:56 am
Didn’t know that. One of my favorite Elvis tunes
June 28, 2022 @ 10:48 pm
When I listen to some of his songs I hear his Irish heritage coming through very clearly having grown up in a NYC Irish family that played music instruments at parties in the 50’s and 60’s. The purists forget that country music has many sources but the primary one was Irish and Scottish folk music. When asked about his crossover success in one interview towards the end of his life, he said ‘a good tune is a good tune no matter the genre’ or something very close to that statement. He wrote very good music that is not dated and resonates no matter where you grew up. But for the Country Music Hall of Fame to overlook him going on 25 years since his death says more about them…. than the Great Eddie Rabbitt
August 30, 2022 @ 8:51 pm
It’s just plain disgraceful Eddie isn’t in the CMHF. He was a superb artist and firmly deserves his place in country music history. As for his “crossover” music, Eddie said he just sang/wrote what he wanted: IT’S ALL GOOD! He truly loved country music and it looks suspiciously like he’s been punished for something. It’s all nonsense!
January 11, 2023 @ 10:05 pm
Eddie Rabbitt changed me from pop music to country music never to change again. Saw him three times in corpus Christi . I have never seen any country music awards and never will until Eddie Rabbitt is inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame . He is my favorite music artist of my lifetime. When I was associated with my bar he was the popular artist on the jukebox there.