Fifty years ago today, Rod Stewart took the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with a song that some radio programmers considered too suggestive to play. But the controversy did little to slow down “Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright),” which became the biggest chart hit of Stewart’s career.
On Nov. 7, 1976, the song began an eight-week reign at No. 1, according to the chart dated Nov. 13. It was Stewart’s second American chart-topper, following 1971’s “Maggie May,” and the longest-running No. 1 hit of 1976.
The song remained at the summit through the chart dated Jan. 1, 1977, marking the longest stretch at No. 1 since the Beatles spent nine weeks there with “Hey Jude” in 1968. It was also named Billboard’s No. 1 song of 1977, despite spending most of its weeks at the top during the previous calendar year.
‘Tonight’s the Night’ Sparked Controversy Over Its Lyrics
Written by Stewart and produced by Tom Dowd, “Tonight’s the Night” appeared on Stewart’s 1976 album A Night on the Town. The sultry ballad featured a spoken French passage from actress Britt Ekland, Stewart’s girlfriend at the time.
The song’s sexually suggestive lyrics caused a stir, with some radio program directors refusing to play it until more liberal-minded audiences demanded to hear it, according to Fred Bronson’s “Billboard Book of Number One Hits.” The BBC also reportedly banned the song, while some American radio stations played edited versions that shortened its suggestive ending.
Despite the objections, the song proved irresistible to listeners. Music critic Greil Marcus described it as “a seduction song so transparent, helpless and forthright that not even a cynic can resist it.”
The album also produced two other hits, “The Killing of Georgie (Part I and II)” and “The First Cut Is the Deepest,” helping A Night on the Town achieve platinum sales.
Related: 3 Songs From 1971 That Every ’70s Kid Still Knows by Heart 55 Years Later
Rod Stewart Struggled to Record the Album
The enormous success of “Tonight’s the Night” came after Stewart encountered some unusual difficulties recording A Night on the Town.
According to Bronson’s book, in an interview with Cameron Crowe for Rolling Stone, Stewart recalled recording 15 backing tracks at Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles before discovering that he was having trouble singing. He blamed the city’s smog and moved to Caribou Studios in Colorado, hoping the change of scenery would help.
Unfortunately, the studio’s elevation of approximately 9,000 feet presented another challenge.
“Nice place, but I couldn’t sing there either,” Stewart recalled, explaining that the thin mountain air made breathing difficult.
Stewart and his musicians eventually relocated to Criteria Studios in Miami, where Dowd was based, to continue working on the album.
The finished record helped cement Stewart’s transition from the gritty rock sound of the Jeff Beck Group and Faces to a commercially successful solo career. He had already established himself as a major star with songs including “Maggie May,” “You Wear It Well” and “Sailing,” but “Tonight’s the Night” brought him to a new level of chart success.
The song also performed well internationally, reaching No. 5 in the United Kingdom, No. 3 in Australia and No. 1 in Canada.
Stewart would return to the top of the American charts with “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” in 1979 and “All for Love,” his 1993 collaboration with Bryan Adams and Sting. But neither matched the eight-week reign of “Tonight’s the Night.”
The song also enjoyed a second life through cover versions, including Janet Jackson’s reinterpretation on her 1997 album The Velvet Rope. Stewart himself revisited the hit during his 1993 MTV Unplugged performance, which was released on Unplugged…and Seated.
Half a century later, “Tonight’s the Night” remains one of the defining hits of Stewart’s remarkable career, and the song that gave him his longest stay at No. 1.
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