Legendary American Songwriter Cynthia Weil Dies at 82

American songwriter Cynthia Weil has died at the age of 82. Together with her husband Barry Mann, she was one of the most successful post-war writing duos: with her songs for The Righteous Brothers, Dolly Parton, The Animals and many others, she influenced the sound of the past century. Anyone who puts on a golden oldies station has a good chance of hearing one of her songs.

Weil’s most famous song is probably You’ve lost that lovin’ feelin’ of The Righteous Brothers, which she co-wrote with her husband and producer Phill Spector. The ballad about fading love was originally a hit in 1964 and enjoyed a second period of popularity thanks to the film Ghost. It is still considered the most played song of the past century.

The collaboration between Weil and Mann followed a fixed pattern: roughly speaking, he provided the music, she provided the lyrics. Weil once said that she preferred her songs to tell a story, a complete novel lasting only about three minutes. For example Blame it on the bossanovawhich describes how two people fall in love through that dance.

Originally, Weil had been working on a career as an actress and singer, until she discovered that writing lyrics suited her more. She found a job with a music label in New York, where she also met her husband. Mann had had a Top-10 hit with Who put the bomb (in the bomp, bomp, bomp), but would be especially successful with Weil as a writer. In 1961 they got married.

One of their first successes was in 1963 On Broadway by The Drifters, about the beckoning promise of the big city. Two years later they proved how varied they could work with the much rawer We gotta get out of this place from The Animals. It grew into a resistance song among Vietnam soldiers. At the end of that decade, they helped Cass Elliot of the Mama’s and the Papa’s establish her own name with Make your own kind of music.

The duo managed to defy changing music tastes in the 1970s with I just can’t help believing, successfully recorded by BJ Thomas and later Elvis Presley. They also offered Dolly Parton a hit in 1977 with Here you come again and even in the eighties Linda Ronstadt with Aaron Neville still scored with Don’t know much.

Including songs for artists as diverse as Chaka Khan, Conway Twitty, Solomon Burke, Lionel Richie and Gene Pitney, the works of Weil and Mann have sold an estimated 200 million copies. In total, Weil and Mann won two Grammys and were even nominated for an Oscar for their music for the animated film. An American Tail.

“I was lucky,” Mann responds in Weil’s obituary, “I got two for the price of one: my wife and one of the best songwriters in the world, my soul and inspiration.” He was with her when she died.