The Rhythm of the Night


"The Rhythm of the Night" is a song by the Italian Eurodance group Corona, released in late 1993 as the lead single from their 1995 debut studio album The Rhythm of the Night. It was written by Francesco Bontempi, Annerley Emma Gordon, Giorgio Spagna, Pete Glenister and Mike Gaffey, and produced by Bontempi. The vocals for this song were performed by Italian singer Giovanna Bersola, who is not credited in the single and does not appear in the music video. The woman who appears in the video is Brazilian-born singer Olga Souza. The song was a worldwide hit in 1994, peaking at number-one in Italy, and within the top five in most of Europe, while in the US, it fell short of the top ten, reaching number eleven on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Cash Box Top 100.

Music video

The music video of "The Rhythm of the Night" was directed by Italian director Giacomo De Simone, who also directed other music videos for Corona as well as for many other Eurodance acts, such as Ice MC and Whigfield.

Chart performance

"The Rhythm of the Night" achieved huge success worldwide. It reached number-one in Italy and stayed there for eight consecutive weeks. In Europe the single entered the Eurochart Hot 100 on 12 February at number 63, and made a slow climb up to peak at five on 17 September. In the end of 1994 it was the longest-charting single on the Eurochart Hot 100. It peaked within the top ten in several countries, including Australia, Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In the United States, it reached number eleven on the Billboard Hot 100.
"The Rhythm of the Night" entered the European Border Breakers airplay chart at 21 on 9 April due to crossover airplay in West, Central, North and South-West Europe. It peaked at number 4 on 5 November. In the U.S., the song was a top ten hit on radio as well, peaking at number nine in the Mainstream Top 40 chart and at number seven in the Rhythmic Top 40 chart.
The song was even a bigger hit on dance charts. It peaked at number two on the Canada Dance chart, number three on the UK Dance Chart, and number seven on the Hot Dance Club Play chart in the United States.

Critical reception

Aberdeen Evening Express noted that the song is "a great Euro pop record" that "has been a top 10 hit in every European country." Larry Flick from Billboard wrote, "Recent No. 1 U.K./European hit is finally issued domestically, and it already appears to be on the road to meeting with similar success here. Thumping Italo disco beats support glossy faux-rave synths and a diva vocal that is forceful without being overly aggressive. A wildly catchy and repetitive chorus already has begun to woo radio programmers in several major markets on import." Dave Sholin from the Gavin Report reported, "Key programmers are catching on to this one and fast – for one very good reason: It's hot! Coming off a number one run in the U.K., Corona is set up to blowout Stateside." Bradley Stern from Idolator described "The Rhythm of the Night" as a "spacey synth-pop jam" and "true staple of early '90s club anthems". He noted, "As soon as that almighty call to arms rings out, 20 years later, there's still no choice but to become a slave to the rhythm all over again." Music & Media commented, "Nocturnal dance party animals and daytime radio programmers sweat to the pulsating Euro beat. When the mistress of seduction hits the mike, only a glass of Corona can cool you down." John Kilgo from The Network Forty described it as a "uptempo high-energy dance number" that is "set to explode."

Impact and legacy

In 2013, Vibe placed "The Rhythm of the Night" at number 9 in their list of "Before EDM: 30 Dance Tracks from the '90s That Changed the Game". In 2014, Idolator ranked it number 25 on their ranking of "The 50 Best Pop Singles of 1994". In 2017 BuzzFeed listed the song at number 2 in "The 101 Greatest Dance Songs of the '90s" list. They wrote: ""The Rhythm of the Night" is not only a song, it's a lifestyle. It's a triumph. A feeling. Pure joy. This song will take you places!!" In 2019, the chorus of the song was sampled in the Black Eyed Peas and J Balvin's "Ritmo ", which was featured on the soundtrack of the 2020 film Bad Boys for Life.
During the 2019–20 coronavirus outbreak, the song regained prominence due to the band's name. According to Italian author William Silvestri, the band and its most famous hit were remembered to "exorcise the fear of Covid-19". He argues that "Coronavirus was needed to remind us that, after all, the first case of "Corona" to go viral in the world was precisely this dance group". Olga Souza, known in her native Brazil as Corona, commented about the Internet memes associating her band with the virus in an interview with Extra: "I have seen a lot of memes. We are all alarmed right now. This kind of news surely brings us a lot of anxiety, because we don't know how to deal with yet. It would be a lot better if the world was infected by the song instead of that dangerous virus".

Accolades

Charts and sales

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Chart Position
US Billboard Hot 10054

Certifications and sales

Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|streaming=truecol-end

Track listings

Original version

CD single
  1. "The Rhythm of the Night"
  2. "The Rhythm of the Night"
7" single
  1. "The Rhythm of the Night"
  2. "The Rhythm of the Night"
12" maxi – Italy, Spain, Germany
  1. "The Rhythm of the Night"
  2. "The Rhythm of the Night"
  3. "The Rhythm of the Night"
  4. "The Rhythm of the Night"
  5. "The Rhythm of the Night"
12" maxi – UK
  1. "The Rhythm of the Night"
  2. "The Rhythm of the Night"
  3. "The Rhythm of the Night"
  4. "The Rhythm of the Night"

    Remixes version

Cover versions

Cascada version

On 24 May 2012, Natalie Horler announced via Facebook that a new single of dance group Cascada was coming up. On 2 June, Horler performed the song in a bar opening, and then the speculation that the song would be the new single begun. On 9 June, the single was set in Amazon for pre-order. On 22 June, the single was released along with the music video. It was a top ten hit in Austria, but only reached the top 30 in the group's native Germany. It was included on their compilation album, The Best of Cascada.

Track list

Digital download
  1. "The Rhythm of the Night" – 3:22
  2. "The Rhythm of the Night" – 3:35
  3. "The Rhythm of the Night" – 3:58
  4. "The Rhythm of the Night" – 4:44
  5. "The Rhythm of the Night" – 5:50
  6. "The Rhythm of the Night" – 5:43

    Music video

The music video for the song was directed by Iulian Moga, the Romanian film director noted for making music videos. It was released on 22 June, first to those who had 'liked' Cascada's official page on Facebook, then on general release. The video features rapper Nicci, singing his part of the song, and Horler in a yellow jacket, rocking a rich old woman's mansion. The party in the house also comes with police officers, that turn out to be strippers.

Chart performance

Release history

Other cover versions

In 2008, the song was covered by Hermes House Band, and reached number 16 in France and number 55 in Germany. This version of the song was performed in October 2010 by UK X Factor finalists on the live show. In 2013, British band Bastille recorded "Of the Night", a medley of "The Rhythm of the Night" and "Rhythm Is a Dancer" by Snap!.
Hattie Webb from the Webb Sisters covered the song; her version was featured on the McDonald's advert campaign "We Are Awake" and her EP "Mouth of the Sea" released on 11 November 2016.