The Weather Girls
Martha Wash (left) and Izora Armsteadc. 1980
Background information
Also known as	Two Tons O' Fun The Two Tons
Origin	San Francisco, California, U.S.
Genres	Hi-NRG[1] disco pop[2] soul[3]
Years active	1976–1988, 1991–present
Labels	Columbia Fantasy Carrillo Music
Members	Dynelle Rhodes Dorrey Lin Lyles
Past members	Izora Armstead Martha Wash Ingrid Arthur
Website	theweathergirlsmusic.com

The Weather Girls are an American female duo whose best-known line-up comprisedMartha Wash andIzora Armstead. Formed in 1976 inSan Francisco,California, Wash and Armstead began their musical careers asTwo Tons O' Fun, the female backup duo for disco singerSylvester. After several years of singing background for Sylvester, the duo was signed in 1979 toFantasy Records as Two Tons O' Fun. The duo changed their name to The Weather Girls and were launched into somewhat more mainstream recognition following the release of the single, "It's Raining Men" (1982), which became their first number-one song on the USDance Chart and their biggest hit. Despite having several hit songs on the Dance Chart as Two Tons O' Fun and The Weather Girls, the duo never achieved a top 40 hit on the main USHot 100 and ultimately disbanded in 1988 after the release of their self-titled fifth albumThe Weather Girls.

In 1991, Armstead reformed the duo with her daughter Dynelle Rhodes. Over the course of a decade, the Armstead and Rhodes released three albums:Double Tons of Fun (1993),Think Big!, andPuttin' On the Hits (1999). In 2004, Armstead died due to heart failure and was replaced with singer Ingrid Arthur in 2005. Following the release of two albumsTotally Wild! (2005) andThe Woman I Am (2009), Arthur left the group and was replaced with singer Dorrey Lin Lyles in 2012.

As the Weather Girls with Martha Wash and Izora Armstead, the duo received aGrammy Award nomination forBest R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 1983.^[4]

Izora Rhodes and Martha Wash met at a young age.^[5] Wash attendedChurch of God in Christ, which was an alley away from the Baptist church Rhodes was attending.^[5] Rhodes was the lead vocalist and pianist of the San Francisco Inspirational Choir.^[5] Wash and Rhodes eventually landed in a gospel group called N.O.W. (News of the World).^[5][6] While performing part-time in the group, Wash worked as a secretary for UC Hospital while Rhodes worked as a bartender and anurse assistant.^[5] Rhodes also worked as a piano and vocal teacher.^[5]

In February 1976, Wash auditioned as a backup singer before American singer-songwriterSylvester and his manager Brent Thomson. Impressed with her vocal performance, Sylvester inquired if she had another large black friend who could sing, after which she introduced him to Izora Rhodes. Although he referred to them simply as "the girls", Wash and Rhodes formed a musical duo calledTwo Tons O' Fun.^[7][8] Two Tons O' Fun debuted as Sylvester's backing vocalists on his self-titled third albumSylvester, released in 1977. The duo sang backup vocals on the album's singles "Down, Down, Down" and "Over and Over"; the former charted at number eighteen on theBillboard Dance chart.^[9]

In 1978, Sylvester released his fourth albumStep II, in which The Two Tons also contributed background vocals throughout the album. They performed backing vocals on the singles "Dance (Disco Heat)" and "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" which both peaked at number one onBillboard'sDance chart.^[9] In 1979, the duo secured their own record deal withFantasy Records. That same year, Two Tons O' Fun sang background on Sylvester's live albumLiving Proof, one of their final performances together. As they began to work on their own album, the duo appeared in fewer shows with Sylvester.

On January 24, 1980, the duo released their debut self-titled albumTwo Tons o' Fun. The album spawned two top-five dance singles: "Earth Can Be Just Like Heaven" and "I Got the Feeling".^[10] Shortly after the release of the album, they changed their name toThe Two Tons after being informed that an Oklahoma gospel act had already registered the group name "Two Tons o Fun" withASCAP since 1958.^[5] Their second albumBackatcha was released later that year. The album spawned a single "I Depend On You" that peaked at number seventy-two on the Dance chart.^[10] The follow-up single "Never Like This" peaked at number fifty-five on the R&B chart.

In September 1982, the duo released their single "It's Raining Men", and changed their duo title to The Weather Girls, a name chosen as a pun on the song's subject. The song became their biggest hit to date, peaking at number one on the Dance chart and number forty-six onBillboard's Hot 100 chart.^[11] The song also peaked at number two on theUK Singles Chart,^[12] and became certifiedSilver-status for sales exceeding 200,000 copies in the United Kingdom.^[13] "It's Raining Men" received a nomination at the26th Annual Grammy Awards (1983) forBest R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal. On January 22, 1983, they released their third albumSuccess.^[11] Despite the overall success of the album's lead single, the album experienced mild success.^[14] The album's title-track "Success" was released as the second single and peaked at number eighty-nine on theR&B chart.^[11] Two additional singles, "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair" and "Dear Santa (Bring Me a Man This Christmas)", were also released but failed to chart.

In 1984, The Weather Girls performed backing vocals on the million-selling single "Centipede" byRebbie Jackson.^[15] The song was written, arranged, and produced byMichael Jackson, who also sang background vocals on the song.^[15] It reached number 4 on theBlack Singles Chart and wascertified gold by theRecording Industry Association of America. In 1985, The Weather Girls released their fourth albumBig Girls Don't Cry. The album's singles "Well-A-Wiggy" and "No One Can Love You More Than Me" experienced moderate success and had poor promotion. In 1988, The Weather Girls released their self-titled fifth albumThe Weather Girls, party produced byFull Force andReggie Lucas, which was ultimately seen as a commercial failure by their record label. Shortly after the album, The Weather Girls disbanded and Wash took up a solo career and also began working as a session vocalist.^[16]

After a three-year hiatus and Wash pursuing her solo career, Armstead reformed The Weather Girls with her daughter Dynelle Rhodes and relocated toGermany in 1991. Their first album togetherDouble Tons of Fun was released in 1993. The album's lead single "Can You Feel It" peaked at number two onBillboard's Dance chart. The song also peaked at number 75 on Germany's music chart, their second single to enter that chart since "It's Raining Men". While touring the club circuit, the album's third single "We Shall All Be Free" peaked at number 80 on Germany's music chart. Their follow-up albumThink Big! was released in December 1995. The album saw Armstead's contribution as a songwriter and penning several songs, including the album's third single "The Sound of Sex (Ooh Gitchie O-La-La-Ay)", which was written with her daughter. The album also contained a cover version ofSylvester's 1979 disco hit "Stars", recorded as a duet with Scottish pop singerJimmy Somerville.

In 1999, The Weather Girls released their eighth studio albumPuttin' On The Hits, which contained a collection of covered disco songs. The non-album track "Big Brown Girl" was released as a single in 1999. In 2002, they joined the Disco Brothers for participation in the German National Final for theEurovision Song Contest with their song "Get Up". In the end, the group only managed a 13th place out of 15.

On September 16, 2004, Izora Armstead died of heart failure at age 62. Prior to Armstead's passing, new member Ingrid Arthur joined The Weather Girls in 2004. Following Armstead's passing, they released the albumTotally Wild. It scored an underground club hit with the single "Wild Thang" in 2004. In 2006, Joan Faulkner began performing with Rhodes and often substituting for Arthur. In 2008, the Weather Girls released a single "Break You", which topped the Dance chart.^[11] In 2009, the duo released a new studio album titledThe Woman I Am. In 2012, The Weather Girls released "It's Raining Men 2K12", a newly recorded version of their 1982 hit, produced by Sebo Reed.^[17] In the same year, Arthur departed from The Weather Girls to focus on her solo career. Dorrey Lin Lyles, a singer who had worked with the duo in the past, was added to the duo in mid-2012.

The Weather Girls began touring internationally in 2013. In 2018, they released a new single "We Need Love", produced by Torsten Abrolat, Terri B! and featuring, Jason Anousheh.^[18]

Widely associated with their biggest song "It's Raining Men",VH1 ranked the song at thirty-five on their list of the 100 Greatest Dance Songs in 2000,^[19] and also at thirty-five in their 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the 1980s in 2009.^[20]Paste Magazine ranked the song twelve in their list of The 60 Best Dancefloor Classics in February 2017.^[21]

"It's Raining Men" has often been perceived as agay anthem.^[22] A campaign inFacebook was launched on January 19, 2014, to get the song to UK number one in response to aUKIP councillor blaming recent UK floods and adverse weather ondivine retribution for the British government's introduction ofgay marriage.^[23] The campaign was reported widely and The Weather Girls' version reached number 21 on the first day of the chart week.^[24] The song re-entered the UK Singles Chart in 2014 at number 31.^[25] In 2017,Rolling Stone included the song on their 25 Essential LGBTQ Pride Songs list.^[26] In 2018,Billboard ranked the song at number forty-seven on their The 50 Best Gay Anthems Of All Time list.^[27]The Gay UK ranked the song at number two on their Top 40 Gay Anthems for Pride list.^[28]

To date, The Weather Girls have accumulated an overall total offour number-one dance singles.^[11] Dynelle Rhodes holds the rights to the Weather Girls name and performs across Europe.

Faulkner often substitutes for and performs as the second member.

• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart

• Official website
• The Weather Girls atAllMusic

• 1976 establishments in California
• 1982 establishments in the United States
• African-American girl groups
• American disco girl groups
• American hi-NRG groups
• American pop music groups
• American soul musical groups
• Musical duos from California
• American women in electronic music
• Disco duos
• Female musical duos
• American electronic music duos
• Columbia Records artists
• Fantasy Records artists
• Musical backing groups
• Musical groups established in 1976
• Musical groups established in 1982
• Musical groups from San Francisco

• CS1 German-language sources (de)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles with hCards
• Official website different in Wikidata and Wikipedia