It is unknown what early country star Don Gibson was thinking when he wrote “I Can’t Stop Loving You” during late 1957. He did not consider it strong enough to be a lead single and so it became the b-side of “Oh Lonesome Me.” While the a-side reached number one on the Billboard Magazine Country chart, “I Can’t Stop Loving You” became a Top Ten hit in its own right.
Enter Ray Charles, who by 1962 was an established star in the United States. He was gathering songs for what would become his signature album and one of the seminal releases in American music history. Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music fused country and rhythm & blues music into a unique mix that was a huge commercial success with the mainstream pop audience.
The lead single from the album was “I Can’t Stop Loving You” and it would become the biggest hit single of Ray Charles’ long career. Fifty-two years ago, it topped the Billboard Pop Singles chart and there it remained for five weeks.
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