The Weather Girls

Originally hailing from the gospel outfit NOW, short for News of the World, Martha Wash and Izora Armstead spent the 1970s supplying backing vocals for Sylvester. They later formed the duo Two Tons o' Fun, also known as the Two Tons, and issued a pair of albums on Harvey Fuqua’s Honey label, an imprint tied to Fantasy, that together spawned three charting singles. Adopting the name the Weather Girls, the pair moved to Columbia and scored their biggest hit with “It’s Raining Men.” Released in 1982, the single reached its peak the following year, topping Billboard’s club chart and climbing to number 46 on the Hot 100. Wash went on to work as a solo artist and session vocalist, delivering the lead on Seduction’s “You’re My One and Only (True Love),” Black Box’s “Everybody Everybody,” and C&C Music Factory’s “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now).” She was routinely supplanted by lip-syncing models in the accompanying videos, leading her to file suit for a fair portion of the royalties. Armstead eventually relaunched the Weather Girls alongside her daughter, Dynelle Rhodes. After Armstead’s death in 2004, Rhodes kept the act alive, recording and performing with Ingrid Arthur.