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Why "Can't Fight the Moonlight" Is LeAnn Rimes' Best Song

With LeAnn Rimes joining the VH1 family — her new series, LeAnn & Eddie, premieres July 17 at 10 pm EST only on VH1 — we wanted look back on her extended discography, which dates back to 1996. At the age of 13, the singer broke out onto the scene with her stunning cover of the Bill Mack country song, “Blue.” Since then, she has had a number of hits, including the Grammy nominated single, “How Do I Live,” and “Nothin’ ‘bout Love Makes Sense.” But arguably her best song is “Can’t Fight the Moonlight.” Sure, it wasn’t her biggest hit — but it had a lasting impact.

Join us as we look back on the hit single and explain why it’s our favorite Rimes’ song.

It appeared on the Coyote Ugly soundtrack.

Easily one of the best soundtracks of the ‘00s, the Coyote Ugly soundtrack featured songs from Rimes, Don Henley (“All She Wants to Do Is Dance”), EMF (“Unbelievable”), and INX (“Need You Tonight”).  Seriously, it was is an amazing album.

LeAnn even sang it in the movie!

The best part about the song appearing on the soundtrack was that Rimes herself got to sing it in the movie. The country star got up on the bar and performed it with Violet Sanford (Piper Perabo) in the final scene. Fun fact: Rimes provided all the singing vocals for Perabo’s music performances.

It was written by Diane Warren.

Warren — one of our favorite songwriters — has written a number of hits for Rimes, including “How Do I Live.” But unlike that song, “Can’t Fight the Moonlight” didn’t come with all the drama. (“How Do I Live” was written exclusively for Rimes for the Con Air soundtrack. However, the studio thought she was too young and had Trisha Yearwood re-record it and both versions were released on the same day and nominated for the same Grammy.) Warren did right by Rimes and penned this fantastic theme song.

Jerry Bruckheimer produced the song.

A producer on the film, Bruckheimer also served as executive producer of the song. While he probably had very little to do with the final result, not many people can say the man behind Armageddon and National Treasure worked on their music.

It’s so addictive.

The song — a rare up-tempo track for Rimes — is probably the singer’s most catchy single ever. Once that chorus kicks in it’s hard not too dance to it. It’s probably why it got so many dance remixes and became a hit in the clubs.

It was her last major crossover hit.

It peaked at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 — her last single to reach the top 20. It was such a major success it went #1 in 10 countries, including Australia and the United Kingdom.

It appears on five different albums.

A song this good doesn’t just appearance one on some album. No, it’s repackaged, remixed and rereleased on every album and compilation imaginable. So far, it’s five appearances include Coyote Ugly, Dance Like You Don’t Give a… Greatest Hits Remixes, I Need You, More Music from Coyote Ugly, and The Best of LeAnn Rimes.

And she performs it on her new show.

You don't let a song this good get dusty. On LeAnn and Eddie, the singer knows how to turn it up (especially with a gay crowd). Watch her impromptu performance at a local bar and never fight the moonlight!  

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[Photo: Getty]