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"Ain't No Sunshine"
Single by Bill Withers from the album Just As I Am
B-side	"Harlem"
Released	September, 1971
Format	7" Record
Genre	Soul, R&B
Length	2:04
Label	Sussex Records
Writer	Bill Withers
Producer	Booker T. Jones
Bill Withers singles chronology
	"Ain't No Sunshine" (1971)	"Grandma's Hands" (1971)
Alternate covers
French 7-inch single cover

"'Ain't No Sunshine'" is a song by Bill Withers from his 1971 album Just As I Am. The song was released as a single in September 1971 and became a breakthrough hit for Withers, reaching number six on the U.S. R&B chart and number three on the U.S. Pop chart. Withers was still working at a factory that made toilet seats for 747s when he recorded the song. He originally intended to write more lyrics for the part of the song where he repeats the phrase "I know" twenty-six times, but the other musicians told him to leave it. "I was this factory worker puttering around", Withers said. "So when they said to leave it like that, I left it."^[1] "Ain't No Sunshine" is ranked 280th on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It was used in the hit film Notting Hill and shortly in television's Drawn Together in the episode titled Dirty Pranking No. 2 when Xandir is left waiting for Captain Hero at the mall. It was also featured on an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air where Will is in a diner in his hometown. He plays the song on the jukebox and lip-synchs along to the song. When the songs reaches the repeating "I know" part, Will kicks the jukebox to make the song jump ahead to the next lyrics.

The song has been covered by many artists including Freddie King, Betty Wright, Adam Again, Al Green, Buddy Guy,Tracy Chapman, Van Morrison, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Paul McCartney, Tom Jones, Joe Cocker, Kenny Rogers, BoA, Justin Timberlake & Robyn Troup, Lyn Collins, Ziggy Marley, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Lighthouse Family, Horace Andy, Joan Osborne, Maroon 5, Ben Harper, Sting, Lenny Kravitz, Soul For Real, Eva Cassidy, Tori Amos, Al Jarreau, Maynard Ferguson, D'Angelo, Michael Jackson, Will Young, Woven Hand, Hanson, Emily King, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Slavi Trifonov, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Justin Nozuka, Kashmere Stage Band, Ken Boothe, Budka Suflera, Ivan "Boogaloo Joe" Jones, and Sydney Youngblood.

There are also several songs sharing the same name and many lyrics from the hook but aren't true covers, such as by Akon, Cuban Link, Kid Frost and DMX. The last in particular is more "inspired by" than a true cover like the artist renditions listed in the above paragraph.

The song has also been translated into German by songwriter Lukas Hilbert; this version, entitled "Mein Tag, Mein Licht", has been performed by artists such as Jazzkantine and Yvonne Catterfeld.