"Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" is a song written by Hal David and Burt Bacharach for the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song. David and Bacharach also won Best Original Score. The version by B. J. Thomas was number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States in January 1970 for four weeks and the first number-one single of the 1970s. It also spent seven weeks atop the U.S. adult contemporary chart.

The song was recorded in seven takes, after Bacharach expressed dissatisfaction with the first six.

Ray Stevens had been first offered the opportunity to record the song for the motion picture, but turned it down. He chose instead to record "Sunday Morning Coming Down," which was written by Kris Kristofferson. Bob Dylan is also supposed to have been approached for the song, but he too reportedly turned down the offer.

The song is featured in the Leslie Nielsen movie Spy Hard, which parodies the scene in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kidwhere the song plays. It also is featured on the soundtracks of Forrest Gumpand the superhero film, Spider-Man 2, in the latter accentuating Peter Parker's blissful mood after abandoning his Spider-Man identity and its responsibilities. Most recently it was used in the Kevin Smith film Clerks II. It was also sung in The Simpsonsepisode, "Duffless". Also, the first episode of the second season from Grey's Anatomyis named after the song.

B.J. Thomas's version was listed at #12 on Billboard's Greatest Songs of all time.[1]

The song has been covered numerous times, most notably by the Rat Pack. The Welsh rock band Manic Street Preachers maintain it in their repertoire of live songs, playing it as part of an acoustic set during concerts. The band recorded a version of the song complete with trumpet solo by their drummer Sean Moore. This was the first piece of music the band recorded after the disappearance of guitarist and lyricist Richey Edwards, and saw release on the 1995 charity album Help. This version also appears on their 2003 B-sides and rarities compilation album Lipstick Traces (A Secret History of Manic Street Preachers). The Manics further referenced the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kidwith a b-side song called "Sepia". It includes the lines: "And just like the moment in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid / I'm perpetually stuck in a sepia film / But bleeding inside I manage to keep it all in".

It has also been covered by French singer Sacha Distel (whose version was a hit in the United Kingdom as well as France).

The song was a hit in Australia for Australian singer John Farnham in 1969. [2]

Johnny Mathis covered this song in 1970 on his LP Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head.

The Four Tops featured a cover of the song on their album Changing Timesin 1970.

Paul Mauriat recorded it by his Grand Orchestra it 1973. This version was only "Raindrops Keep Falling" cover known in USSR.

Delroy Wilson recorded a reggae version for the song that doesn't appear on any of his official albums; the record can be found on 7" and is considered rare.

Mute Beat also recorded a reggae version for their 1989 album March.

The Flaming Lips covered this song on their 1996 Brainville EP. Ben Folds Five also covered the song for the 1998 Burt Bacharach tribute TV special and soundtrack One Amazing Night. In 2005 Australian band Jebediah covered the song for Triple J's Like a Versioncompilation.

In 1998, Shonen Knife covered it as part of the Big Deal Recording Artists Perform The Songs Of Burt Bacharachproject.

The former football player and actor David Ginola sang a rather memorable version of this on Stars in Their Eyes.

Dionne Warwick has collaborated with Kelis on a cover of this for her 2006 duets album.

Barry Manilow covered this song on his 2006 album The Greatest Songs of the Sixties.

Perry Como recorded the song for his album, It's Impossible.

In 2008, Niki Chow & Patrick Tang have sung a song with this melody. It's called "Believing in Fairy Stories", and it is the end-of-episode song for The King Of Snooker, a drama series that they have both starred in.