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Cover of Mama Said by Lenny Kravitz — Cover: Mama Said

Song · Lenny Kravitz

“It Ain't Over Til It's Over” by Lenny Kravitz

From the album Mama Said (1991)

“It Ain't Over Til It's Over” by Lenny Kravitz appears on 16 radio countdowns from 9 stations between 1991 and 2025. It was first released in 1991 on the album Mama Said. Its best result is #46 on the 91X Top 91 Songs of 1991. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #154 alternative song of 1991 and #1,767 alternative song of all time.

16countdowns

9stations

#46best position

0#1 finishes

0top 10 finishes

1991–2025years charted

Watch

Lenny Kravitz - It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over (Official Music Video)

Video from YouTube (LennyKravitzVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

On "It Ain't Over 'til It's Over", from his 1991 album Mama Said, Lenny Kravitz is a one-man soul revue: he wrote it, produced it, sang it, and played the bass, drums, guitar, Rhodes piano and even the sitar himself. Virgin put it out as a single that June, a mid-tempo ballad steeped in Motown, Philly soul and Earth, Wind & Fire, "That's the Way of the World" above all, with the Phenix Horns from Earth, Wind & Fire blowing the horn line at the close. The title borrows one of Yogi Berra's famous sayings.

Kravitz has said the song simply arrived one day and that he knew straight away it had a classic feel. America agreed: it climbed to number 2 on the Hot 100, his first top-10 hit there and his highest, and hit 2 in Canada as well. Jesse Dylan directed the video.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

#1,122 of the '90s

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
1991	46	91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana	91X Top 91 Songs of 1991	91

All-time and decade countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
1991	892	CFNY 102.1 The Edge	CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition)	1002
1999	438	91X	91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999)	500
1999	362	107.7 The End	The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)	1077
1999	1091	CD101	CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)	2000
2000	1093	CD101	CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)	2001
2001	1100	CD101	CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)	2002
2002	1099	CD101	CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)	2003
2002	1039	Fred (XM 44)	Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)	2002
2003	1084	CD101	CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)	2004
2004	1084	CD101	CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)	2005
2004	462	Virgin Radio	Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)	500
2005	1084	CD101	CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)	1994
2005	414	99X	99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005)	1000
2021	762	90.9 The Bridge	90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '90s	908
2025	345	WFPK	WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '90s	500

Also listed as: It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over; It Ain't Over 'til It's Over; It Ain't Over Till It's Over.

Charting alongside it in 1991

Best songs of 1991 →

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