“You always say music brings the world together—tonight, we witnessed a revolution.” Under the bright lights of Maastricht, musical history was rewritten as Jermaine Jackson and André Rieu launched into a mesmerizing, genre-bending performance of “When the Rain Begins to Fall.” The bizarre fusion of Motown and classical sent shockwaves through the crowd of 14,000, leaving some in tears, others in awe, as disco met waltz in the most unexpected comeback of the decade. Critics called it “a beautiful disaster”—but fans said it was the most explosive live moment since Queen’s performance at Live Aid. And when Jermaine shouted, “This is for Michael!” before the final chorus, the crowd went wild.
Jermaine Jackson and André Rieu sure know how to have a good time, as seen on their joyous live cut of “When the Rain Begins to Fall.” The pair performed the song in Rieu’s hometown of Maastricht, Netherlands, where the song was a number one hit in 1984. It’s been a long time since then, but the fans still love the uplifting song just as much, and the performance got the entire audience bopping along and partying.

You could really see the joy Jackson had in performing his classic hit, and the audience was matching that energy big time. Much like his megastar brother, Michael, Jermaine definitely has that Jackson family rizz and is such a joy to watch on the stage. Jackson was 65 at the time of his performance with Rieu, but he’s still got that golden voice.

Jackson and Rieu were backed onstage by Rieu’s Johann Strauss Orchestra, who created a lively pop orchestral arrangement for “When the Rain Begins to Fall”. The original studio recording was all ‘80s Eurodisco, so hearing the Johann Strauss Orchestra give it a fresh arrangement lent another enjoyable aspect to the performance. Jackson and Rieu’s live take on “When the Rain Begins to Fall” was quite popular online, and the upload attracted 3.1 million views on Rieu’s YouTube channel.

Fans really enjoyed the live arrangement and showed their appreciation with comments such as “Andre Rieu and Jermaine Jackson have a very beautiful connection. And people enjoyed it very spontaneously. Splendid!” and “That’s rocking the whole place for ya, orchestra style! Great delivery, sounding more upbeat and better than the ’85 original.” Rieu is an expert at getting the crowd moving, as seen on his popular live cut of “Zorba’s Dance (Sirtaki),” which he also performed in Maastricht.

Jermaine Jackson recorded “When the Rain Begins to Fall” with New Jersey singer Pia Zadora and released it in October 1984 in Europe, followed by a US release in early 1985. Zadora performed the song in the film Voyage of the Rock Aliens, where she also played a starring role.

The European release went off with a bang, and the Eurodisco song went to number one in the Netherlands, France, West Germany, Belgium, and Switzerland. The song didn’t reach the same success in Jackson’s homeland, and it only hit number 54 in the US.
“When the Rain Begins to Fall” was introduced to younger audiences in 2022 when K-pop stars Psy and Hwasa released a popular cover of the song.