How Can I Ease the Pain

"How Can I Ease the Pain"
Single by Lisa Fischer
from the album So Intense
B-side	"Reachin' 4/U"
Released	June 1, 1991
Recorded	1991
Genre	R&B soul
Length	5:24 (album version) 4:16 (radio edit)
Label	Elektra
Songwriter(s)	Lisa Fischer Narada Michael Walden
Producer(s)	Narada Michael Walden Louis Biancaniello
Lisa Fischer singles chronology
"Glad to Be Alive" (1990) "How Can I Ease the Pain" (1991) "Save Me" (1991)
Music video
"How Can I Ease the Pain" on YouTube

"How Can I Ease the Pain" is a song by American singer-songwriter Lisa Fischer, released in June 1991 by Elektra Records as the first single from her only album, So Intense (1991). It is written by Fischer with Narada Michael Walden, who produced it with associate producer Louis Biancaniello. The song spent two weeks at number-one on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. ^[1] It also peaked at number eleven on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1992, the single won a Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B/Soul Single, Female and it also won a 1992 Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. It remains Fischer's biggest and most well-known hit. In 1997, "How Can I Ease the Pain" was sampled by rap group Three 6 Mafia for their hit "Late Nite Tip".

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1991) Peak position Australia (ARIA) [2] 117 UK Dance ( Music Week ) [3] 51 UK Club Chart ( Record Mirror ) [4] 57 US Billboard Hot 100 [5] 11 US Adult Contemporary ( Billboard ) [6] 16 US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs ( Billboard ) [7] 1

Year-end charts Chart (1991) Position US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard) [8] 6

See also

• List of number-one R&B singles of 1991 (U.S.)

References

1. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 204.
2. "Bubbling Down Under Week Commencing September 2, 1991" . Retrieved September 4, 2022.
3. "Top 60 Dance Singles" (PDF). Music Week . June 29, 1991. p. 22. Retrieved September 12, 2025.
4. "The Record Mirror Club Chart" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). June 1, 1991. p. 8. Retrieved September 12, 2025.
5. "Lisa Fischer Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved October 16, 2021.
6. "Lisa Fischer Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved October 16, 2021.
7. "Lisa Fischer Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved October 16, 2021.
8. "Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs – Year-End 1991". Billboard. Retrieved October 16, 2021.