"Hello, Dolly!" is the title song of the popular 1964

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

's version was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001. The music and lyrics were written by

Jerry Herman Gerald Sheldon Herman (July 10, 1931December 26, 2019) was an American composer and lyricist, known for his work in Broadway theatre. One of the most commercially successful Broadway songwriters of his time, Herman was the composer and lyricis ...

, who also wrote the scores for many other popular musicals including '' Mame'' and '' La Cage aux Folles''.

History

"Hello, Dolly!" was first sung by Carol Channing, who starred as Dolly Gallagher Levi in the original 1964 Broadway cast. In December 1963, at the behest of his manager,

made a demonstration recording of "Hello, Dolly!" for the song's publisher to use to promote the show. ''Hello, Dolly!'' opened on January 16, 1964, at the

St. James Theatre The St. James Theatre, originally Erlanger's Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 246 West 44th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, it was designed by Warren and Wetmore in a neo-Georgian style a ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, and it quickly became a major success. The same month, Kapp Records released Armstrong's publishing demo as a commercial single. His version reached 1 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100, ending

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' streak of 3 chart-topping hits in a row over 14 consecutive weeks. "Hello Dolly!" became the most successful single of Armstrong's career, followed by a Gold-selling album of the same name. The song also spent nine weeks atop the

adult contemporary chart The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on airplay data submitted to ''Billboard'' by sta ...

shortly after the opening of the musical. The song also made Armstrong the oldest artist ever to reach 1 on the Hot 100 since its introduction in 1958. ''Billboard'' ranked the record as the 3 song of 1964, behind the Beatles' " I Want to Hold Your Hand" and " She Loves You." "Hello, Dolly!" won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1965, and Armstrong received a Grammy for Best Vocal Performance, Male. Louis Armstrong also performed the song (together with

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers List ...

) in the popular

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

film '' Hello, Dolly!''.

Charts

All-time charts

Notable cover versions

"Hello, Dolly!" is a

pop standard Traditional pop (also known as classic pop and pre-rock and roll pop) is Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standards ...

, and has been covered by many artists, including: *

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

(1964) for her albums '' Hello, Dolly!'' and '' Ella at Juan-Les-Pins'' *

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

(1964) for his album ''

It Might as Well Be Swing ''It Might as Well Be Swing'' is a 1964 studio album by Frank Sinatra, accompanied by Count Basie and his orchestra. It was Sinatra's first studio recording arranged by Quincy Jones. The recording of "Fly Me to the Moon" which appears on this a ...

''. Sinatra improvised the words, paying tribute to Armstrong. *

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...

and

Liza Minnelli Liza May Minnelli ( ; born March 12, 1946) is an American actress, singer, dancer, and choreographer. Known for her commanding stage presence and powerful alto singing voice, Minnelli is among a rare group of performers awarded an Emmy, Grammy ...

(1964) *

Sammy Davis, Jr. Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, dancer, actor, comedian, film producer and television director. At age three, Davis began his career in vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the ...

(1965) for his album ''

Sammy's Back on Broadway ''Sammy's Back on Broadway'' is a 1965 studio album by Sammy Davis Jr. Track listing # "A Wonderful Day Like Today" (Leslie Bricusse, Anthony Newley) – 2:27 # "Take the Moment" (Richard Rodgers, Stephen Sondheim) – 2:43 # "The Joker" (Bricus ...

'' * Louis Prima (

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

) *

Pearl Bailey Pearl Mae Bailey (March 29, 1918 – August 17, 1990) was an American actress, singer and author. After appearing in vaudeville, she made her Broadway debut in '' St. Louis Woman'' in 1946. She received a Special Tony Award for the title role i ...

(1967) *

(featuring

) for the soundtrack album '' Hello, Dolly!'' (

)

"Hello, Lyndon!"

Lyndon B. Johnson, often referred to by the moniker "LBJ", used the tune, rechristened "Hello, Lyndon!", as a campaign song for his run in the

1964 U.S. presidential election The 1964 United States presidential election was the 45th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 3, 1964. Incumbent Democratic United States President Lyndon B. Johnson defeated Barry Goldwater, the Republican nomine ...

. This version of the song was performed by Carol Channing at that year's

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 ...

, and a recording was made by Ed Ames for distribution at the convention.

The "Sunflower" controversy

As successful as the stage show and title song itself turned out to be, however, the tune "Hello, Dolly!" became caught up in a lawsuit which could have endangered timely plans for bringing the musical to the silver screen. Mack David, an Academy Award-nominated composer, sued for infringement of

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

, because the first four

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

s of "Hello, Dolly!" were the same as those in the

refrain A refrain (from Vulgar Latin ''refringere'', "to repeat", and later from Old French ''refraindre'') is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in poetry — the "chorus" of a song. Poetic fixed forms that feature refrains include the vi ...

of David's song "Sunflower" from 1948. As he recounts in his memoirs, Herman had never heard "Sunflower" before the lawsuit, and wanted a chance to defend himself in court, but, for the sake of those involved in the show and the potential film, he reluctantly agreed to pay a settlement before the case would have gone to trial.
Riedel, Michael. "Play it Again, Jerry. Broadway Tunesmith Jerry herman Looks Back on Years in Revue". ''New York Daily News''. 12 July 1998.

Footnotes

References

#Jerry Herman (with Marilyn Stasio). ''Showtune: A Memoir''. New York: Donald I. Fine Books, 1996, pp. 102–108. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hello, Dolly! (song) 1964 singles 1964 songs Songs written by Jerry Herman Louis Armstrong songs Ella Fitzgerald songs Benny Goodman songs Liza Minnelli songs Barbra Streisand songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients Grammy Award for Song of the Year Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance Songs about New York City Songs from musicals Bobby Darin songs