"Moonlight Becomes You" is a popular

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetiti ...

composed by

Jimmy Van Heusen James Van Heusen (born Edward Chester Babcock; January 26, 1913 – February 6, 1990) was an American composer. He wrote songs for films, television and theater, and won an Emmy and four Academy Awards for Best Original Song. Life and car ...

with lyrics by Johnny Burke. The song was written for the

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

release '' Road to Morocco'' (

1942 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in wh ...

) and published in

in connection with the film. Vic Schoen (staff

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestra ...

for Paramount) wrote the arrangement. The song has been recorded many times, becoming a standard, but the recording by

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

on June 12, 1942 is the best known. This topped the

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

charts in 1942 and spent a total of 17 weeks in the lists.

Other recordings

Chet Baker Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool". Baker earned much attention and ...

covered the tune in his album ''My Funny Valentine'' (1980). * Dick Haymes - included in his 1956 album ''Moondreams''. *

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, i ...

- Verve release '' Get Happy!'' (1959), with

Herb Ellis Mitchell Herbert Ellis (August 4, 1921 – March 28, 2010), known professionally as Herb Ellis, was an American jazz guitarist. During the 1950s, he was in a trio with pianist Oscar Peterson. Biography Born in Farmersville, Texas, and raise ...

on guitar and Lou Levy on piano * Engelbert Humperdinck on his album ''The Very Thought of You'' (1995). * Frank Sinatra recorded the song for his '' Moonlight Sinatra'' album (1966). *

Nora Aunor Nora Cabaltera Villamayor (born May 21, 1953), professionally known as Nora Aunor (), is a Filipino actress, recording artist, and film producer. Aunor has also appeared in several stage plays, television shows and concerts. She is known as P ...

Her winning song in 1967 Tawag ng Tanghalan Championship. *

Glenn Miller Orchestra Glenn Miller and His Orchestra was an American swing dance band formed by Glenn Miller in 1938. Arranged around a clarinet and tenor saxophone playing melody, and three other saxophones playing harmony, the band became the most popular and c ...

- their 1942 recording reached No. 5 in the Billboard charts the same year. *

Bobby Hackett Robert Leo Hackett (January 31, 1915 – June 7, 1976) was an American jazz musician who played trumpet, cornet, and guitar with the bands of Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Hackett was a featured soloist ...

- 1965 album of the same name *

Harry James Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947 but shortly after he reorganized ...

and His Orchestra - their recording reached No. 15 in the Billboard charts in 1942. . * The Hi-Lo's - included in the 1957 album ''

Ring Around Rosie ''Ring Around Rosie'' is a 1957 studio album by Rosemary Clooney and the vocal group The Hi-Lo's. Track listing # "Don'cha Go 'Way Mad" ( Illinois Jacquet, Jimmy Mundy, Al Stillman) – 2:09 # " Moonlight Becomes You" ( Johnny Burke, Jimmy V ...

'' *

Jack Jones Jack Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music *Jack Jones (American singer) (born 1938), American jazz and pop singer *Jack Jones, stage name of Australian singer Irwin Thomas (born 1971) *Jack Jones (Welsh musician) (born 1992), Welsh mu ...

- included in his 1961 album ''Lollipops and Roses''. * Jerry Vale - included in his 1959 album ''The Same Old Moon''. *

Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standard music, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum s ...

- included in his 1959 album '' Heavenly''. *

Mel Tormé Melvin Howard Tormé (September 13, 1925 – June 5, 1999), nicknamed "The Velvet Fog", was an American musician, singer, composer, arranger, drummer, actor, and author. He composed the music for " The Christmas Song" ("Chestnuts Roasting on an ...

- in his 1994 album ''

A Tribute to Bing Crosby ''A Tribute to Bing Crosby'' is a 1994 studio album by Mel Tormé, recorded as a tribute to the singer Bing Crosby. Track listing # "This Is My Night to Dream"/"It Must Be True" (Gus Arnheim, Harry Barris, Johnny Burke)/(Gordon Clifford, James ...

''. * Michael Holliday - included in the 1962 album ''To Bing - From Mike''. *

Val Doonican Michael Valentine Doonican (3 February 1927 – 1 July 2015) was an Irish singer of traditional pop, easy listening, and novelty songs, who was noted for his warm and relaxed style. A crooner, he found popular success, especially in the Un ...

- included in the 1982 album ''Val Sings Bing''. *

Paul Williams Paul Williams may refer to: Authors * Paul O. Williams (1935–2009), American science-fiction author and poet * Paul L. Williams (author) (born 1944), FBI consultant, journalist * Paul Williams (journalist) (1948–2013), American founder of mu ...

Recorded this song for his 1979 album ''A Little on the Windy Side''. *

Seth MacFarlane Seth Woodbury MacFarlane (; born October 26, 1973) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, comedian, and singer. He is the creator and star of the television series ''Family Guy'' (since 1999) and '' The Orville'' (since 2017), and co-creato ...

- in his 2017 album '' In Full Swing''

Popular culture

*A clip of the song by Julie Morgan was also featured in '' Star Trek: First Contact'', also a Paramount film. *The Glenn Miller Orchestra version of the song. sung by Skip Nelson, is featured in a dance sequence in the New York City

immersive theater Immersive theater differentiates itself from traditional theater by removing the stage and immersing audiences within the performance itself. Often, this is accomplished by using a specific location ('' site-specific''), allowing audiences to conv ...

production '' Sleep No More''.

References

External links

"Moonlight Becomes You" at Jazz Standards
1942 songs 1943 singles Bing Crosby songs Dorothy Lamour songs Pop standards Songs written for films Songs with music by Jimmy Van Heusen Songs with lyrics by Johnny Burke (lyricist) Mel Tormé songs Ella Fitzgerald songs Engelbert Humperdinck songs Frank Sinatra songs Glenn Miller songs Jack Jones (singer) songs Jerry Vale songs Johnny Mathis songs Songs about the Moon {{pop-standard-stub