"You'll Never Get to Heaven (If You Break My Heart)" is a song composed by

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Gra ...

, with lyrics by

Hal David Harold Lane David (May 25, 1921 – September 1, 2012) was an American lyricist. He grew up in New York City. He was best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach and his association with Dionne Warwick. Early life David ...

. It was originally recorded by

Dionne Warwick Marie Dionne Warwick (; born December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host. Warwick ranks among the 40 biggest U.S. hit makers between 1955 and 1999, based on her chart history on ''Billboards Hot 100 pop singles cha ...

in 1964, who charted at number 34 in the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 with her version. It was covered by

the Stylistics The Stylistics are an American, Philadelphia soul group that achieved their greatest chart success in the 1970s. They formed in 1968, with a lineup of singers Russell Thompkins Jr., Herb Murrell, Airrion Love, James Smith and James Dunn. All of ...

in 1973, who reached number 23 in the US with their cover.

Dionne Warwick version

recorded "You'll Never Get to Heaven (If You Break My Heart)" in 1964, and released it as the second single release from her third studio album. The song was an international hit, reaching number 34 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 28 on the ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' Top 100. It did better elsewhere, peaking at number 20 in the UK and at number 15 in Canada. The B-side, " A House Is Not a Home", was also a chart hit, reaching number 71 on ''Billboard,'' number 50 on ''Cash Box'' and number 37 in Canada.

Chart performance

The Stylistics version

The Stylistics The Stylistics are an American, Philadelphia soul group that achieved their greatest chart success in the 1970s. They formed in 1968, with a lineup of singers Russell Thompkins Jr., Herb Murrell, Airrion Love, James Smith and James Dunn. All of ...

covered the song "You'll Never Get to Heaven (If You Break My Heart)" in 1973. It was the third and final single from their second album. Their version was yet more successful in the US, peaking at number 23 on ''Billboard'' and number 16 on ''Cash Box''. It was also an

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

hit, reaching number four.

Chart performance

Extended play version

Other versions

*Madagascar pop group Les Surfs, recorded the song in French as "Tu n'iras par au ciel" in the 1960s. *

Cal Tjader Callen Radcliffe Tjader Jr. ( ; July 16, 1925 – May 5, 1982) was an American Latin Jazz musician, known as the most successful non-Latino Latin musician. He explored other jazz idioms, even as he continued to perform music of Afro-Jazz, ...

included a version of the song on his 1968 album, "Sounds Out Burt Bacharach". *

Cilla Black Priscilla Maria Veronica White (27 May 1943 – 1 August 2015), better known as Cilla Black, was an English singer, actress and television presenter. Championed by her friends the Beatles, Black began her career as a singer in 1963. Her ...

recorded and released the song in 1969. *Esquires Now recorded a reggae version on "Born to Win" in 1973. *It was also recorded by

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

in 1974. *

Rahsaan Roland Kirk Rahsaan Roland Kirk (born Ronald Theodore Kirk; August 7, 1935Kernfeld, Barry.Kirk, Roland" ''The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz'', 2nd ed. Ed. Barry Kernfeld. ''Grove Music Online''. ''Oxford Music Online''. Retrieved February 1, 2009-. "The year ...

released a live version on ''Bright Moments'' (Rahsaan Roland Kirk album) (1974). *A cover version by

Daniel Johnston Daniel Dale Johnston (January 22, 1961 – September 11, 2019) was an American singer, musician and artist regarded as a significant figure in outsider, lo-fi, and alternative music scenes. Most of his work consisted of cassettes recorded a ...

is included on 1983's "

More Songs of Pain More Songs of Pain is the fourth self-released music cassette album by singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston, recorded late 1982 and early 1983. The album was re-released on cassette in 1988 by Stress records, made available in downloadable mp3 for ...

". *5446 recorded a disco version in the UK in 1991 from their ''Taxi Singles 2'' LP.

References

External links

Lyrics of this song
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:You'll Never Get to Heaven (If You Break My Heart) 1964 songs 1964 singles 1973 singles Songs with music by Burt Bacharach Songs with lyrics by Hal David Avco Records singles Scepter Records singles Dionne Warwick songs The Stylistics songs