"Moonlight Becomes You" is a

popular Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group. Popular may also refer to: In sociology * Popular culture * Popular fiction * Popular music * Popular science * Populace, the total ...

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 repetitio ...

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 care ...

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 ''Road to Morocco'' is a 1942 American comedy film starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour, and featuring Anthony Quinn and Dona Drake. The film, which was written by Frank Butler and Don Hartman and directed by David Butler for Para ...

'' (

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 Victor Schoen (March 26, 1916 – January 5, 2000) was an American bandleader, arranger, and composer whose career spanned from the 1930s until his death in 2000. He furnished music for some of the most successful persons in show business inclu ...

(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 orches ...

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 advertise ...

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 Richard Benjamin Haymes (September 13, 1918 – March 28, 1980) was an Argentinian singer and actor. He was one of the most popular male vocalists of the 1940s and early 1950s. He was the older brother of Bob Haymes, an actor, television host ...

- 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, in ...

Verve Verve may refer to: Music * The Verve, an English rock band * ''The Verve E.P.'', a 1992 EP by The Verve * ''Verve'' (R. Stevie Moore album) * Verve Records, an American jazz record label Businesses * Verve Coffee Roasters, an American coffee ho ...

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 raised ...

on guitar and Lou Levy on piano * Engelbert Humperdinck on his album ''The Very Thought of You'' (1995). *

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 ...

recorded the song for his ''

Moonlight Sinatra ''Moonlight Sinatra'' is a studio album by Frank Sinatra, released in March 1966. All of the tracks on the album are centered on the Moon, and were arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle and his orchestra. The title of the album is a referen ...

'' album (1966). * Nora Aunor Her winning song in 1967

Tawag ng Tanghalan ''Tawag ng Tanghalan'' (, abbreviated as TNT) is a Philippines, Philippine amateur singing competition currently airing as a segment of the noon time program, ''It's Showtime (Philippine TV program), It's Showtime'' on ABS-CBN. It airs on the Ka ...

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 com ...

- 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 o ...

- 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 The Hi-Lo's were a vocal quartet formed in 1953, who achieved their greatest fame in the late 1950s and 1960s. The group's name is a reference to their extreme vocal and physical ranges (Bob Strasen and Bob Morse were tall, Gene Puerling and Cla ...

- 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 - included in his 1961 album ''Lollipops and Roses''. *

Jerry Vale Jerry Vale (born Gennaro Louis Vitaliano; July 8, 1930 – May 18, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter and actor. During the 1950s and 1960s, he reached the top of the pop charts with his interpretations of romantic ballads, including a cover ...

- 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 Op ...

- in his 1994 album '' A Tribute to Bing Crosby''. *

Michael Holliday Norman Alexander Milne, known professionally as Michael Holliday (26 November 1924 – 29 October 1963) was a British singer, who was popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He had a number of chart hits in the UK, including two number one si ...

- 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 ...

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

- 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 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