The song "I'm a Woman" was written by famed songwriting duo

Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller Leiber and Stoller were an American songwriting and record production duo, consisting of lyricist Jerome Leiber (; April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and composer Michael Stoller (born March 13, 1933). As well as many R&B and pop hits, they wr ...

, and was first recorded in 1962 by Christine Kittrell.

Popular recordings

*It was recorded and released as a single later that year by

Peggy Lee Norma Deloris Egstrom (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002), known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, and actress whose career spanned seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local r ...

, reaching number 54 on U.S. pop charts. It was also the title song to Lee's 1963 album '' I'm a Woman'', and appeared on her subsequent albums '' In Love Again!'' (1964) and ''

Is That All There Is? "Is That All There Is?" is a song written by the American songwriting team Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It became a hit for the American singer Peggy Lee in 1969. The song was originally performed by Georgia Brown in May 1967 for a televisi ...

'' (1969). *There were two covers by

Maria Muldaur Maria Muldaur (born Maria Grazia Rosa Domenica D'Amato; September 12, 1942) is an American folk and blues singer who was part of the American folk music revival in the early 1960s. She recorded the 1973 hit song " Midnight at the Oasis" and h ...

; first with Jim Kweskin's Jug Band in the mid-1960s, then again as a solo performer in 1974. The latter reached number 12 on U.S. pop charts, and was Muldaur's only hit other than her signature song "

Midnight at the Oasis "Midnight at the Oasis" is a song by the American singer Maria Muldaur from her 1973 debut album, ''Maria Muldaur''. Written by David Nichtern, it is her best-known recording. It peaked at #6 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 the week of June 1 ...

Other recordings

The song has been covered many times: *

Fontella Bass Fontella Marie Bass (; July 3, 1940 – December 26, 2012) was an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter best known for her number-one R&B hit " Rescue Me" in 1965. She was nominated for a Grammy Award twice. Early life Fontella Bass was bor ...

recorded it for her 1966 album '' The New Look'' *

Bette Midler Bette Midler ( ;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and author. Throughout her five-decade career Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Bette Midler, numero ...

recorded the song from her Peggy Lee tribute album '' Bette Midler Sings the Peggy Lee Songbook'' *Country legend

Reba McEntire Reba Nell McEntire ( ; born March 28, 1955), or simply Reba, is an American country music, country singer and actress. Dubbed "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Queen of Country", she has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Sin ...

recorded the song for her 1979 album '' Out of a Dream''. *

Nanette Workman Nanette Joan Workman (born 20 November 1945, Brooklyn, New York, United States) is a singer-songwriter, actress and author, who has been based in Ormstown, Quebec, Canada, during much of her career. She holds dual citizenship of both the United ...

recorded it for her 2001 ''Roots 'n' Blues'' album. *Elisa Girlando and Out of Truth released a version in 2008. *Country star

Wynonna Judd Wynonna Ellen Judd, known simply as Wynonna ( ; born Christina Claire Ciminella; May 30, 1964), is an American country music singer. She is one of the most widely recognized and awarded female country musicians in history. She has had 19 No. 1 s ...

recorded it for her 2009 album '' Sing: Chapter 1''. *A female ensemble version of "I'm a Woman" was included in 1995's Leiber & Stoller-themed musical revue '' Smokey Joe's Cafe''. *

Brian May Sir Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, animal welfare activist and astrophysics, astrophysicist. He achieved global fame as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of the rock band Queen ...

recorded a version with English band Woman and

Kerry Ellis Kerry Jane Ellis (born 6 May 1979) is an English actress and singer who is best known for her work in musical theatre and subsequent crossover into music. Born and raised in Suffolk, Ellis began performing at an early age before training at La ...

in 2020 as a charity single to help

Breast Cancer Awareness Month Breast Cancer Awareness Month (BCAM), also referred to in the United States as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM), is an annual international health campaign organized by major breast cancer charities every October to increase aware ...

. May also produced the single. *Early 1970s pop group

Fancy Fancy may refer to: Music Albums * ''Fancy'' (Bobbie Gentry album), 1970 * ''Fancy'' (Idiot Flesh album), 1997 * ''Fancy'' (video), a 2007 video album by Les Claypool Songs * "Fancy" (Bobbie Gentry song), 1969, covered by Reba McEntire in 19 ...

recorded it for their 1974 debut album ''Fancy''. *

Kristin Chenoweth Kristin Dawn Chenoweth (; born Kristi Dawn Chenoweth; July 24, 1968)Kristin Cheno ...

recorded the song for her 2019 album '' For the Girls''. *

Ngaiire Ngaire Laun Joseph (born 1984, in Lae), known by her stage name Ngaiire (pronounced ''ny-ree'' or /naɪəriː/), is a Papua New Guinea-born Australian-based R&B and future soul singer-songwriter. Her musical career commenced in 2003 with an enrol ...

recorded a version of the song in 2024 for the TV show '' Ladies in Black''

Popular culture

*A duet by

Raquel Welch Jo Raquel Welch (; September 5, 1940 – February 15, 2023) was an American actress. Welch first gained attention for her role in ''Fantastic Voyage'' (1966), after which she signed a long-term contract with 20th Century Fox. They lent her con ...

and

Miss Piggy Miss Piggy is a The Muppets, Muppet character known for her Breakthrough role, breakout role in the sketch comedy television series ''The Muppet Show''. She is notable for her temperamental diva superstar personality, her tendency to use French l ...

from the former's appearance on ''

The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a variety sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and starring the Muppets. It is presented as a variety show, featuring recurring sketches and musical numbers interspersed with ongoing plot-lines with ru ...

'', with Raquel spelling the first two letters from the word "Woman" (W O) while Miss Piggy ended it with the letters "P I G"; *Raquel Welch and

Cher Cher ( ; born Cheryl Sarkisian, May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Goddess of Pop", she is known for her Androgyny, androgynous contralto voice, Music an ...

performed the song on the ''

'' show in 1975. *A rendition of the Leiber & Stoller version was performed by

Jane Krakowski Jane Krakowski (; ; born October 11, 1968) is an American actress and singer. She starred as Jenna Maroney in the NBC satirical comedy series ''30 Rock'' (2006–2013, 2020), for which she received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Out ...

, Vonda Shepard, and Lisa Nicole Carson in an episode of ''

Ally McBeal ''Ally McBeal'' is an American legal comedy-drama television series created by David E. Kelley that originally aired on Fox from September 8, 1997, to May 20, 2002. It revolves around Calista Flockhart in the title role as a lawyer working ...

''. Later,

Lucy Liu Lucy Alexis Liu (; born December 2, 1968) is an American actress, producer, and artist. Widely regarded as a trailblazer for Asian Americans in arts and entertainment, Asian American representation in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood, she is t ...

and

Portia de Rossi Portia Lee James DeGeneres (born Amanda Lee Rogers; 31 January 1973), known professionally as Portia de Rossi, is an Australian-American former actress. She played Nelle Porter on the American drama series ''Ally McBeal'' (1998–2002), for wh ...

lip-sync the song in a further episode of Ally McBeal. *There were two performances by Melinda Doolittle on

season 6 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and polar ...

of ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

''. *

Beverly Hillbillies ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from 1962 to 1971. It had an ensemble cast featuring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer Jr. as the Clampetts, a poor backwoods family ...

star

Irene Ryan Irene Ryan (born Irene Noblitt, Noblett, or Noblette; October 17, 1902 – April 26, 1973) was an American actress and comedienne who found success in vaudeville, radio, film, television, and Broadway. She is most widely known for her po ...

(in her Granny persona) performed an adaptation of the song on

The Hollywood Palace ''The Hollywood Palace'' was an hourlong American television variety show broadcast Saturday nights (except September 1967 to January 1968, when it aired on Tuesday nights) on ABC from January 4, 1964, to February 7, 1970. Titled ''The Satur ...

on ABC-TV in 196

*The song, with modified lyrics, was used in Enjoli

perfume Perfume (, ) is a mixture of fragrance, fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), Fixative (perfumery), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agre ...

commercials of the 1970s. *In 2013,

Jennifer Love Hewitt Jennifer Love Hewitt (born February 21, 1979) is an American actress, producer and singer. Hewitt began her career as a child actress and singer, appearing in national television commercials before joining the cast of the Disney Channel serie ...

released a new version of the song to promote her Lifetime TV show ''

The Client List ''The Client List'' is an American television film that premiered on the Lifetime Network on July 19, 2010. It starred Jennifer Love Hewitt and was directed by Eric Laneuville. The film is a fictionalized dramatization of a 2004 prostitution s ...

''. The video reached the top 10 in the iTunes Music Video chart.

Chart history

;Peggy Lee ;Maria Muldaur

Notes

1962 songs 1963 singles 1974 singles Songs written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller Peggy Lee songs {{1960s-single-stub