What Are You Doing New Year's Eve
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"What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" is a popular song written in 1947 by
Frank Loesser Frank Henry Loesser ( "lesser"; June 29, 1910 – July 28, 1969) was an American songwriter who wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway theatre, Broadway musicals ''Guys and Dolls (musical), Guys and Dolls'' and ''How to Succeed in Business ...
as an independent song. It was first recorded by
Margaret Whiting Margaret Eleanor Whiting (July 22, 1924 – January 10, 2011) was an American singer of popular music who gained popularity in the 1940s and 1950s.Mapes, Jillian.Margaret Whiting, Iconic Standards Singer, Dies at 86. ''Billboard'', January 12, ...
in 1947 and first charted for
The Orioles The Orioles were an American R&B group in the late 1940s and early 1950s. One of the first vocal groups in R&B, they were early pioneers of the doo-wop sound. Dubbing themselves after Maryland's state bird, the Orioles started the trend of b ...
, peaking at No. 9 on ''Billboard''s Best-Selling Retail Rhythm & Blues chart in December 1949. Other charted versions include Danté & The Evergreens (No. 107 on ''Billboard''s
Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...
in December 1960) and Nancy Wilson (No. 17 on ''Billboard''s Christmas Singles chart in December 1965 and No. 24 on the same chart in December 1967). Although it is typically performed in December, that was not the composer's intent. In ''A Most Remarkable Fella: Frank Loesser and the Guys and Dolls in His Life'', his daughter Susan Loesser explains that "the singer, madly in love, is making a (possibly rash) commitment far into the future. ("Maybe it's much too early in the game. Ah, but I thought I'd ask you just the same – What are you doing New Year's, New Year's Eve?") It always annoyed my father when the song was sung ''during'' the holidays."


Other recordings

The song has been recorded by many other artists, including: *
Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, 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, phra ...
– ''
Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas ''Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas'' is a 1960 album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, recorded in the summer of 1960, with a studio orchestra arranged and conducted by Frank DeVol. The tracks are all secular Christmas seasonal ...
'' (1960) *
Ramsey Lewis Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis Jr. (May 27, 1935 – September 12, 2022) was an American jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and radio personality. Lewis recorded over 80 albums and received five RIAA certification, gold records and three Grammy Awards ...
– '' Sound of Christmas'' (1961) * Nancy Wilson – '' Yesterday's Love Songs/Today's Blues'' (1963) *
Eydie Gormé Eydie Gormé ( ; born Edith Gormezano; August 16, 1928 – August 10, 2013) was an American singer who achieved notable success in pop, Latin, and jazz genres. She sang solo and in the duo Steve and Eydie with her husband, Steve Lawrence, on a ...
– '' That Holiday Feeling'' with
Steve Lawrence Steve Lawrence (born Sidney Liebowitz; July 8, 1935 – March 7, 2024) was an American singer, comedian, and actor. He was best known as a member of the pop duo Steve and Eydie with his wife Eydie Gormé, and for his performance as Maury Slin ...
(1964) *
Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American singer, actress, dancer and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years and covered film, television and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of the C ...
– '' Merry from Lena'' (1966) *
Lou Rawls Louis Allen Rawls (December 1, 1933 – January 6, 2006) was an American baritone singer. He released 61 albums, sold more than 40 million records, and had numerous charting singles, most notably the song " You'll Never Find Another Love like Min ...
– ''Merry Christmas Ho! Ho! Ho!'' (1967) *
Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer. Starting his 69-year career with singles of standard (music), standard music, Mathis is one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century and became highly popular as ...
– '' Give Me Your Love for Christmas'' (1969) *
Donny Osmond Donald Clark Osmond (born December 9, 1957) is an American singer, dancer, actor, television host and former teen idol. He gained fame performing with four of his elder brothers as the Osmonds, earning several top ten hits and gold albums. In the ...
– '' Osmond Christmas Album'' (1976) *
The Carpenters The Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo consisting of siblings Karen Carpenter, Karen (1950–1983) and Richard Carpenter (musician), Richard Carpenter (born 1946). They produced a distinctive soft musical style, combining ...
– '' An Old-Fashioned Christmas'' (1984) *
Patti LaBelle Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American Rhythm and blues, R&B singer and actress. She has been referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godmother of Soul". LaBelle began ...
– '' This Christmas'' (1990) *
Andy Williams Howard Andrew Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold certified and three platinum certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hos ...
– '' I Still Believe in Santa Claus'' (1990) * Joe Williams – '' That Holiday Feelin''' (1990) *
Vic Damone Vic Damone (born Vito Rocco Farinola; June 12, 1928 – February 11, 2018) was an American traditional pop music, pop and big band singer and actor. He was best known for his performances of songs such as the number one hit "You're Breaking My ...
– ''All-Star Merry Christmas'' (1991) *
Mary Margaret O'Hara Mary Margaret O'Hara is a Canadian singer-songwriter, actress and composer. She is best known for the album ''Miss America'', released in 1988. She released two albums and an EP under her own name, and remains active as a live performer, as a con ...
- '' Christmas EP'' (1991) *
Harry Connick Jr. Joseph Harry Fowler Connick Jr. (born September 11, 1967) is an American singer, pianist, composer, actor, and former television host. As of 2019, he has sold over 30 million records worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top60 best-selling ma ...
– ''
When My Heart Finds Christmas ''When My Heart Finds Christmas'' is American artist Harry Connick Jr.'s first Christmas album. Released in 1993, it is among the most popular holiday collections of the past three decades in the United States. Connick Jr composed four songs fo ...
'' (1993) *
The Whispers The Whispers are an American vocal group from Los Angeles, California. Scoring hit records since the late 1960s, they are best known for their two number-one R&B singles, " And the Beat Goes On" in 1979 and " Rock Steady" in 1987. The Whispers ...
– ''Christmas Moments'' (1994) *
Boney James Boney James (born James Oppenheim September 1, 1961) is an American saxophonist, recording artist, songwriter and record producer. He is a four-time Grammy Award nominee (Best Pop Instrumental Album, 2001, 2004, 2014 and Best Traditional R&B Per ...
– '' Boney's Funky Christmas'' (1996) * Beegie Adair – ''A Jazz Piano Christmas'' (1996) *
Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand ( ; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress, songwriter, producer, and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success across multiple fields of entertainment, being the ...
– '' Christmas Memories'' (2001) *
Barry Manilow Barry Manilow ( ; born Barry Alan Pincus on June 17, 1943) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer with a career that spans over sixty years. His hit recordings include "Could It Be Magic", "Looks Like We Made It", "Brandy (Scott ...
– ''
A Christmas Gift of Love ''A Christmas Gift of Love'' is the second Christmas-themed album by singer-songwriter Barry Manilow released in 2002. The album went Gold in the United States. It was done with Columbia Records instead of his usual label of Concord Records. How ...
'' (2002) *
Lee Ann Womack Lee Ann Womack (; born August 19, 1966) is an American singer and songwriter. She has charted 23 times on the American ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs charts; her highest peaking single there is her crossover signature song, " I Hope You Dance" ...
– '' The Season for Romance'' (2002) *
Clay Aiken Clayton Holmes Aiken (''né'' Grissom; born November 30, 1978) is an American singer, television personality, actor and political activist. Aiken finished second place on the second season of ''American Idol'' in 2003, and his debut album, '' Me ...
– ''
Merry Christmas with Love ''Merry Christmas with Love'' is the first Christmas album and second studio album by American recording artist Clay Aiken. It was released on November 16, 2004, through RCA Records. The production on the album was produced by Phil Ramone and W ...
'' (2004) *
Diana Krall Diana Jean Krall (born November 16, 1964) is a Canadian jazz pianist and singer known for her contralto vocals. She has sold more than 15 million albums worldwide, including over six million in the US. On December 11, 2009, ''Billboard (magazi ...
– ''
Christmas Songs Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or in the case of carols, may employ lyrics about the nativity of J ...
'' (2005) *
Rufus Wainwright Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright (born July 22, 1973) is a Canadian and American singer, songwriter, and composer. He has recorded eleven studio albums and numerous tracks on compilations and film soundtracks. He has also written two classical opera ...
- '' The McGarrigle Christmas Hour'' (2005) *
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 ...
– ''
Cool Yule ''Cool Yule'' is a first holiday album by American singer Bette Midler. It was released on October 10, 2006, through Columbia Records. The album features many standard Christmas tunes as well as a reworking edition of her Grammy-winning hit " Fro ...
'' (2006) *
Katharine McPhee Katharine Hope McPhee (born March 25, 1984) is an American actress and singer. In May 2006, she was the runner-up on the fifth season of ''American Idol.'' Her eponymous debut album was released on RCA Records in January 2007, and debuted at n ...
– '' Christmas Is the Time to Say I Love You'' (2010) *
Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer and songwriter. Known for his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold ...
– '' Merry Christmas, Baby'' (2012) *
Seth MacFarlane Seth Woodbury MacFarlane (; born October 26, 1973) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director, comedian, and singer. He is best known as the creator and star of the television series ''Family Guy'' (since 1999) and ''The Orvill ...
– ''
Holiday for Swing ''Holiday for Swing'' is the second studio album and first Christmas album by American actor and singer Seth MacFarlane, released by Republic Records on September 30, 2014. The album is a collection of Christmas songs and contains collaborations ...
'' (2014) *
Idina Menzel Idina Kim Menzel ( ; ; born May 30, 1971) is an American actress and singer. Particularly known for her work in Musical theatre, musicals on Broadway theatre, Broadway, she has been Honorific nicknames in popular music, nicknamed the "Queen of ...
– '' Holiday Wishes'' (2014) *
Kacey Musgraves Kacey Lee Musgraves (born August 21, 1988) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She began her career in the early 2000s, when she self-released three solo albums and recorded another album as a member of the duo Texas Two Bits. In 20 ...
– '' A Very Kacey Christmas'' (2016) *
Andrew McMahon Andrew Ross McMahon (born September 3, 1982) is an American singer-songwriter. He is the vocalist, pianist and primary lyricist for the bands Something Corporate and main songwriter for Jack's Mannequin and performs solo both under his own nam ...
- '' Holidays Rule Vol. 2 '' (2017) *
Azealia Banks Azealia Amanda Banks ( ; born May 31, 1991) is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. Raised in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, she began releasing music through Myspace in 2008 before being signed to XL Recordings at age 18. S ...
– '' Icy Colors Change'' (2018) *
Sykamore Jordan Ostrom, known professionally as Sykamore, is a country singer-songwriter from Carseland, Alberta, Canada. She released her first EP, ''Self + Medicine,'' in January 2018. In 2015 she was nominated for the Canadian Country Music Associatio ...
– promotional single (2020) *
Norah Jones Norah Jones ( ; born Geethali Shankar; March 30, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She has won several awards for her music and, , has sold more than 53 million records worldwide. '' Billboard'' named her the top jazz artist of ...
– '' I Dream of Christmas'' (2021) *
Steve Perry Stephen Ray Perry (born January 22, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer and frontman of the rock band Journey during their most successful years from 1977 to 1987, and again from 1995 to 1998. He wrote/co-wrote ...
– ''The Season'' (2021) *
Gregory Porter Gregory Porter (born November 4, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He has twice won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album: first in 2014 for '' Liquid Spirit'' and then again in 2017 for '' Take Me to the Alley''. Ear ...
– ''Christmas Wish'' with
Samara Joy Samara Joy McLendon (born November 11, 1999) is an American jazz singer. She released her self-titled debut album in 2021 and was subsequently named Best New Artist by ''JazzTimes''. Her second album, '' Linger Awhile'' (2022), reached number o ...
(2023)


References

1947 songs American Christmas songs New Year songs Songs written by Frank Loesser Harry Connick Jr. songs Idina Menzel songs {{1940s-song-stub