To All the Girls I've Loved Before

"To All the Girls I've Loved Before"
Single by Julio Iglesias and Willie Nelson
from the album 1100 Bel Air Place
B-side	"I Don't Want to Wake You"
Released	February 1984
Recorded	1983
Genre	Country pop[1]
Length	3:30
Label	Columbia
Songwriter(s)	Albert Hammond and Hal David
Producer(s)	Richard Perry
Julio Iglesias singles chronology
"The Air That I Breathe" (1983) "To All the Girls I've Loved Before" (1984) "Coração apaixonado" (1985)
Willie Nelson singles chronology
"Without a Song" (1983) "To All the Girls I've Loved Before" (1984) "City of New Orleans" (1984)

"To All the Girls I've Loved Before" is a song written by Hal David (words) and Albert Hammond (music). It was originally recorded by Hammond in 1975 on his album 99 Miles From L.A.,^[2] but is more famous for a 1984 recording by Julio Iglesias and Willie Nelson, which appeared on Iglesias's album 1100 Bel Air Place. A breakthrough for Iglesias in the English language market, though he had enjoyed a 1981 UK number one with a largely Spanish-language version of Begin The Beguine, the song peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the Canadian RPM Top Singles chart. "To All the Girls I've Loved Before" went to number one on the country chart, and was one of two entries on the country chart for Julio Iglesias and Willie Nelson as a duo (the second was "Spanish Eyes", which peaked at No. 8 in late 1988).^[3]

Background

David and Hammond created the song in 1975 and registered it with the US Copyright Office on April 28 of that year.^[4] Following Bobby Vinton's recording released on October 9, 1980, the song was registered as published in the US.^[5]

Commercial performance

The song was Iglesias' biggest hit in the United States and Canada, and Nelson's biggest European hit. The record also appeared on the Australian, New Zealand and South African charts. The song has become Iglesias's signature English-language tune, prominently performed at his concerts since the single's release. Thanks to this song, 1100 Bel Air Place became Iglesias' worldwide best-selling album. In 1984, Nelson and Iglesias were also named "duo of the year" by the Country Music Association, and "To All the Girls I've Loved Before" was named single of the year by the Academy of Country Music.

Charts and certifications

Charts

Cover versions

• In English:
  • Julio Iglesias
  • Bobby Vinton
  • Merle Haggard
  • Tom Jones
  • Hamilton Camp (The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo)
  • Albert Hammond (original)
  • Engelbert Humperdinck
  • Ray Dylan
  • Steve Ivings^[15]
  • Alanis Morissette.^[16] Willie Nelson played rhythm guitar on the recording.^[17]
• In Spanish
  • Il Divo, the vocal quartet of male singers; Swiss tenor Urs Buhler, Spanish baritone Carlos Marin, American tenor David Miller and French pop singer Sébastien Izambard, along with Colombian producer winner of multiple Grammy Latino Julio Reyes Copello, recorded the song for the album Amor & Pasión from Il Divo (2015).^[18]
• In Dutch
  • Henk Wijngaard and Ben Steneker recorded "Aan elke vrouw waar 'k eens van hield" in 1984.
• In Polish
  • Krzysztof Krawczyk and Bohdan Smoleń recorded "Dziewczyny, które mam na myśli" in 1985; adopted by Jarek Adam.^[19]
  • Bogusław Mec and Zbigniew Wodecki recorded "Dziewczyny, które kochaliśmy" in 1984.
• In Czech
  • "Už mi lásko není dvacet let" by Jiří Zmožek from 1990
• In Slovak
  • "Všetkým dievčatám" by Michal Dočolomanský and Peter Stašák from 1994

References