"I Honestly Love You" is a song recorded by

Olivia Newton-John Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British-Australian singer, actress and activist. She was a four-time Grammy Awards, Grammy Award winner whose music career included 15 top-ten singles, including 5 number-one s ...

released in 1974 on the album '' Long Live Love'' in United Kingdom and ''

If You Love Me, Let Me Know ''If You Love Me, Let Me Know'' is a United States and Canada-only album by singer Olivia Newton-John, released on 28 May 1974. Other than the title track, all the material was from her previous three albums, '' Olivia'' (1972), '' Music Makes ...

'' in the United States. The song became a worldwide

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' ( ...

hit, her first number-one single in the United States and Canada. It remained her signature solo song until the 1981 hit "

Physical Physical may refer to: * Physical examination, a regular overall check-up with a doctor * ''Physical'' (Olivia Newton-John album), 1981 ** "Physical" (Olivia Newton-John song) * ''Physical'' (Gabe Gurnsey album) * "Physical" (Alcazar song) (2004) * ...

". The single was first released in Australia as "I Love You, I Honestly Love You", as per its chorus. The song was written by

Jeff Barry Jeff Barry (born Joel Adelberg; April 3, 1938) is an American pop music songwriter, singer, and record producer. Among the most successful songs that he has co-written in his career are " Do Wah Diddy Diddy", " Da Doo Ron Ron", " Then He Kiss ...

and Australian singer and composer Peter Allen. The latter recorded it around the same time for his album '' Continental American''. At the

17th Grammy Awards The 17th Annual Grammy Awards were presented March 1, 1975, and were broadcast live on American television. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1974. Award winners *Record of the Year **John Farrar (producer) & Olivia New ...

in 1975, the single won both

Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...

and

Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female The Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance was a Grammy Award recognizing superior vocal performance by a female in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. It was discontinued after the 2011 Grammy season. The awar ...

. The composition was nominated for Song of the Year but lost to "

The Way We Were ''The Way We Were'' is a 1973 American romantic drama film directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford. Arthur Laurents wrote both the novel and screenplay based on his college days at Cornell University and his ...

". British arranger, keyboardist and composer

Alan Hawkshaw William Alan Hawkshaw (27 March 1937 – 16 October 2021) was a British composer and performer, particularly of library music used as themes for movies and television programs. Hawkshaw worked extensively for the KPM production music company ...

received the award for Best Arrangement from the American Academy of Arts & Sciences for "I Honestly Love You". He also played on the recording. In June 2007, VH1 ranked Newton-John's recording at no. 11 in its 40 Most Softsational Soft-Rock Songs list.

In popular culture

A snippet of

Lynn Anderson Lynn Renée Anderson (September 26, 1947 – July 30, 2015) was an American country singer and television personality. Her crossover signature recording, " Rose Garden," was a number one hit in the United States and internationally. She chart ...

's recording of the song plays over Chief Brody's radio in the second shark attack in

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Sp ...

's 1975 film ''

Jaws Jaws or Jaw may refer to: Anatomy * Jaw, an opposable articulated structure at the entrance of the mouth ** Mandible, the lower jaw Arts, entertainment, and media * Jaws (James Bond), a character in ''The Spy Who Loved Me'' and ''Moonraker'' * ...

'', moments before Alex Kitner and Pippet the dog disappear beneath the waves. It also appears in the musical about Peter Allen's life, ''

The Boy from Oz ''The Boy from Oz'' is a Australian jukebox musical based on the life of singer and songwriter Peter Allen, featuring songs written by him. The book commissioned for the musical is by Nick Enright, based on Stephen MacLean's 1996 biography of ...

''.

Chart performance

The single reached the top three of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in an unusually fast six weeks, and in its eighth week, the chart dated 5 October 1974, it spent the first of its two weeks at number one. Soon after it was certified gold by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

, having sold one million copies. It also reached number one (three weeks) on the Adult Contemporary chart and no. 6 on the Country chart. The song's success also helped propel its parent album, ''If You Love Me, Let Me Know'', to number one, on the chart dated 12 October 1974. By contrast, the single failed to reach the top 20 in the United Kingdom (no. 22), although it did chart there in 1983 when it was re-released to promote a Newton-John greatest hits album. The single ranked number 97 on ''Billboards Year-End Top 100 of 1974 – a ranking based on only 11 of its 15 weeks on the Hot 100. In November 1977, a re-release of Newton-John's original version backed with "Don't Cry for Me Argentina", from her then-current album ''Making a Good Thing Better'' reached number 48 during its nine-week run on the Hot 100; the single outperformed the only A-side single from the album (the title track), which five months earlier had stalled at number 87. The re-release of Newton-John's 1974 hit also re-charted on the Adult Contemporary chart, peaking at number 49.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

1998 version

Newton-John re-recorded "I Honestly Love You" for her 1998 album ''

Back with a Heart ''Back with a Heart'' is the sixteenth studio album by British-Australian singer Olivia Newton-John. It was released by MCA Nashville on 12 May 1998 in the United States. Her first album in four years, it marked her return to country music after ...

'', with

Babyface Babyface or Baby Face can refer to: Nicknames * Lester Joseph Gillis a.k.a. Baby Face Nelson, an infamous 1930s bank robber * Roosevelt "Baby Face" Willette (1933–1971), an American hard bop and soul-jazz musician * "Baby Face", Jimmy McLarnin ...

on background vocals. The new version was released as a single, debuting on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in May 1998. It was her first song to chart in the Hot 100 for six years, peaking at No. 67 and spent 12 weeks on the chart. It reached No. 18 on the Adult Contemporary chart and No. 16 on the Country Music Sales chart.

Charts

Cover versions

Bobby Vinton Stanley Robert "Bobby" Vinton (born April 16, 1935) is a American former singer and occasional actor, who also hosted his own self-titled TV show in the late 1970s. As a teen idol, he became known as "The Polish Prince", as his music paid trib ...

on his 1974 album '' Melodies of Love'' *

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 ...

on his 1974 album ''

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'' *

on her 1974 album ''

What a Man My Man Is "What a Man My Man Is" is the name of a No. 1 U.S. country music hit by Lynn Anderson Lynn Renée Anderson (September 26, 1947 – July 30, 2015) was an American country singer and television personality. Her crossover signature recording, ...

'' *

Ronnie Milsap Ronnie Lee Milsap (born Ronald Lee Millsaps; January 16, 1943) is an American country music singer and pianist. He was one of country music's most popular and influential performers of the 1970s and 1980s. Nearly completely blind from birth, ...

on his 1975 album '' A Legend in My Time'' *

Kamahl Kandiah Kamalesvaran ( ta, கந்தையா கமலேஸ்வரன்; born 13 November 1934), better known by his stage name Kamahl, is a Malaysian-born Australian singer and recording artist. His highest charting Australian single, ...

on his 1975 album ''Let It Be Me'' *

Jerry Butler Jerry Butler Jr. (born December 8, 1939) is an American soul singer-songwriter, producer, musician, and retired politician. He was the original lead singer of the R&B vocal group the Impressions, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame i ...

on his 1976 album ''Love's on the Menu'' *

Bobby Womack Robert Dwayne Womack (; March 4, 1944 – June 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Starting in the early 1950s as the lead singer of his family musical group the Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing gui ...

on his 1979 album ''

Roads of Life ''Roads of Life'' is the twelfth studio album by American musician Bobby Womack. The album was released in 1979, by Arista Records. It was dedicated to his late son Truth Womack (January 27, 1978 – June 2, 1978). The album was Bobby Womack's o ...

'' * Leslie Uggams on the 1977 TV special '' Sinatra and Friends'' * The Staple Singers on their 1977 album ''Family Tree'' * Jackie Moore on her 1980 album ''With Your Love'' *

Donna Fargo Donna may refer to the short form of the honorific ''nobildonna'', the female form of Don (honorific) in Italian. People * Donna (given name); includes name origin and list of people and characters with the name * Roberto Di Donna (born 1968), ...

on her 1984 album ''Encore'' *

Lea Salonga Maria Lea Carmen Imutan Salonga (; born February 22, 1971), known professionally as Lea Salonga, is a Filipino singer, actress, and columnist. Nicknamed "Pride of the Philippines," she is best known for her roles in musical theatre, for supplyi ...

on her 1993 self titled album *

Richard Clayderman Richard Clayderman (; born Philippe Pagès , 28 December 1953 in Paris) is a French pianist who has released numerous albums including the compositions of Paul de Senneville, Olivier Toussaint and Marc Minier, instrumental renditions of popular ...

on his 1999 album ''My Australian Collection'' * Juliana Hatfield on her 2018 album ''

Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton-John ''Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton-John'' is the sixteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Juliana Hatfield. It was released on April 13, 2018, by American Laundromat Records. It's a tribute album to Australian singer Olivia Newto ...

''. *

Delta Goodrem Delta Lea Goodrem AM (born November 9, 1984) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Goodrem signed to Sony Music at the age of 15. Her debut album, '' Innocent Eyes'' (2003), topped the ARIA Albums Chart for 29 non-consecutive wee ...

in the mini-series '' Olivia Newton-John: Hopelessly Devoted to You'' and the accompanying soundtrack album, '' I Honestly Love You'' *

Kate Ceberano Catherine Yvette Ceberano ( or , born 17 November 1966) is an Australian singer and actress who performs in the soul, jazz, and pop genres, as well as in film and musicals such as ''Jesus Christ Superstar''. Her song "Pash" received a gold sa ...

on her 2021 album '' Sweet Inspiration''

References

{{authority control 1974 songs 1974 singles Songs written by Jeff Barry Songs written by Peter Allen (musician) Olivia Newton-John songs Andy Williams songs Song recordings produced by John Farrar Song recordings produced by David Foster Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Number-one singles in Australia RPM Top Singles number-one singles Grammy Award for Record of the Year Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance MCA Records singles EMI Records singles 1970s ballads Pop ballads Rock ballads