"It's De-Lovely" is one of

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to ...

's hit songs, originally appearing in his 1936 musical, '' Red Hot and Blue''. It was introduced by

Ethel Merman Ethel Merman (born Ethel Agnes Zimmermann, January 16, 1908 – February 15, 1984) was an American actress and singer, known for her distinctive, powerful voice, and for leading roles in musical theatre.Obituary '' Variety'', February 22, 1984. ...

and

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with ...

. The song was later used in the musical ''

Anything Goes ''Anything Goes'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse, heavily revised by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap ant ...

'', first appearing in the 1956 film version (when it was sung by

Donald O'Connor Donald David Dixon Ronald O'Connor (August 28, 1925 – September 27, 2003) was an American dancer, singer and actor. He came to fame in a series of films in which he co-starred with Gloria Jean, Peggy Ryan, and Francis the Talking Mule. His b ...

and

Mitzi Gaynor Mitzi Gaynor (born Francesca Marlene de Czanyi von Gerber; September 4, 1931) is an American actress, singer, and dancer. Her notable films include '' We're Not Married!'' (1952), '' There's No Business Like Show Business'' (1954), '' The Birds ...

); in the 1962 revival where it was sung by

Hal Linden Hal Linden (born Harold Lipshitz, March 20, 1931) is an American stage and screen actor, television director and musician. Linden began his career as a big band musician and singer in the 1950s. After a stint in the United States Army, he began ...

and Barbara Lang, and in the 2004 biographical film ''

De-Lovely ''De-Lovely'' is a 2004 American musical biopic directed by Irwin Winkler and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The screenplay by Jay Cocks is based on the life and career of Cole Porter, from his first meeting with his wife, Linda Lee Thomas, u ...

'', where it was performed by

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stud ...

. The

hit record A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record ...

s in late 1936 and early 1937 included versions by

Leo Reisman Leo F. Reisman (October 11, 1897 – December 18, 1961) was an American violinist and bandleader in the 1920s and 1930s. Born and reared in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, he was of Jewish ancestry; from German immigrants who immigrated to th ...

, Eddy Duchin, Shep Fields, and Will Osborne. The song played with words that have the

prefix A prefix is an affix which is placed before the stem of a word. Adding it to the beginning of one word changes it into another word. For example, when the prefix ''un-'' is added to the word ''happy'', it creates the word ''unhappy''. Particul ...

"de", which leads to the creation of the

neologism A neologism Ancient_Greek.html"_;"title="_from_Ancient_Greek">Greek_νέο-_''néo''(="new")_and_λόγος_/''lógos''_meaning_"speech,_utterance"is_a_relatively_recent_or_isolated_term,_word,_or_phrase_that_may_be_in_the_process_of_entering_com ...

"de-lovely": "It's de-lightful, it's de-licious, it's de-lovely."

Other recordings

* 1936

Kitty Brown Catherine Brown, known as Kitty Brown (October 1899 – after 1990), was an American classic female blues singer. She sometimes used the pseudonyms Bessie Williams (she was not the only performer to use this name), Jane White, Dixie Gray, Rosa Gre ...

also recorded the song with Les Brown and His Duke Blue Devils. * 1949

Dinah Shore Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore; February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, and television personality, and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during ...

- for her album ''Dinah Shore Sings''. * 1949

- included in the album ''Songs She Made Famous''. * 1955

Jeri Southern Jeri Southern (born Genevieve Lillian Hering, August 5, 1926 – August 4, 1991) was an American jazz singer and pianist. Early years Born Genevieve Lillian Hering in Royal, Nebraska, United States, Southern was the granddaughter of a German pig ...

- ''The Southern Style''. * 1956

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 ...

- ''

Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Song Book ''Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Song Book'' is a 1956 studio double album by American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, accompanied by a studio orchestra conducted and arranged by Buddy Bregman, focusing on the songs of Cole Porter. Backgroun ...

'' * 1956

Vince Guaraldi Vincent Anthony Guaraldi (; né Dellaglio, July 17, 1928 – February 6, 1976) was an American jazz pianist best known for composing music for animated television adaptations of the ''Peanuts'' comic strip. His compositions for this series includ ...

- '' Vince GuaraldiTrio'' * 1957

Mel Torme Mel, Mels or MEL may refer to: Biology * Mouse erythroleukemia cell line (MEL) * National Herbarium of Victoria, a herbarium with the Index Herbariorum code MEL People * Mel (given name), the abbreviated version of several given names (including ...

- ''

Songs for Any Taste ''Songs for Any Taste'' is a 1957 live album by Mel Tormé, recorded at the Crescendo Club. Interspersed with studio recordings, this is one of three albums that Tormé released with material from his appearances at the club. Track listing # ...

'' * 1958

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 ...

- ''

Swing Softly ''Swing Softly'' is the fifth album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on July 28, 1958, by Columbia Records and was a departure from the ballads that accounted for the vast majority of singles and album tracks he had recorde ...

'' * 1959

Anita O'Day Anita Belle Colton (October 18, 1919 – November 23, 2006), known professionally as Anita O'Day, was an American jazz singer and self proclaimed “song stylist” widely admired for her sense of rhythm and dynamics, and her early big band app ...

- ''

Anita O'Day Swings Cole Porter with Billy May ''Anita O'Day Swings Cole Porter with Billy May'' is a 1959 studio album by Anita O'Day, of songs written by Cole Porter arranged by Billy May. O'Day and May recorded another album dedicated to a single composer, Richard Rodgers, in 1960. Tra ...

'' * 1959

Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian virtuoso jazz pianist and composer. Considered one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, ...

- '' Oscar Peterson Plays the Cole Porter Songbook'' * 1961 Sue Raney - later released on a compilation album ''Breathless'' (1997). * 1982

Rosemary Clooney Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 – June 29, 2002) was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the song " Come On-a My House", which was followed by other pop numbers such as " Botch-a-Me", " Mambo Italiano" ...

- '' Rosemary Clooney Sings the Music of Cole Porter'' * 1984

George Wright George Wright may refer to: Politics, law and government * George Wright (MP) (died 1557), MP for Bedford and Wallingford * George Wright (governor) (1779–1842), Canadian politician, lieutenant governor of Prince Edward Island * George Wright ...

covered the song in his album ''Red Hot and Blue''. * 1997

Stacey Kent Stacey Kent (born March 27, 1965) is an American jazz singer from South Orange, New Jersey. Kent was nominated for a Grammy Award and was awarded the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters) by the French Mini ...

- '' Close Your Eyes'' * 2004

sang the song in the Cole Porter

biopic A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudr ...

, ''

'' (2004). * 2021

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birt ...

and

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

recorded a version of the song for their collaborative album '' Love for Sale''.

In popular culture

The song was used by the

Chrysler Corporation Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automotiv ...

in advertising DeSoto automobiles, in 1956 singing, "It's Delightful, It's De Lovely, It's DeSoto. Then in 1957 the lyrics changed to "Its delovely, its dynamic, its DeSoto." A 1970s commercial for

7 Up 7 Up (stylized as 7up outside North America) is an American brand of lemon-lime-flavored non-caffeinated soft drink. The brand and formula are owned by Keurig Dr Pepper although the beverage is internationally distributed by PepsiCo. 7 Up co ...

used the song, describing it as "de-sugarfree".

References

{{authority control Songs from Anything Goes Songs written by Cole Porter Ella Fitzgerald songs 1936 songs