"For Once in My Life" is a song written by Ron Miller and Orlando Murden for

Motown Records Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

' Stein & Van Stock publishing company, and first recorded in 1965. It was written and first recorded as a slow

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

, in 1965 by Connie Haines, but the first version to be released was by Jean DuShon in 1966. Other early versions of the ballad were issued by Nancy Wilson, the

Four Tops The Four Tops are an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1953 as the Four Aims. They were one of the most commercially successful American pop music groups of the 1960s and helped propel Motown Records to international fame. The ...

the Temptations The Temptations is an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1961 as The Elgins, known for their string of successful singles and albums with Motown from the 1960s to the mid-1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield ...

, Diana Ross & the Supremes,

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

and

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (August 3, 1926 – July 21, 2023), known professionally as Tony Bennett, was an American jazz and traditional pop singer. He received many accolades, including 20 Grammy Awards, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, ...

, whose recording was the first to reach the pop charts. The most familiar and successful version of "For Once in My Life" is an uptempo arrangement by

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

, recorded in 1967. Wonder's version, issued on Motown's Tamla label, was a top-three hit in the United States and the United Kingdom in late 1968 and early 1969.

Early recordings

Miller and Murden wrote the song in 1965 as a slow ballad, and passed it around various singers so that it could be tried out and refined. Among those who, it is claimed, heard and performed the song in about 1966 – but did not record it – are Jo Thompson, a club singer in Detroit; Sherry Kaye, who may have performed it in a musical revue at the Gem Theater; and Johnny Hartman, who turned it down.

Jean DuShon

Jean DuShon was one of the singers who was originally tapped by Ron Miller to demo the song as he was fine-tuning the composition. Miller was impressed by DuShon's rendition, and her version, produced by Esmond Edwards, was issued as a single on

Chess Records Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock an ...

' Cadet label in October 1966. It was chosen "Pick Hit of the Week" by Detroit's WXYZ radio. Although the record label gave the sole songwriting credit to Murden, Motown CEO

Berry Gordy Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929), also known as Berry Gordy Jr., is an American retired record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record label and i ...

discovered that Miller – who was contracted to

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

– had co-written the song, and reportedly asked Chess not to promote the single. DuShon dropped "For Once in My Life" from her nightclub act and later said: "It was a very big disappointment in my life. I stopped singing it ‘cause I didn’t have the song. I didn’t have anything. It wasn’t mine anymore."

Connie Haines

Connie Haines was a contracted singer signed to Motown in 1965 and as indicated by the Motown session logs and tape information, she recorded the first version of the song at the label in July 1965. Her original version remained unreleased for 50 years until it was released on the MP3 download album ''Motown Unreleased 1965'' in 2015.

Barbara McNair

Barbara McNair Barbara Jean McNair (March 4, 1934 – February 4, 2007) was an American singer and theater, television, and film actress. McNair's career spanned over five decades in television, film, and stage. McNair's professional career began in music dur ...

's version of the song was recorded as early as October 1965, and backed up by a symphony orchestra and produced by Frank Wilson. Some sources suggest that the song was originally written for McNair; others that Gordy, hearing the song, insisted that she record it. However, her version was not released until it appeared on her November 1966 album, ''Here I Am''. It was also released as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

of her 1968 single, "Where Would I Be Without You". In later years, McNair re-recorded the song with a faster tempo.

Other Motown recordings

Singer Jack Soo claimed that he was the first ''male'' artist to record a version of the song, after he joined Motown in 1965 as one of their first non-African American artists. The record was never released and was permanently shelved in the Motown archives.

The Four Tops ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

recorded the song on their album ''4 Tops on Broadway'', released in March 1967 and, like McNair's recording, produced as a slow ballad by Frank Wilson.

The Temptations The Temptations is an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1961 as The Elgins, known for their string of successful singles and albums with Motown from the 1960s to the mid-1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield ...

also recorded the song for their pop standards based album '' The Temptations in a Mellow Mood'', released in July 1967.

Baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

singer Paul Williams sings the lead vocal on the song, and it subsequently became his showcase number in the Temptations' live shows. Williams' most famous performance of the number was during

the Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959 as the Primettes. A premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful Amer ...

and Temptations' '' TCB'' television special in 1968, a performance cited as the apex of Williams' career. The song also made its way into the 1998 made-for-television

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

on NBC, ''

''. After celebrating the Temptations' (and Motown's) first Grammy Award win for " Cloud Nine", the actor who portrays Paul Williams ( Christian Payton) sings the slow ballad version. Diana Ross & the Supremes recorded a mid-tempo bossa nova inspired version in early 1969 that wasn't discovered until the 2010s and not released until 2019. The song would become the most covered song in the Motown catalog by fellow Motown artists:

Billy Eckstine William Clarence Eckstine (July 8, 1914 – March 8, 1993) was an American jazz and pop singer and a bandleader during the swing and bebop eras. He was noted for his rich, almost operatic bass-baritone voice. In 2019, Eckstine was posthumously a ...

(1966), Martha & the Vandellas (1967), Soupy Sales (1968), Jonah Jones (1968), Smokey Robinson & the Miracles (1969), Blinky (1969), Kiki Dee (1969), Sammy Davis Jr. (1969), Joe Harnell (1969), the Ding Dongs (1970),

Gladys Knight & the Pips Gladys Knight & the Pips were an American Rhythm and blues, R&B, soul music, soul, and funk family music group from Atlanta, Georgia, that remained active on the music charts and performing circuit for over three decades starting from the early ...

(1973)

Tony Bennett

Also in 1967,

's recording of the song peaked at number 91 on the ''Billboard'' Pop Singles chart (number 8 on the Easy Listening survey) and was the title track of his album '' For Once in My Life''. "For Once in My Life" remained in Bennett's concert repertoire into the 2000s. In 2006, Bennett teamed up with Stevie Wonder to record a ballad tempo version for his '' Duets: An American Classic'' album, for which Bennett and Wonder received a Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. Bennett also performed it on the grand finale of the sixth season of ''American Idol'' and in the Grammy Award-sponsored tribute ''Stevie Wonder: Songs in the Key of Life – An All-Star Salute'', which aired February 16, 2015, on CBS.

Frank Sinatra version

's version was released in March 1969, composed by Ron Miller and Orlando Murden, and it was part of his album, ''My Way''.

Stevie Wonder version

's version was recorded at about the same time as the Temptations' in the summer of 1967. However,

did not like Wonder's version, an upbeat rendition produced by Henry Cosby. Gordy vetoed the single's release, and the recording was shelved. Billie Jean Brown, the head of the Motown Quality Control department, finally coerced Gordy into allowing Wonder's version to be released in October 1968. Contrary to Gordy's instincts, "For Once in My Life" was a highly successful record, peaking at number-two on both the ''Billboard'' Pop Singles and ''Billboard'' R&B Singles charts''Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-2002'' (it was held off from the number-one spot on each chart by another Motown single Gordy had originally vetoed,

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...

's " I Heard It Through the Grapevine"). "For Once in My Life", issued by Tamla with "Angie Girl" as its

, was later included as the title track on Wonder's '' For Once in My Life'' album. Wonder's version of the track is often singled out by bassists as one of the greatest examples of

James Jamerson James Lee Jamerson (January 29, 1936 – August 2, 1983) was an American bassist. He was the uncredited bassist on most of the Motown Records hits in the 1960s and early 1970s (Motown did not list session musician credits on their releases un ...

's playing style, with no two bars of music played alike during the whole song; a completely improvisational line that is both melodic and complementary to Wonder's vocal. Background vocals are by the Originals (

Freddie Gorman Freddie Gorman (born Frederick Cortez Gorman, April 11, 1939 – June 13, 2006) was an American musician and record producer, most famous as a singer, songwriter for the Motown Records, Motown label in the late 1960s and mid 1970s. He was a n ...

, Walter Gaines, Hank Dixon, C.P. Spencer) and

the Andantes The Andantes were an American female session group for the Motown record label during the 1960s. Composed of Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, and Louvain Demps, the group sang background vocals on numerous Motown recordings, including songs by M ...

(Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, Louvain Demps), with instrumentation by

the Funk Brothers The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972. Its members are considered among the most successful groups of stud ...

Personnel

– vocals,

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

– bass * Uriel Jones – drums * Earl Van Dyke - piano * Background vocals are by the Originals (Freddie Gorman, Walter Gaines, Hank Dixon, C.P. Spencer) and the Andantes (Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, Louvain Demps) * Additional instrumentation by the Funk Brothers

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Other versions

* In the late 1960s,

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. Possessing a strong contralto voice, she was celebrated for her emotional depth and versatility across film, stage, and concert performance. ...

added the song to her repertoire, and went on to perform it in several concerts and on one television appearance on

The Mike Douglas Show ''The Mike Douglas Show'' is an American daytime television talk show that was hosted by Mike Douglas. It began as a local program in Cleveland in 1961 before being carried on other stations owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting. The show went i ...

. * Jackie Wilson recorded a modified ballad version, more uptempo than Tony Bennett, but downbeat compared to Stevie Wonder. It lost in a cover record war; Wilson reaching number 70 in late 1968, Wonder peaking at number 2 on ''Billboard''s Hot 100. * In 1969, Dorothy Squires recorded the song, arranged and conducted by Nicky Welsh on the President label, and had a chart hit in the UK reaching the No. 24 spot in an 11-week stay. *On June 17, 2012, '' The Voice Australia'' finalist Darren Percival performed a cover of the song reaching number 6 on the iTunes download list. *

Joaquin Phoenix Joaquin Rafael Phoenix ( ; ; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor. Widely described as one of the most preeminent actors of his generation and known for Joaquin Phoenix filmography, his roles as dark, unconventional and eccentric charact ...

recorded the song for the 2024 film '' Joker: Folie à Deux'' and its soundtrack. *American singer and songwriter Dionne Farris recorded a version of the song for the 1996 film '' The Truth About Cats & Dogs''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:For Once in My Life 1965 songs 1966 singles 1967 singles 1968 singles 1969 singles Songs written by Ron Miller (songwriter) Tony Bennett songs Jackie Wilson songs Frank Sinatra songs Stevie Wonder songs Dorothy Squires songs Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals Tamla Records singles President Records singles Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals Cashbox number-one singles