"Whatever Lola Wants" is a popular song, sometimes rendered as "Whatever Lola Wants, Lola Gets". The music and words were written by

Richard Adler Richard Adler (August 3, 1921 – June 21, 2012) was an American lyricist, writer, composer and producer of several Broadway shows. He is best known for his work with Jerry Ross (composer), Jerry Ross on the musicals ''The Pajama Game'' (1954) a ...

and Jerry Ross for the 1955 musical play ''

Damn Yankees ''Damn Yankees'' is a 1955 musical comedy with a book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop, music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The story is a modern retelling of the Faust legend set during the 1950s in Washington, D.C., d ...

''. The song is sung to Joe Hardy by Lola, the Devil's assistant, a part originated by

Gwen Verdon Gwyneth Evelyn "Gwen" Verdon (January 13, 1925October 18, 2000) was an American actress and dancer. She won four Tony Awards for her musical comedy performances, and she served as an uncredited choreographer's assistant and specialty dance coach ...

, who reprised the role in the film. The saying was inspired by Lola Montez, an Irish-born "Spanish dancer" and mistress of King

Ludwig I of Bavaria Ludwig I or Louis I (; 25 August 1786 – 29 February 1868) was King of Bavaria from 1825 until the German revolutions of 1848–49, 1848 revolutions in the German states. When he was crown prince, he was involved in the Napoleonic Wars. As ki ...

, who later became a

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, ...

vamp.

Also recorded by

Natacha Atlas Natacha Atlas (, , ; born 20 March 1964) is an Egyptian-Belgian singer known for her fusion of Arabic and Western music, particularly hip-hop. She once termed her music "'' cha'abi moderne''" (modern folk music). Her music has been influenced by ...

* Les Baxter *

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, ...

(1955) * Ran Blake * Lola Blanc * Bob & Ray * Les Brown * Reeve Carney ''Live at Molly Malone's'' (2006) *

Petula Clark Sally "Petula" Clark (born 15 November 1932) is a British singer, actress, and songwriter. She started her professional career as a child actor, child performer and has had the longest career of any British entertainer, spanning more than 85 y ...

Alma Cogan Alma Angela Cohen Cogan (19 May 1932 – 26 October 1966) was an English singer of traditional pop in the 1950s and early 1960s. Dubbed the "Girl with the Giggle in Her Voice", she was the highest paid British female entertainer of her era. Ch ...

(1957) * Annie Cordy - French version ''Tout ce que veut Lola'' (1957) * Xavier Cugat * Carla Boni * Chiwetel Ejiofor *

Gracie Fields Dame Gracie Fields (born Grace Stansfield; 9 January 189827 September 1979) was a British actress, singer and comedian. A star of cinema and music hall, she was one of the top ten film stars in Britain during the 1930s and was considered the h ...

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 ...

(1963) * Gotan Project * The Hi-Lo's - ''A Musical Thrill'' (2006) *

Molly Johnson Margaret Leslie "Molly" Johnson, Order of Canada, OC is a Canadian singer of pop and jazz. Biography Johnson began as a child performer, receiving formal training from the National Ballet School and the Banff School of Fine Arts. Johnson's b ...

Louis Jordan Louis Thomas Jordan (July 8, 1908 – February 4, 1975) was an American saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and bandleader who was popular from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the King ...

Stan Kenton Stanley Newcomb Kenton (December 15, 1911 – August 25, 1979) was an American popular music and jazz artist. As a pianist, composer, arranger and band leader, he led an innovative and influential jazz orchestra for almost four decades. Though ...

- ''The Stage Door Swings'' (1958) *

Eartha Kitt Eartha Mae Kitt (née Keith; January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008) was an American singer and actress. She was known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 recordings of "C'est si bon" and the Christmas novelty song "Santa Baby" ...

(1962) * Abbe Lane (with

Tito Puente Ernest Anthony Puente Jr. (April 20, 1923 – May 31, 2000), commonly known as Tito Puente, was an American musician, songwriter, bandleader, timbalero, and record producer. He composed dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz music. He was also k ...

and His Orchestra (1957) * Marinella (1992, album '' I Marinella Tragouda Megales Kyries'') *

Carmen McRae Carmen Mercedes McRae (April 8, 1920 – November 10, 1994) was an American jazz singer. She is considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century and is remembered for her behind-the-beat phrasing and ironic interpretati ...

(1955) *

Amanda Lear Amanda Lear (; born 18 June or 18 November 1939 or 1941 or 1946 or 1950) is a French singer, songwriter, painter, television presenter, actress and former model. She began her professional career as a fashion model in the mid-1960s and went on ...

: On album ''

With Love With Love may refer to: Music Albums * '' ...with Love'', by Mary Byrne * ''With Love'' (Amanda Lear album), 2006 * ''With Love'' (Bobby Vinton album), 1974 * ''With Love'' (Charles Tolliver album), 2006 * '' With Love, Chér'', 1967 * ''Wi ...

'' (2006) *

Sophie Milman Sophie Milman (born 1983) is a Russian-born Canadian jazz vocalist. After emigrating from Russia in the early 1990s, Milman, who is Jewish, spent most of her childhood years in Israel where she listened extensively to jazz. Her family later em ...

(2007, ''Live at Winter Garden Theatre'') * Bebe Neuwirth * Caroline O'Connor *

Patti Page Clara Ann Fowler (November 8, 1927 – January 1, 2013), better known by her stage name Patti Page, was an American singer. Primarily known for Pop music, pop and Country music, country music, she was the top-charting female vocalist and b ...

(1960) * Perez Prado and His Orchestra (1955) * Julius Pringles (2001) *

Della Reese Della Reese (born Delloreese Patricia Early; July 6, 1931 – November 19, 2017) was an American singer, actress, television personality, author and ordained minister. As a singer, she recorded blues, gospel, jazz and pop. Several of her singl ...

on her '' Della Della Cha-Cha-Cha'' album (1961) * Aldemaro Romero *

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

(1955) * Bria Skonberg (2017) * Dee Snider for the '' Dee Does Broadway'' album (2012) * Ruby Stewart * Anthony Strong *

Mel Tormé Melvin Howard Tormé (September 13, 1925 – June 5, 1999), nicknamed "the Velvet Fog", was an American musician, singer, composer, arrangement, arranger, drummer, actor, and author. He composed the music for "The Christmas Song" ("Chestnuts Roa ...

for the album, '' Mel Tormé Swings Shubert Alley'' (1960) *

Sarah Vaughan Sarah Lois Vaughan (, March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer and pianist. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "List of nicknames of jazz musicians, The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, ...

(1955) *

* Baby Face Willette *

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (November 15, 2022)Classic Connection review, ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...

(''Johnny Williams And His Orchestra, Rhythm In Motion,'' 1961)

Other instances

"Whatever Lola Wants" is the title of an episode of the 2005

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

'' Hot Properties'' and the title of an episode of ABC-TV's 1965 crime drama '' Honey West''. A film entitled '' Whatever Lola Wants'', directed by Nabil Ayouch and starring Laura Ramsey as Lola, premiered on 11 December 2007 at the Dubai International Film Festival and was scheduled for release in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

on 16 April 2008. The Lola Car company is reportedly named after this song when company founder Eric Broadley heard the line "What Lola wants, Lola gets" in 1959. Norman Bailey played the song as a trumpet solo on the first live television broadcast of ''

The Lawrence Welk Show ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' is an American televised musical variety show hosted by big band leader Lawrence Welk. The series aired locally in Los Angeles for four years, from 1951 to 1955, then nationally for another 16 years on ABC from 1955 t ...

'' on July 2, 1955. Chiwetel Ejiofor sang the song for the 2005 film '' Kinky Boots''.

Mario Lopez Mario Lopez (born October 10, 1973) is an American actor and television host. He has appeared on several television series, in films, and on Broadway theatre, Broadway. He is known for his portrayal of A.C. Slater on ''Saved by the Bell'', ''S ...

and his partner

Karina Smirnoff Karina Smirnoff (born Karina Smyrnova, January 2, 1978) is a professional ballroom dancer. She is known as a professional dancer on ''Dancing with the Stars,'' where she won the thirteenth season with army veteran and soap opera star J. R. M ...

used the song in season 3 of ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

''. Their tango to it was voted the best celebrity dance ever by the judges of ''Dancing with the Stars'' on their 100th episode. Several seasons later, Joanna Krupa and her temporary partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy performed an

Argentine tango Argentine tango is a musical genre and accompanying social dance originating at the end of the 19th century in the suburbs of Buenos Aires. It typically has a Time signature, or rhythmic time signature, and two or three parts repeating in pat ...

to the song, in season 9. The song was featured in the 2006 French film '' Hors de Prix'' (English title, ''Priceless'') starring Gad Elmaleh and Audrey Tatou. The song appeared in a 2011

Diet Pepsi Diet Pepsi, also called Pepsi Light in some countries, is a diet carbonated cola soft drink produced by PepsiCo, introduced in 1964 as a variant of Pepsi with no sugar. First test marketed in 1963 under the name Patio Diet Cola, it was re-bra ...

commercial featuring Sofia Vergara and

David Beckham Sir David Robert Joseph Beckham ( ; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Primarily a right winger and known for his range of passing, cross ...

, and in a 2014 Magnum Italian commercial, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the ice cream brand owned by the British/Dutch Unilever. In the '' Pen15'' episode "Bat Mitzvah," Becca (Sami Rappoport) sings "Whatever Lola Wants" as she enters her

bat mitzvah A ''bar mitzvah'' () or ''bat mitzvah'' () is a coming of age ritual in Judaism. According to Jewish law, before children reach a certain age, the parents are responsible for their child's actions. Once Jewish children reach that age, they a ...

reception.

References

External links

''Whatever Lola Wants'' - versions and originals
on ''SecondHandSongs'' * *
Damn Yankees
at the

Internet Broadway Database The Internet Broadway Database (IBDB) is an online database of Broadway theatre productions and their personnel. It was conceived and created by Karen Hauser in 1996 and is operated by the Research Department of The Broadway League, a trade asso ...

*''Hot Properties'
episode plot summary
on tv.com {{authority control Songs from musicals Songs written by Richard Adler Songs written by Jerry Ross (composer) 1955 songs Sarah Vaughan songs Cultural depictions of Lola Montez