Hopelessly Devoted to You

"Hopelessly Devoted to You" is a song recorded by English-born Australian singer Olivia Newton-John for Grease: The Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture (1978). It was written and produced by John Farrar and originally performed by Newton-John in the film version of the musical Grease (1978). The song received an Oscar nomination as Best Original Song, losing to "Last Dance" from Thank God It's Friday at the 51st Academy Awards.

"Hopelessly Devoted to You"
Artwork for German vinyl single
Single by Olivia Newton-John
from the album Grease: The Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture
B-side"Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing"
Released9 September 1978
Recorded1978
GenrePop
Length3:05
LabelRSO
Songwriter(s)John Farrar
Producer(s)John Farrar
Olivia Newton-John singles chronology
"Summer Nights"
(1978)		 "Hopelessly Devoted to You"
(1978)		 "A Little More Love"
(1978)

It reached number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number seven on the Adult Contemporary chart.[1] On the country chart, "Hopelessly Devoted to You" peaked at number 20 and was her first top 20 country hit in two years.[2] Newton-John performed the song at the 21st Grammy Awards.[3]

The song was not part of the original musical production (and was replaced with the 1950s standard "Since I Don't Have You" for the 1994 revival), but it was added to the score for the 2007 revival and was included in the 2016 Grease: Live performance, sung by Julianne Hough.[4]

In June 2004, Farrar recalled writing the song: "'Hopelessly Devoted To You': I spent the longest period writing the lyrics of any song I've ever written. Every thesaurus and every rhyming dictionary I had, just trying to really make it work properly".[5]

Background

Halfway through shooting Grease, Newton-John's contractually-entitled vocal solo had yet to be written. Farrar, Newton-John's personal producer, wrote the song and submitted it to the film's production team. They were reluctant but then approved it; shooting and recording took place after the other parts of the film had been completed.[6]

Chart performance

Sonia's version
"Hopelessly Devoted to You"
Single by Sonia
B-side"The Anthem Medley"
Released18 July 1994
Length2:58
LabelCockney Records/BMG
Songwriter(s)John Farrar
Producer(s)Mark Cyrus
Sonia singles chronology
"Better the Devil You Know"
(1993)		 "Hopelessly Devoted to You"
(1994)		 "Wake Up Everybody"
(1995)
Sonia (pictured in 2008) covered the song in 1996.

In 1994, Sonia took over the role of Sandy at a West End production of Grease, replacing Debbie Gibson. In conjunction, she released a cover version of the song. The single was released in July 1994 as a non-album single. It has a double A-side released as a B-side "The Anthem Medley". On the 12-inch single, "The Anthem Medley" was released as the A-side and "Hopelessly Devoted to You" as the B-side. The music video for Sonia's version of "Hopelessly Devoted to You" features Sonia walking through an old city and singing. The music video for "The Anthem Medley" features Sonia dancing and singing in a nightclub.[24] The single become her first not to reach top forty in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number sixty-one.

Formats and track listings

CD single

  1. "Hopelessly Devoted to You" - 2:58
  2. "The Anthem Medley" - 4:24
  3. "The Anthem Medley" (Club Mix) - 7:04
  4. "The Anthem Medley" (Extended Mix) - 6:24

7" single

  1. "Hopelessly Devoted to You" - 2:58
  2. "The Anthem Medley" - 4:24

12" single

  1. "The Anthem Medley" (Club Mix) - 7:04
  2. "The Anthem Medley" (Extended Mix) - 6:24
  3. "Hopelessly Devoted to You" - 2:58

Charts
Chart (1994) Peak
position
UK[25] 61

Other cover versions

References
  1. Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 182.
  2. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 249.
  3. "Grammy's Greatest Moments, Volume III: Various Artists". Retrieved 2011-11-23.
  4. Patrick Gomez (2016-01-31). "Grease Live: Hopelessly Devoted to You Not Cut". People.com. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
  5. Kruger, Debbie (June 2004). "The Making of Songwriters Speak". Debbie Kruger. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
  6. "Hopelessly Devoted To You by Olivia Newton-John Songfacts". Songfacts.com. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
  7. Steffen Hung. "Forum - 1970 (ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts)". Australian-charts.com. Archived from the original on 2016-06-02. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
  8. "Ultratop.be – Olivia Newton-John – Hopelessly Devoted to You" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  9. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 0014." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  10. "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 0019." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  11. "Top RPM Country Tracks: Issue 0012." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  12. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Hopelessly Devoted to You". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  13. "Dutchcharts.nl – Olivia Newton-John – Hopelessly Devoted to You" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  14. "Charts.nz – Olivia Newton-John – Hopelessly Devoted to You". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  15. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
  16. "Olivia Newton-John Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  17. "Olivia Newton-John Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  18. "Olivia Newton-John Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  19. "Top 100 1979-03-03". Cashbox Magazine. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
  20. "Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
  21. "Top Selling Singles of 1978 | The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Nztop40.co.nz. 1978-12-31. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
  22. "Top 100 1978 - UK Music Charts". Uk-charts.top-source.info. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
  23. "Top 100 Hits of 1978/Top 100 Songs of 1978". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
  24. "Sonia Evans The Anthem Melody". YouTube. 2008-08-20. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
  25. "Official Charts Company". Retrieved 2009-12-31.
  26. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton-John". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
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