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Hopelessly Devoted to You

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"Hopelessly Devoted to You" is a song recorded by British-Australian singer, songwriter and actress 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 reached number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number seven on the Adult Contemporary chart.[2] On the country chart, "Hopelessly Devoted to You" peaked at number 20 and was her first top 20 country hit in two years.[3] Newton-John performed the song at the 21st Grammy Awards in 1979.[4] The song was released in Australia in August 1978 and peaked at number two.

"Hopelessly Devoted to You"
Artwork for UK 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"
ReleasedJune 1978
Recorded1977
StudioUnited/Western Studio
GenreCountry pop[1]
Length3:05
LabelRSO
Songwriter(s)John Farrar
Producer(s)John Farrar
Olivia Newton-John singles chronology
"You're the One That I Want"
(1978) 		"Hopelessly Devoted to You"
(1978) 		"Summer Nights"
(1978)
Australian release
Side A of the Australian single
Side A of the Australian single

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. Lyrically, the song is about Olivia's character in the movie, Australian newcomer Sandy Olsson, singing about how she keeps loving John Travolta's character Danny Zuko, leader of a gang of greaser boys, despite him brushing her off in favor of his friends.

Record World called it "a '50s-inspired love ballad with the production sound of the '70s."[5]

In 2001, Swedish girl group Play covered the song on their debut album.

In 2012, Blaine Anderson (Darren Criss) covered the song for the Glee episode, "The Role You Were Born to Play".

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.[6]

In June 2004, Farrar recalled writing the song: "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".[7]

Background

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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.[8]

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The song was used in the trailer for the Netflix miniseries The Watcher.

Charts

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Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[33] Gold 75,000^
United States (RIAA)[34] Platinum 1,000,000‡

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Sonia version

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"Hopelessly Devoted to You"
Single by Sonia
B-side"The Anthem Medley"
Released18 July 1994 (1994-07-18)[35]
Length2:58
LabelCockney, 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 1994.

In 1994, English singer Sonia took over the role of Sandy in 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.[36] 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

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  • 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-inch single
  1. "Hopelessly Devoted to You" – 2:58
  2. "The Anthem Medley" – 4:24
  • 12-inch 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

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Chart (1994) Peak
position
UK Singles (OCC)[37] 61

References

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  1. ^ Hopelessly Devoted to You by Olivia Newton-John - Track Info | AllMusic, retrieved 23 November 2022
  2. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 182.
  3. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 249.
  4. ^ "Grammy's Greatest Moments, Volume III: Various Artists". Amazon. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  5. ^ "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. 1 July 1978. p. 1. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  6. ^ Patrick Gomez (31 January 2016). "Grease Live: Hopelessly Devoted to You Not Cut". People.com. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  7. ^ Kruger, Debbie (June 2004). "The Making of Songwriters Speak". Debbie Kruger. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
  8. ^ "Hopelessly Devoted To You by Olivia Newton-John Songfacts". Songfacts.com. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  9. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. p. 217. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  10. ^ "Olivia Newton-John – Hopelessly Devoted to You" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  11. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 0014." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  12. ^ "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 0019." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  13. ^ "Top RPM Country Tracks: Issue 0012." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  14. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2021). "Olivia Newton-John". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF) (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 183. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  15. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Hopelessly Devoted to You". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  16. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Olivia Newton-John" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
  17. ^ "Olivia Newton-John – Hopelessly Devoted to You" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  18. ^ "Olivia Newton-John – Hopelessly Devoted to You". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  19. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
  20. ^ "Olivia Newton-John Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  21. ^ "Olivia Newton-John Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  22. ^ "Olivia Newton-John Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  23. ^ "Top 100 1979-03-03". Cashbox Magazine. Archived from the original on 16 March 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  24. ^ "Canadian Digital Song Sales: Week of August 20, 2022". Billboard. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  25. ^ "Olivia Newton-John Returns to the Australian Charts". noise11.com. 15 August 2022.
  26. ^ "CU.S Digital Song Sales: Week of August 20, 2022". Billboard. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  27. ^ "Official Singles Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  28. ^ "Kent Music Report No 236 – 1 January 1979 > National Top 100 Singles for 1978". Kent Music Report. Retrieved 8 January 2022 – via Imgur.com.
  29. ^ "Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  30. ^ "Top Selling Singles of 1978 | The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Nztop40.co.nz. 31 December 1978. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  31. ^ "Top 100 1978 - UK Music Charts". Uk-charts.top-source.info. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  32. ^ "Top 100 Hits of 1978/Top 100 Songs of 1978". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  33. ^ "Canadian single certifications – Olivia Newton-John – Hopelessly Devoted to You". Music Canada. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  34. ^ "American single certifications – Olivia Newton-John – Hopelessly Devoted to You". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  35. ^ "Single Releases". Music Week. 16 July 1994. p. 23.
  36. ^ "Sonia Evans The Anthem Melody". YouTube. 20 August 2008. Archived from the original on 9 November 2019. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  37. ^ "Official Charts Company". Official Charts. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
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