How 'Never My Love' Became a Timeless Hit, Charting Three Times
How 'Never My Love' Became a Timeless Hit, Charting Three Times
Jacqueline Burt CoteWed, May 6, 2026 at 12:46 AM UTC
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It's a pretty major accomplishment for a song to hit the charts once, but one classic '60s love song managed to return to the charts twice after its initial release...in less than ten years: "Never My Love."
Penned by songwriting siblings Don and Dick Addrisi, “Never My Love” was first recorded by the California pop group The Association (along with members of the Wrecking Crew). The Association's version hit #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1967, and while “The Letter” by the Box Tops prevented "Never My Love" from hitting the top spot, it spent three weeks in second place.
Not only that, but this original recording of "Never My Love" went on to become the second most-played song on radio and television of the 20th century in the U.S., according to BMI, with millions of performances amounting to 40 years of continuous airplay as of 1999.
Pitchfork ranked The Association's "Never My Love" at #152 on a list of 200 Greatest Songs of the '60s, with writer David Raposa praising its "wispy melancholy" and calling the song a "reassuring affirmation of amour is a California dream that knows the alarm could go off at any time, which, in a world of silly love songs, makes all the difference."
'Never My Love' has been covered hundreds of times
Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the song's immense popularity, "Never My Love" has been covered multiple times over the decades, but the two most successful versions were recorded within just ten years of the track's initial release.
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In 1971, the 5th Dimension's take on "Never My Love" peaked at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100; three years later, in 1974, Swedish rockers Blue Swede made it all the way to #7 with their frenetically cheerful rendition.
In 1977, the Addrisi Brothers recorded their own version of the song they wrote, which made it to #20 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, “Never My Love” has been recorded by over 300 "notable" artists, including Norah Jones & Jakob Dylan, Bryan Adams, Belinda Carlisle, Rita Wilson, Nina Simone, Etta James, Barry Manilow, Nancy Wilson, Johnny Mathis, Andy Williams, Petula Clark, Engelbert Humperdinck and many more.
Related: 1972 No. 1 Hit Ranked Among 'Top Soft Rock Songs' of All Time Hit the Charts Twice
This story was originally published by Parade on May 6, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
