In 1965, a 19-year-old singer who had spent her teenage years singing backup for some of the biggest names in pop music stepped into the studio to record a song that would change her life.
That singer was Cher, and the song was “I Got You Babe.”
On Aug. 14, 1965, Sonny & Cher’s signature duet began a three-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It would become the duo’s only No. 1 hit in the U.S. and help transform two struggling young artists into international stars.
Cher had only turned 19 on May 20. She and future husband Sonny Bono recorded “I Got You Babe” at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood on June 7, just 18 days after her birthday. The three-hour session featured an arrangement by Harold Battiste and members of the famed Wrecking Crew backing band.
The song was written and produced by Bono, who had spent years working with legendary producer Phil Spector. Cher had also sung backup on Spector productions, including the Ronettes’ “Be My Baby” and the Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’.”
But the path from Gold Star Studios to No. 1 wasn’t nearly as obvious as the song’s eventual success might suggest.
Sonny Bono Was Sure ‘I Got You Babe’ Was a Smash… Cher Was Not
In “The Billboard Book of Number One Hits,” music historian Fred Bronson recounts that Sonny & Cher had signed with Atco Records after recording together under other names. Their first Atco single was supposed to be “Sing C’est la Vie,” but the label instead released “Just You.”
Then Bono wrote “I Got You Babe” at their Laurel Canyon home. According to Rolling Stone in its readers’ poll of the Greatest Duets of All Time, where “I Got You Babe” is ranked No. 9, Bono wrote it in response to a Bob Dylan hit.
“Less than a year after Bob Dylan released his caustic ‘It Ain’t Me Babe,’ Sonny Bono decided to write what’s essentially a response song. He’d recently fallen madly in love with Cher and Dylan’s words just didn’t speak to him,” wrote Rolling Stone. “The song was an enormous smash, hitting Number One in the summer of 1965. It kicked off a long run of hits that eventually lead to a variety series, though they divorced in 1975.”
But while Bono was convinced from the outset that he had a hit on his hands, Cher wasn’t so sure.
In an interview on The Late Late Show in 2018, Cher recalled how Bono thought he had a hit on his hands, but when he played it for her that night, she thought it was terrible and went back to bed.
“It sounded like not a hit song,” she told host James Corden.
But Bono had other ideas.
According to Bronson, Bono recorded the song quickly and was convinced it was a smash. He sent the recording to Atlantic Records executives Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler, but Ertegun preferred another song, “It’s Gonna Rain,” and wanted that released instead.
Bono was convinced they were backing the wrong record.
He took “I Got You Babe” directly to Los Angeles radio station KHJ, where program director Ron Jacobs promised to play it once an hour in exchange for an exclusive.
“He did, and it was an immediate smash,” Bronson writes.
Within weeks, there was little doubt about which song was the hit.
“I Got You Babe” first entered the Billboard Hot 100 in July 1965 before reaching No. 1. It also topped the charts in the U.K. and Canada and sold more than 1 million copies in the United States.
‘I Got You Babe’ Changed Sonny & Cher’s Lives
Bronson sums up the impact of the record succinctly in “The Billboard Book of Number One Hits.”
“‘I Got You Babe’ changed their lives,” he writes. “Two struggling artists became international superstars, their eccentric, hippy style of dress copied everywhere.”
The success wasn’t confined to one single. Sonny & Cher’s debut album Look at Us reached No. 2 on the Billboard album chart, spending eight weeks in that position later in 1965. By September, the album had sold 1 million copies.
More hits followed, including “Baby Don’t Go,” “The Beat Goes On,” “All I Ever Need Is You” and “A Cowboy’s Work Is Never Done.” At one point, Sonny & Cher had five songs simultaneously in the Billboard Top 50, a feat that had only been achieved by The Beatles and Elvis Presley up to that point, according to the New York Times.
But none of those subsequent Sonny & Cher singles matched “I Got You Babe” at the top of the Hot 100. It remained the duo’s sole No. 1.
Why ‘I Got You Babe’ Has Lasted
Decades after its release, music critic Dave Marsh included “I Got You Babe” at No. 228 in his book “The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made.”
Marsh didn’t pretend the record was sophisticated. In fact, he argued that the youthful simplicity of Sonny and Cher’s performance was part of its appeal. Beneath the young couple’s declarations of devotion, he heard something emblematic of what rock and roll had brought to pop music: “a sense of democracy, fun, and possibility.”
And he distilled the song’s message into one memorable sentence: “Love redeems everything.”
“I Got You Babe” continued finding new lives long after 1965. In 1985, UB40 and Chrissie Hynde released their own version, which reached No. 1 in the U.K. and No. 28 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Cher revisited the song again in 1993, this time with Beavis and Butt-Head, and that same year, the original Sonny & Cher recording became an integral part of Groundhog Day, waking Bill Murray’s Phil Connors every morning as he found himself trapped in the same day over and over again.
Sonny & Cher themselves had one more memorable chapter left with the song. On Nov. 13, 1987, the former couple unexpectedly reunited on Late Night with David Letterman and performed “I Got You Babe” together. It proved to be their final performance as a duo.
More than six decades after a 19-year-old Cher recorded it, “I Got You Babe” remains the song most closely associated with the partnership that made her a star.
Related: 1966 Hit, After He Faked Celebrity Autographs to Look Successful, Launched Neil Diamond’s Career
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