News / Music
“Unchained Melody” writer Hy Zaret Dies at 99
Over the last 50 years few songs have been recorded by artists as often as ‘Unchained Melody’ and on Monday the man responsible for those lyrics, Hy Zaret, passed away at the age of 99.
Originally written for the film “Unchained” in 1955 the song earned Zaret an Academy Award nomination and led to recordings from Elvis Presley to U2. In 1965 the Righteous Brothers hit number four on the Billboard charts with their version of the haunting tune.
Zaret saw his most famous song hit number one on the UK charts four separate times with versions from: Jimmy Young (1955); the Righteous Brothers (1990) (the same version recorded in 1965); Robson & Jerome (1995); Gareth Gates (2002).
Despite being written in 1955 the song saw a huge resurgence in the 1990s after it appeared in the Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore film “Ghost.”
