“Stardust” is a 1927 song composed by Hoagy Carmichael, with lyrics later added by Mitchell Parish. Soon considered a standard of the Great American Songbook, the song has been recorded as an instrumental or vocal track over 1,500 times. Carmichael developed a taste for jazz while attending Indiana University.
He formed his own band and played at local events in Indiana and Ohio. Following his graduation, Carmichael moved to Florida to work for a law firm. He left the law sector and returned to Indiana, after learning of the success of one of his compositions. In 1927, after leaving a local university hangout, Carmichael started to whistle a tune that he later developed further. When composing the song, he was inspired by the end of one of his love affairs, and on the suggestion of a university classmate, he decided on its title. The same year, Carmichael recorded an instrumental version of the song for Gennett Records.
In 1928, Carmichael left Indiana after Milla Music hired him as a composer. Mills Music then assigned Mitchell Parish to add words to the song. Don Redman recorded the song the same year, and by 1929, it was performed regularly at the Cotton Club. Isham Jones’s 1930 rendition of the song made it popular on radio, and soon multiple acts had recorded “Stardust”. Because of the song’s popularity, by 1936, RCA Victor pressed a double-sided version that featured Tommy Dorsey and Benny Goodman on respective sides.
The song’s structure has two introductory verses that are sometimes omitted. These are followed by a 32-bar in ABAC form (instead of the traditional AABA form) that is often repeated. The intriguing opening harmonic progression of the chorus starts on the IV chord for two bars which then changes from major to minor, a method also used by two contemporary songs: “After You’ve Gone” (1918) and “I’ll See You In My Dreams” (1924). The melody fluctuates between minor and major third intervals in range of an octave and a third to “heighten drama”.
By 1940, the song was considered a standard. That year, RCA Victor released two more recordings of “Stardust”: one by Dorsey featuring Frank Sinatra as the singer and one by Artie Shaw. Shaw’s recording sold one million copies and Glenn Miller’s rendition was published the same year. Artists including Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Ringo Starr, and Willie Nelson have recorded “Stardust”. The song was featured in several films, including My Favourite Year, Goodfellas, Sleepless in Seattle, and Casino. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1995 and added to the National Recording Registry in 2004.
