Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World

"Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" (also known as "Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World") is a medley of "Over the Rainbow" and "What a Wonderful World", recorded by Hawaiian singer Israel Kamakawiwoʻole. First released on the 1990 album "Ka ʻAnoʻi", an acoustic rendition of the medley became notable after its release on his 1993 album "Facing Future".
In 2021, the single was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Recording history.
The song was originally recorded in a spur-of-the-moment demo session in 1988. Israel called the recording studio at 3am, and was given 15 minutes to arrive by recording engineer Milan Bertosa. Bertosa is quoted as saying "And in walks the largest human being I had seen in my life. Israel was probably like 500 pounds. And the first thing at hand is to find something for him to sit on." The building security found Israel a large steel chair. "Then I put up some microphones, do a quick sound check, roll tape, and the first thing he does is 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow.' He played and sang, one take, and it was over."
At the time, copies of the acoustic recording were made only for Kamakawiwoʻole himself and Bertosa. The song was re-recorded as an "upbeat Jawaiian version" for Kamakawiwoʻole's debut album "Ka ʻAnoʻi", listed as "Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World." In 1993, five years after the original recording, Bertosa played the acoustic version for producer Jon de Mello while the two were completing work on "Facing Future", and de Mello decided to include it on the album as "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World".
"Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" reached number 12 on "Billboard"'s Hot Digital Tracks chart the week of January 31, 2004 (for the survey week ending January 18, 2004).
Impact in popular culture.
According to the Israel Kamakawiwoʻole website, Universal Studios first became interested in using the song in the movie and on the soundtrack for "Meet Joe Black" after director Martin Brest became interested in it. Kamakawiwoʻole's recording of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" has been used on other soundtracks as well, including the soundtracks for "Finding Forrester;" "50 First Dates;" "Fred Claus;" "Happy, Happy;" "Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School;" "The Healer"; and "IMAX: Hubble 3D". It was also featured on TV series like "Charmed", "ER", "Scrubs", "Cold Case", "Glee," the UK original version of "Life On Mars," and more.
Other cover versions.
Other artists have recorded the medley as well. Néstor Torres recorded a jazz flute arrangement on his 1994 album "Burning Whispers." Cliff Richard recorded his own version of the medley, released as a single from the 2001 album "Wanted", which peaked at number 11 on the UK Official Charts in 2001.
Aselin Debison recorded the medley for her 2002 album "Sweet Is the Melody". Elisabeth von Trapp included her interpretation of the medley in her album "Poetic License", released in June 2004.
During season seven of "American Idol", Jason Castro performed a cover of the song for his "Top 8" performance. Maddie Poppe and Caleb Lee Hutchinson performed the song as a duet during the grand finale of season sixteen of American Idol.
In the fifth season of the NBC television show "Scrubs", a cappella band The Blanks performed a rendition of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow". The rendition was later released on their album "Riding The Wave".