"I Loves You, Porgy" is a duet from the opera Porgy and Bess

Porgy and Bess

Porgy and Bess is an opera, first performed in 1935, with music by George Gershwin, libretto by DuBose Heyward, and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward. It was based on DuBose Heyward's novel Porgy and subsequent play of the same title, which he co-wrote with his wife Dorothy Heyward...

with music by George Gershwin

George Gershwin

George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...

 and lyrics by Ira Gershwin

Ira Gershwin

Ira Gershwin was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs of the 20th century....

. It was published in 1935

1935 in music

-Events:*February 26 - Georges Bizet's Symphony in C is performed for the first time, under Felix Weingartner, in Basel, Switzerland*April 8 - Béla Bartók's String Quartet No. 5 is premiered in Washington, D.C....

.

Originally duetted by Anne Brown

Anne Brown

Anne Wiggins Brown was an African American soprano who created the role of "Bess" in the original production of George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess in 1935. She was also a radio and concert singer...

 and Todd Duncan

Todd Duncan

Robert Todd Duncan was an American baritone opera singer and actor.-Biography:Todd Duncan was born in Danville, Kentucky in 1903. He obtained his musical training at Butler University in Indianapolis with a B.A. in music followed by an M.A...

 in the 1935 production and in the 1942 revival of the opera, "I Loves You, Porgy" has been recorded as a solo number by a number of popular vocalists and jazz musicians, most notably Billie Holiday

Billie Holiday

Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...

, Nina Simone

Nina Simone

Eunice Kathleen Waymon , better known by her stage name Nina Simone , was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music...

, and Bill Evans

Bill Evans

William John Evans, known as Bill Evans was an American jazz pianist. His use of impressionist harmony, inventive interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, and trademark rhythmically independent, "singing" melodic lines influenced a generation of pianists including: Chick Corea, Herbie...

. Nina Simone's recording of the song (from Little Girl Blue, 1958) was a Top 20 pop hit in the United States in the autumn of 1959. A live version is featured in her 1964 album Nina Simone in Concert

Nina Simone in Concert

Nina Simone in Concert is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone. It was her first album for the record label Philips and was made up of three live recordings in Carnegie Hall, New York City in March and April 1964...

. Bill Evans's piano trio version recorded at the Village Vanguard

Village Vanguard

The Village Vanguard is a jazz club located at in Greenwich Village, New York City. The club was opened on February 22, 1935, by Max Gordon. At first, it also featured other forms of music such as folk music and beat poetry, but it switched to an all-jazz format in 1957.-History:Over 100 jazz...

 in 1961, available on the CD re-issue of the album Waltz for Debby, is also acclaimed.

Barbra Streisand

Barbra Streisand

Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...

 recorded "I Loves You, Porgy" as a medley with "Bess, You Is My Woman Now

Bess, You Is My Woman Now

"Bess, You Is My Woman Now" is a duet with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin. This song comes from the Gershwins' opera Porgy and Bess where it is sung by the main character Porgy and his beloved Bess. They express their love for each other and say that they now belong...

" (sung as "Porgy, I's Your Woman Now") on her The Broadway Album

The Broadway Album

The Broadway Album is the twenty-fourth studio album by director, composer, actress and singer Barbra Streisand, released by Columbia Records on November 4, 1985. Consisting mainly of classic show tunes, the album marked a major shift in Barbra Streisand's career. Streisand had spent ten years...

, Columbia Records, 1985. Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston

Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...

 sang "I Loves You, Porgy" at the beginning of a medley at the 1994 American Music Awards

American Music Awards

-Conception:The AMAs were created by Dick Clark in 1973 to compete with the Grammys after the move of that year's show to Nashville, Tennessee led to CBS picking up the Grammy telecasts after its first two in 1971 and 1972 were broadcast on ABC...

. Christina Aguilera

Christina Aguilera

Christina María Aguilera is an American recording artist and actress. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The Mickey Mouse Club from 1993–1994...

covered the song at the Grammy Nomination Concert in December 2008.