Frank Sinatra Turned Down What Became One of Willie Nelson’s Biggest Duets

In 1983, Willie Nelson teamed up with Julio Iglesias on “To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before”. The song, written by Albert Hammond and Hal David, is on Iglesias’ 1100 Bel Air Place album, a record of love songs. “To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before” became a massive hit on both country and pop charts and is one of Nelson’s most notable hits. 

But interestingly, “To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before” was never intended for Iglesias or Nelson. Instead, Hammond wrote the song for Frank Sinatra, who ultimately passed on it.

Hammond actually released “To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before” first, although his version did not have much success at radio. Nelson and Iglesias’ version became a two-week No. 1 country single. It also hit the Top 5 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart.

In 2013, Nelson released a record called To All The Girls…, a project of duets with female artists, although “To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before” does not actually appear on the album.

What Willie Nelson Says About Singing “To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before” With Julio Iglesias

By the time Nelson released “To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before”, he had not done a lot of duets. And of the ones Nelson did do, they were mostly with country artists. But to Nelson, singing “To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before” made sense. Nelson recalls being with his wife, Connie Koepke, in London when he first heard Iglesias sing.

“We heard Julio on the radio. I liked his music immediately,” Nelson tells Billboard. “Connie suggested that I record with him, and I thought it was a good idea. I contacted Julio in L.A. where he was recording, and he said that he had a song which he felt we’d work well together on.” 

Hammond also produced 1100 Bel Air Place, which is how “To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before” became part of the record.

“When Julio asked me to produce his record in 1983, I thought this song would be perfect for him,” Hammond remembers. “I sang the song to him with my guitar and told him it was a new song. He fell in love with it. But it was 11 years old by that time.”

Nelson may have had a big hit with a song originally intended for Sinatra, but they did form a unique friendship over the years. In 1994, Nelson joined Sinatra on Sinatra’s Duets II album. The two sang “A Foggy Day (In London Town)”. A version of “My Way” by Sinatra and Nelson was later released in 2005.

Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images

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