Paul & Paula
| Company type | Musical duo |
|---|---|
| Industry | Music |
| Founded | 1962 |
| Founder | Raymond Glenn "Ray" Hildebrand, Jill Jackson |
| Defunct | 1965 |
| Headquarters | United States |
| Products | Music albums and singles |
Paul & Paula, composed of Raymond Glenn "Ray" Hildebrand (November 21, 1940 – August 18, 2023) and Jill Jackson (born May 20, 1942), were an American pop music pair renowned for their 1962 chart-topping, million-selling single, "Hey Paula".
Biography
Hildebrand hailed from Joshua, Texas, while Jackson was born in McCamey, Texas. Both were students at Howard Payne College (currently Howard Payne University) in Brownwood, Texas during 1962 when a local radio host, Riney Jordan of KEAN, invited listeners to perform in support of the American Cancer Society. The pair sang "Hey Paula," a track penned by Hildebrand and inspired by a friend's fiancée named Paula. Jordan persuaded them to make a recording of the song.
After altering their stage names to avoid confusion—Singleton felt that "Ray and Jill" performing "Hey Paula" and "Hey Paul" was unclear—Shelby Singleton of Philips Records signed the duo. "Hey Paula" achieved sales exceeding two million copies worldwide and was awarded a gold disc by the Recording Industry Association of America in 1963.
Capitalizing on this achievement, Paul & Paula released two studio albums along with a holiday-themed record. In February 1963, "Hey Paula" held the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for three consecutive weeks. Their subsequent single, "Young Lovers", climbed to number six later that year.
In 1963, Paul & Paula joined Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars national tour, which was featured on American Bandstand. The fifteenth performance of the tour was canceled following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas on November 22.
By 1965, Hildebrand departed from the duo to complete his college education, opting not to continue pursuing a career in entertainment. During another installment of the Caravan of Stars tour, Dick Clark temporarily replaced him. Later on, Hildebrand produced a Christian music album titled He's Everything to Me (1967) and gained recognition in the 1970s with his Christian hit "Anybody Here Wanna Live Forever?" Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, he collaborated with Christian artist Paul Land under the name Land & Hildebrand.
Jackson embarked on a solo career before marrying businessman Marvin Landon. Despite their individual directions, Hildebrand and Jackson maintained a friendship and occasionally reunited for special appearances into the early 2000s. In 2002, they returned as honored guests and grand marshals for Howard Payne University's homecoming festivities.
Ray Hildebrand passed away on August 18, 2023, at age 82 due to complications related to dementia.
Albums
| Year | Title | Details | Peak chart
positions |
|---|---|---|---|
| US | |||
| 1963 | Paul & Paula Sing for Young Lovers |
|
— |
| We'll Go Together |
|
99 | |
| Holiday for Teens |
|
— | |
| 1995 | Hey Paula – The Best of Paul & Paula |
|
— |
| 1999 | Greatest Hits |
|
— |
| "—" indicates albums that did not enter the charts. | |||
Singles
| Year | Title | Highest chart rankings | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B | AUS | BE (FLA) | BE (WA) | CAN | GER | IRE | NOR | NZ | SWE | UK | ||
| 1962 | "Hey Paula" (originally as Jill & Ray) b/w "Bobby Is the One" |
1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 18 | 1 | 16 | — | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| 1963 | "Young Lovers" b/w "Ba-Hey-Be" |
6 | 14 | 20 | 18 | 39 | 9 | 42 | 10 | 7 | — | — | 9 |
| "First Quarrel" b/w "School Is Thru" |
27 | — | 70 | — | — | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Something Old, Something New" b/w "Flipped Over You" |
77 108 |
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