Ray Hildebrand Dies: “Paul” Of 1963 Teen Pop Hit Duet ‘Hey Paula’ Was 82
deadline.comRay Hildebrand, the singer-songwriter whose duet “Hey Paula” with his friend Jill Jackson under the names Paul and Paula became a million-selling #1 hit in 1963, died August 18 of dementia at his home in Overland Park, Kansas.
He was 82. His death was announced to The New York Times by his son-in-law Larry Serling. The song, a tender ballad in which two young lovers trade verses pledging their affections and desire to marry, was something of a 1950s-style teen pop doo-wop holdover that captured a radio-listening audience just before the Beatles-led British Invasion took over the airwaves.
The song remains a staple of Golden Oldies fare, and has been used as an era-signifying backdrop in period movies from National Lampoon’s Animal House to modern-day TV series like Halt and Catch Fire.
Written by Hildebrand when he was a college student and originally titled “Paul and Paula” as performed by the then-named duo Jill and Ray, the song (and the duo) underwent a name change to “Hey Paula” (by Paul and Paula) when Mercury Records signed the singing friends to a contract and reissued the record on the Philips label.
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