Bette Davis Eyes

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox song "Bette Davis Eyes" is a song written and composed by Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon in 1974. It was recorded by DeShannon that year but made popular by Kim Carnes in 1981 when it spent nine non-consecutive weeks at the top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. It won the 1982 Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and Record of the Year.<ref name="All-Time">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The music video was directed by Australian film director Russell Mulcahy.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On the Billboard Hot 100, the song was No. 1 for five weeks, interrupted for just one week by "Stars on 45" before it returned to the top spot for another four weeks, becoming Billboard's biggest hit of the year.<ref name="Hot100"/> The single also reached No. 5 on BillboardTemplate:'s Top Tracks charts and No. 26 on the Dance charts.<ref name="awards">Template:Cite web</ref> It reached No. 2 in Canada for twelve consecutive weeks, and was 1981's No. 2 hit in that country, after "Stars on 45".<ref name="Canada1"/><ref name="Canada2"/> It peaked at No. 10 in the United Kingdom,<ref name="UK"/> to date Carnes's only Top 40 hit in that country. Additionally, it ranked No. 12 on BillboardTemplate:'s list of the top 100 songs in the first 50 years of the magazine's Hot 100.<ref name="All-Time" /> "Bette Davis Eyes" was a No. 1 hit in 21 countries.<ref name="#1"/>

Background

File:Bette Davis - Publicity still (1939).png

Bette Davis in 1939

"Bette Davis Eyes" was written in 1974 by Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon, the latter of whom recorded the song that same year for her album New Arrangement.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Weiss had traveled to DeShannon's house with a set of lyrics, including several additional verses that were ultimately scrapped. DeShannon refined some of the lyrics and also developed the song's music.<ref name="#1">Template:Cite book</ref> In this original incarnation, the track is performed in an "R&B lite" arrangement,<ref name="AM"/> featuring a prominent uptempo piano part, as well as flourishes of pedal steel guitar and horns.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, it was not until March 1981,<ref name="AUT"/> when Carnes recorded her version of the song in a radically different synthesizer-based arrangement, that it became a commercial success.

According to producer Val Garay, the original demo of the tune that was brought to him sounded like "a Leon Russell track, with this beer-barrel polka piano part."Template:Efn Carnes initially rejected the song based on the demo's arrangement, until keyboardist Bill Cuomo, using the Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 synthesizer, came up with the signature riff which defines Carnes's version.<ref name="Mix">Template:Cite magazine</ref> In an interview with Dick Clark on the National Music Survey, Carnes credited Cuomo with the song's new arrangement, saying that "the minute he came up with that, then it fell into place. Everybody went, 'That's it!'"<ref name="#1"/>

Only three takes were recorded, the first of which was used with no overdubbing. Craig Krampf insisted on incorporating a Synare electronic drum into the song, although Garay objected to the instrument's inclusion on the grounds that it was "the most annoying thing I'd ever heard in my life." However, Garay changed his mind once Krampf hit the Synare on the chorus and found the instrument to be a great addition to the song. The drums were miked at close proximity using a Sennheiser MD 421 on the bass drum, a Shure 56 and Sennheiser MD 441 on the snare drum, Telefunken 251s on the toms, and an AKG 452 on the hi-hat. Carnes sang her vocals through a Neumann U67 microphone situated next to the mixing console.<ref name="Mix"/>

Actress Bette Davis was 73 when Carnes's version became a hit. She wrote letters to Carnes, Weiss, and DeShannon to thank them for making her "a part of modern times" and said that her grandson now looked up to her. After their Grammy wins, Davis sent them roses and happily accepted the gift of gold and platinum records from Carnes, hanging them on her wall.<ref name="#1"/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The opening line, "Her hair is Harlow gold" is a tribute to starlet Jean Harlow,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the leading sex symbol of early 1930s films, often nicknamed the "Blonde Bombshell" and the "Platinum Blonde", whose look inspired Marilyn Monroe, Madonna, and others.<ref name="t695">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="q557">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="k415">Template:Cite web</ref>

Critical reception

Record World called it a "haunting pop-rocker" and said that Carnes's "earthy vocal rasp and guitar chimes are unforgettable."<ref name=rw>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Joe Viglione of AllMusic believed that "Bette Davis Eyes" was superior to all other tracks on Mistaken Identity.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Critics' rankings of "Bette Davis Eyes"

Publication	List	Rank	Ref.
Billboard	The 500 Best Pop Songs	Template:Center	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Rolling Stone	The 200 Best Songs of the 1980s	Template:Center	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Track listing and formats

• 7-inch single<ref>Template:Cite AV media notes</ref>

1. "Bette Davis Eyes" – 3:45
2. "Miss You Tonite" – 5:11

• US 12-inch maxi-single<ref>Template:Cite AV media notes</ref>

1. "Bette Davis Eyes" – 3:45
2. "Miss You Tonite" – 5:11

Charts

Weekly charts

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Year	Chart	Peak position
1981	Australia (Kent Music Report)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	1
	Brazil (ABPD)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	1
	Denmark (IFPI)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	4
	Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>	1
	France (IFOP)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	1
	Italy (Musica e Dischi)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	1
	Quebec (ADISQ)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	1
	South Africa (Springbok Radio)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	1
	Spain (AFE)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>	1
	US Cash Box Top 100<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	1
	US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)<ref name="awards"/>	26
	US Record World Singles<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	1
	Zimbabwe (ZIMA)<ref name="zimbabwe">Template:Cite book</ref>	1
	1997
	2002
	2007
	2013	Slovenia (SloTop50)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	45

Year-end charts

Chart (1981)	Rank
Australia (Kent Music Report)<ref name="aus81">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	6
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	16
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	37
Brazil (ABPD)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	1
Canada Top Singles (RPM)<ref name="Canada2">Template:Cite magazine</ref>	2
France (IFOP)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	4
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	6
South Africa (Springbok Radio)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	2
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	2
US Billboard Hot 100<ref name="Hot100">Template:Cite web</ref>	1
US Cash Box<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	2
West Germany (Official German Charts)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	10

All-time charts

Chart	Rank
US Billboard Hot 100<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	17

Other versions

Gwyneth Paltrow version

American actress Gwyneth Paltrow covered "Bette Davis Eyes" for the soundtrack for the 2000 road trip film Duets.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This version was released as a single in Australia on March 26, 2001,<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref> debuting and peaking at No. 3 on the ARIA Singles Chart on April 8, 2001.<ref name="AUS">Template:Cite web</ref> It spent nine weeks in the top 10,<ref name="AUS"/> and came in at No. 35 on Australia's year-end chart for 2001. It earned a platinum certification from the Australian Recording Industry Association for shipping more than 70,000 units.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Taylor Swift live performance

American singer Taylor Swift included a live performance cover of "Bette Davis Eyes" on her 2011 Speak Now World Tour – Live album.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Ethel Cain homage

American singer Ethel Cain performed the song at a concert in Paris as a tribute to old Hollywood in June 2024.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Cain released the single "Fuck Me Eyes," which has been interpreted as a spiritual "sequel" to the original, which she called one of her favorite songs ever.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

JoJo Siwa cover

American reality star and singer JoJo Siwa released a version of the song on July 11, 2025.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> She debuted the song at a live performance the previous May, dedicated to her boyfriend, reality star Chris Hughes.<ref name=":0" /> Kim Carnes made a statement to TMZ criticizing the cover as "a bit too close" to her own version.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In popular media

Kim Carnes' version of the song has appeared in various films and TV series including 200 Cigarettes (1999), Cold Case S1E6 (2003), That's My Boy (2012) The Final Girls (2015), American Horror Story S5E5 (2015), Riverdale S2E18 (2018), The After Party (2018), Anaïs in Love (2021), The Tourist S1E1 (2022), Angelyne S1E3 (2022), MaXXXine (2024) and And Just Like That... S3 E7.Template:Citation needed

The song is a major plot element of the second season episode 9, "Invasion of the Potty Snatchers", of the show Bless the Harts, in which the character of Betty Hart reminisces about a high point of her high school time, in which she received public acclaim for singing the song; Maya Rudolph's rendition of the song in the episode has been called "a highlight of the season thus far".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The song was parodied in the October 10, 1981 episode of Saturday Night Live in the sketch "Buh-Weet Sings", when Buckwheat (Eddie Murphy) sings the song so incomprehensibly that the subtitles read "?????".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

• List of number-one singles in Australia during the 1980s
• List of Top 25 singles for 1981 in Australia
• List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 1981
• Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1981
• List of Cash Box Top 100 number-one singles of 1981
• List of number-one singles of 1981 (France)
• List of number-one hits of 1981 (Germany)
• List of number-one hits (Italy)
• List of number-one songs in Norway
• List of number-one singles of 1981 (Spain)
• List of number-one singles of the 1980s (Switzerland)