# Will You Love Me Tomorrow
"Will You Love Me Tomorrow" is a pop song written by [Carole King](https://www.edgepedia.org/carole-king) (music) and [Gerry Goffin](https://www.edgepedia.org/gerry-goffin) (lyrics) and originally recorded by the Shirelles, released in November 1960. It reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on January 30, 1961, making the Shirelles the first girl group to top that chart, and it has since been covered by well over fifty artists.[1](https://stereogum.com/1987298/the-number-ones-the-shirelles-will-you-love-me-tomorrow/columns/the-number-ones) • [2](https://parade.com/entertainment/carole-king-will-you-love-me-tomorrow-18-shirelles-tapestry-1971) • [3](https://kenyonreview.org/kr-online-issue/2013-summer/selections/peter-trachtenberg-656342/) It is also commonly known as "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow".[4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHvoNmBLhVI)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Writers | Carole King (music) and Gerry Goffin (lyrics), staff songwriters at Aldon Music in New York[2](https://parade.com/entertainment/carole-king-will-you-love-me-tomorrow-18-shirelles-tapestry-1971) |
| Original release | The Shirelles, November 1960, Scepter Records; B-side "Boys"[3](https://kenyonreview.org/kr-online-issue/2013-summer/selections/peter-trachtenberg-656342/) |
| Chart peak | No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, January 30, 1961; No. 4 in the UK early 1961[1](https://stereogum.com/1987298/the-number-ones-the-shirelles-will-you-love-me-tomorrow/columns/the-number-ones) • [5](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/dec/09/old-music-shirelles) |
| Landmark status | First girl group single to top the Billboard Hot 100[2](https://parade.com/entertainment/carole-king-will-you-love-me-tomorrow-18-shirelles-tapestry-1971) • [6](https://rockhall.com/sonic-connections/from-teen-pop-to-timeless-standard/) |
| Production | Produced and arranged by Luther Dixon, with pizzicato and lush string orchestration and "sha la la" backing vocals[7](https://www.allmusic.com/song/will-you-love-me-tomorrow-mt0001502871) |
| Notable covers | Carole King on *Tapestry* (1971); at least 58 recorded versions listed by one count[1](https://stereogum.com/1987298/the-number-ones-the-shirelles-will-you-love-me-tomorrow/columns/the-number-ones) • [3](https://kenyonreview.org/kr-online-issue/2013-summer/selections/peter-trachtenberg-656342/) |
| Later versions | Amy Winehouse recorded it for the *Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason* soundtrack (2004) and again for *Lioness: Hidden Treasures* (2011)[3](https://kenyonreview.org/kr-online-issue/2013-summer/selections/peter-trachtenberg-656342/) • [8](https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/musicshow/cover-story-will-you-still-love-me-tomorrow-carole-king/106718428) |
## Composition
Carole King and Gerry Goffin, then a married songwriting team at Aldon Music, were assigned by their boss Don Kirshner to write a follow-up single for the Shirelles. King wrote the melodies and Goffin the words.[2](https://parade.com/entertainment/carole-king-will-you-love-me-tomorrow-18-shirelles-tapestry-1971) According to Geoffrey O'Brien's account in [The New York Review of Books](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-new-york-review-of-books) of one collaboration day in the fall of 1960, Kirshner called to say he needed a song for the Shirelles by the next morning; King left the rudiments of a melody on a tape recorder, and the two finished the song by 2 AM.[9](https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2005/12/15/will-you-love-me-tomorrow/) Kirshner was pleased enough with the result that he first offered it to Columbia Records for Johnny Mathis, who was turned down, and [Tony Orlando](https://www.edgepedia.org/tony-orlando) also expressed interest before the Shirelles recorded it; Kirshner told Orlando the song contained a girl's lyric and that no teenage boy would say those words.[10](https://site1.midtcweb.com/ecore/timesleader/TIM012626final.pdf) King later described the song as sounding quite country at first, before it took its final pop-R&B shape.[11](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/shirelles-will-you-love-me-tomorrow-carole-king-country-63690/)
## The Shirelles' recording
[The Shirelles](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-shirelles) at first did not want to record the song, feeling it was too "white" for them, and producer Luther Dixon had to press them to accept it after several edits.[12](https://www.theshirelles.com/the-shirelles-top-hits/) Scepter Records released the single in November 1960, initially titled simply "Tomorrow", with the title lengthened on later pressings; the B-side was "Boys", which the Beatles later covered.[3](https://kenyonreview.org/kr-online-issue/2013-summer/selections/peter-trachtenberg-656342/) • [13](https://www.loc.gov/item/prn-22-026/)
The song took the group to the top of the Billboard Hot 100, where it spent two weeks at number 1 according to one chart-history compilation, with the hit dated January 30, 1961 in Stereogum's survey of every number-one single.[10](https://site1.midtcweb.com/ecore/timesleader/TIM012626final.pdf) • [1](https://stereogum.com/1987298/the-number-ones-the-shirelles-will-you-love-me-tomorrow/columns/the-number-ones) It was the first record by a Black female singing group to reach number 1 in the United States, and the first number 1 for the Goffin-King writing team.[14](https://www.originals.be/en/originals/6992) • [1](https://stereogum.com/1987298/the-number-ones-the-shirelles-will-you-love-me-tomorrow/columns/the-number-ones) In Britain it reached number 4 early in 1961.[5](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/dec/09/old-music-shirelles)
**Subject matter and reception.** The lyrics voice a young woman's doubt, after a night of intimacy, about whether her lover's affection will last: "Tonight you're mine, completely... But will you love me tomorrow?" and "So tell me now and I won't ask again."[4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHvoNmBLhVI) The Guardian noted that several US radio stations spotted the song's implication, a girl on the brink of surrendering her virginity, and banned it.[5](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/dec/09/old-music-shirelles) AllMusic describes the Shirelles' version as a girl-group production in the early-1960s mode, crediting Doris Coley's lead vocal, while Stereogum identifies Shirley Owens as the lead singer; both accounts stress the mix of innocence and adult awareness in the performance.[7](https://www.allmusic.com/song/will-you-love-me-tomorrow-mt0001502871) • [1](https://stereogum.com/1987298/the-number-ones-the-shirelles-will-you-love-me-tomorrow/columns/the-number-ones)
## Cover versions
The song became one of the most covered pop songs of its era. Peter Trachtenberg, writing in the Kenyon Review, lists at least fifty-eight recorded versions by interpreters including [Brenda Lee](https://www.edgepedia.org/brenda-lee), Ben E. King, [Dusty Springfield](https://www.edgepedia.org/dusty-springfield), Lesley Gore, Cher, Linda Ronstadt, Roberta Flack, Smokey Robinson, Dionne Warwick, Neil Diamond, Elton John, the Afghan Whigs, Patti LaBelle, the [Bee Gees](https://www.edgepedia.org/bee-gees), Norah Jones, Bryan Ferry, Lauryn Hill, Lykke Li, and Françoise Hardy.[3](https://kenyonreview.org/kr-online-issue/2013-summer/selections/peter-trachtenberg-656342/) The cover-version database SecondHandSongs lists hundreds of versions, and a 1963 Record Mirror article counted at least fifteen versions already available in Britain, an unusually large number for a teen song.[15](https://api.research-repository.uwa.edu.au/ws/portalfiles/portal/79085546/THESIS_MASTER_OF_MUSIC_NICHOLLS_Julia_Elizabeth_2020.pdf) • [16](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Record-Mirror/60s/63/Record-Mirror-1963-10-12-S-OCR.pdf)
**King's own version.** Carole King recorded the song for her 1971 album *Tapestry*, with [Joni Mitchell](https://www.edgepedia.org/joni-mitchell) and [James Taylor](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-taylor) on backing vocals. Her version, slower and accompanied by piano instead of violins, is described by Stereogum as turning the original's subtext into something more explicit, and by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a reduction of the song to piano and voice.[1](https://stereogum.com/1987298/the-number-ones-the-shirelles-will-you-love-me-tomorrow/columns/the-number-ones) • [6](https://rockhall.com/sonic-connections/from-teen-pop-to-timeless-standard/) *Tapestry* is a multi-platinum album, and AllMusic treats King's recording as a studied reinvention rather than a cover in the ordinary sense, since she wrote the music.[3](https://kenyonreview.org/kr-online-issue/2013-summer/selections/peter-trachtenberg-656342/) • [7](https://www.allmusic.com/song/will-you-love-me-tomorrow-mt0001502871)
**Winehouse and later recordings.** [Amy Winehouse](https://www.edgepedia.org/amy-winehouse) recorded "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" for the soundtrack of the film *Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason*, released in 2004, and a further Winehouse version appears on the compilation *Lioness: Hidden Treasures* (2011).[3](https://kenyonreview.org/kr-online-issue/2013-summer/selections/peter-trachtenberg-656342/) • [8](https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/musicshow/cover-story-will-you-still-love-me-tomorrow-carole-king/106718428) Other versions documented in the sources include [Bryan Ferry](https://www.edgepedia.org/bryan-ferry)'s May 1993 single[17](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/511934-bryan-ferry-will-you-love-me-tomorrow.php), [Linda Ronstadt](https://www.edgepedia.org/linda-ronstadt)'s on *Silk Purse* (1970), Taylor Swift's performance at Carole King's 2021 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction, and King's live duet with James Taylor on *Live at the Troubadour* (2010).[8](https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/musicshow/cover-story-will-you-still-love-me-tomorrow-carole-king/106718428)
## Cultural standing
The song's influence has been traced to the way it gave voice to teenage girls' experience at a moment when chart-topping groups rarely did so; a [University of Western Australia](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-western-australia) music workbook calls its January 1961 ascent a landmark event that heralded a period of unprecedented success for girl groups.[18](https://www.uwa.edu.au/schools/-/media/documents/schools/conservatorium-of-music/atar-music-resources/uwa-atar-music-workbook_-unit-one.pdf) The Library of Congress listed the Shirelles' album *Tonight's the Night* (1961), which contains the song, in the [National Recording Registry](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-recording-registry) in 2022, noting that "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" and its companion singles "remain moving performances that still communicate maturing desire with plaintive vulnerability".[13](https://www.loc.gov/item/prn-22-026/) Time's obituary of Gerry Goffin in 2014 called the 1960 single "one of their immortals", and it later served as a recurring number in the Broadway musical *Beautiful: The Carole King Musical*.[19](https://time.com/2905068/remembering-gerry-goffin-the-60s-poet-of-teen-heartbreak/)
## References
1. [The Number Ones: The Shirelles' "Will You Love Me Tomorrow", Stereogum (Tom Breihan)](https://stereogum.com/1987298/the-number-ones-the-shirelles-will-you-love-me-tomorrow/columns/the-number-ones)
2. [Carole King's 'Will You Love Me Tomorrow,' Written at 18, Was the First No. 1 Hit by a Girl Group, Parade](https://parade.com/entertainment/carole-king-will-you-love-me-tomorrow-18-shirelles-tapestry-1971)
3. [Tomorrow and Tomorrow, Peter Trachtenberg, Kenyon Review Online](https://kenyonreview.org/kr-online-issue/2013-summer/selections/peter-trachtenberg-656342/)
4. [The Shirelles - Will You Love Me Tomorrow, YouTube (Reyes Music Group)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHvoNmBLhVI)
5. [Old music: The Shirelles – Will You Love Me Tomorrow, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/dec/09/old-music-shirelles)
6. [Sonic Connections: From Teen Pop to Timeless Standard, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame](https://rockhall.com/sonic-connections/from-teen-pop-to-timeless-standard/)
7. [Will You Love Me Tomorrow - The Shirelles, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/song/will-you-love-me-tomorrow-mt0001502871)
8. [Cover Story: Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow, ABC Radio National, The Music Show](https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/musicshow/cover-story-will-you-still-love-me-tomorrow-carole-king/106718428)
9. ['Will You Love Me Tomorrow', Geoffrey O'Brien, The New York Review of Books](https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2005/12/15/will-you-love-me-tomorrow/)
10. [The Shirelles' Singles Chart History, Times Leader entertainment section](https://site1.midtcweb.com/ecore/timesleader/TIM012626final.pdf)
11. [The Shirelles Almost Didn't Record 'Will You Love Me Tomorrow', Rolling Stone (Brittany Spanos)](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/shirelles-will-you-love-me-tomorrow-carole-king-country-63690/)
12. [The Shirelles' Top Hits, theshirelles.com](https://www.theshirelles.com/the-shirelles-top-hits/)
13. [National Recording Registry Inducts Music from Alicia Keys, Ricky Martin, Journey and More in 2022, Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/item/prn-22-026/)
14. [The Originals © by Arnold Rypens - WILL YOU LOVE ME TOMORROW](https://www.originals.be/en/originals/6992)
15. [Julia Nicholls, master's thesis on 1960s girl group songs, University of Western Australia](https://api.research-repository.uwa.edu.au/ws/portalfiles/portal/79085546/THESIS_MASTER_OF_MUSIC_NICHOLLS_Julia_Elizabeth_2020.pdf)
16. [New Record Mirror, week ending 12 October 1963, World Radio History](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Record-Mirror/60s/63/Record-Mirror-1963-10-12-S-OCR.pdf)
17. [Bryan Ferry - Will You Love Me Tomorrow (Single), Album of The Year](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/511934-bryan-ferry-will-you-love-me-tomorrow.php)
18. [UWA ATAR Music Workbook, Unit One: The Shirelles, "Will You Love Me Tomorrow"](https://www.uwa.edu.au/schools/-/media/documents/schools/conservatorium-of-music/atar-music-resources/uwa-atar-music-workbook_-unit-one.pdf)
19. [Remembering Gerry Goffin, the '60s Poet of Teen Heartbreak, Time](https://time.com/2905068/remembering-gerry-goffin-the-60s-poet-of-teen-heartbreak/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Compositions and songs › Standard and pre-rock popular songs*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license