"Hey Jude" is the name of a song by the British rock group the Beatles, released as a 7 inch format on the 26th of August, year 1968.
The recording for the song took place during July-August 1968, at the London based Trident Studios. Produced by George Martin, the song was written by Paul McCartney, but credited to the duo formed by McCartney and Lennon.
The song was initially named "Hey Jules" and was used in order to relax Julian, Lennon’s son and to make it easier for him to go through the divorce between his parents. "Hey Jude" was released as single number one for the label Apple Records, which belonged to the Beatles. Being longer than seven minutes, the single was the longest one to reach number one on the British charts.
In the United States, the song lasted over 2 months at the top of the charts. It was a record for the band’s singles. "Hey Jude" was sold almost 8 million times and is believed to be one of the best songs ever by some critics. In a list made by the Billboard magazine in 2013, "Hey Jude" was placed at the tenth place. The list was aimed to contain the biggest songs ever.
The recording started at the Abbey Road Studios, but it was only in order to practice.
They soon moved to the Trident Studios. The orchestration for the song was quite large, containing three violas, two flutes, one bassoon, one contra bass clarinet, four trombones, percussion, ten violins, three cellos, one contra bassoon, two clarinets, four trumpets, two horns and two string basses. The time of the recording for "Hey Jude" was at the same time when sessions for their new album, "The Beatles", were happening. It debuted on an LP after 2 years making it to an album of compilations, called "The Beatles Again".
On the 13th September 1968, "Hey Jude" was certified Gold by the RIAA, when two million copies of the single were already sold.
A Billboard list from 1968 listed the song as the greatest one of that year. On the 30th of November, the single was already reported to have sold over 6 million times internationally. In 1999, the single got certified four times Platinum.
"Hey Jude" by the Beatles reached the top of the charts in various places, such as Australia, Belgium, Austria, Canada, France, Denmark, Ireland, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Netherlands, Spain, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.
