"Mama" is a popular

Popular music

Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...

 song

Song

In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...

 first written in 1941

1941 in music

-Events:*January 5 – Ernesto Bonino makes his début on Italian radio.*January 15 – Olivier Messiaen's Quatuor pour la fin du temps is premiered in Stalag VIIIA in Silesia.*January 20 – Béla Bartók's String Quartet No...

 by Cesare Andrea Bixio

Cesare Andrea Bixio

Cesare Andrea Bixio was an Italian composer. He was one of the most popular Italian songwriters of the 1930s, '40s, and '50s. His hits included Vivere, Mamma, Parlami d'amore, Mariù, La Mia Canzone del Vento, and many others. The lyricist for most of his hits was B. Cherubini...

 with Italian

Italian language

Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

 lyrics by Bruno Cherubini under the title "Mamma son tanto felice" (Mum, I am so happy).

The performers of this song included: Beniamino Gigli

Beniamino Gigli

Beniamino Gigli was an Italian opera singer. The most famous tenor of his generation, he was renowned internationally for the great beauty of his voice and the soundness of his vocal technique. Music critics sometimes took him to task, however, for what was perceived to be the over-emotionalism...

, Luciano Tajoli

Luciano Tajoli

Luciano Tajoli – Italian singer and actor.Luciano Tajoli participated several times in the Sanremo Music Festival, winning in 1961 with the song Al di là. It is estimated that he sold over 45 million records.- Personal life :Luciano came from a poor family and was a self-taught singer...

, Richard Tucker

Richard Tucker

Richard Tucker was an American operatic tenor.-Early life:Tucker was born Rivn Ticker in Brooklyn, New York, into a family of Romanian immigrants from Bessarabia. His father, Shmul Ticker, and mother Fanya-Tsipa Ticker had already adopted the surname "Tucker" by the time their son entered first...

, Claudio Villa

Claudio Villa (singer)

Claudio Villa, byname of Claudio Pica , was an Italian singer.-Biography:Tenor Claudio Villa was born Claudio Pica in the Trastevere quarter of Rome in 1926. He recorded over 3000 songs, sold 45 million records, and appeared in 25 musicals during his career...

, Robertino Loreti, Violetta Villas

Violetta Villas

Violetta Villas is a Belgian-born Polish and international singer, actress, composer and songwriter. Her voice is characterized as coloratura soprano, she has five-octave vocal range and absolute pitch. Villas can play the piano, violin and trombone...

, Muslim Mogomayev, Luciano Pavarotti

Luciano Pavarotti

right|thumb|Luciano Pavarotti performing at the opening of the Constantine Palace in [[Strelna]], 31 May 2003. The concert was part of the celebrations for the 300th anniversary of [[St...

, Toto Cutugno

Toto Cutugno

Salvatore "Toto" Cutugno is an Italian pop singer-songwriter and musician.-Biography:Toto Cutugno was born in Fosdinovo, Tuscany, to a Sicilian father and a Tuscan mother. Shortly after his birth the family moved to La Spezia ....

, Andrea Bocelli

Andrea Bocelli

Andrea Bocelli, is an Italian tenor, multi-instrumentalist and classical crossover artist. Born with poor eyesight, he became blind at the age of twelve following a soccer accident....

, and Sergio Franchi

Sergio Franchi

Sergio Franchi was an Italian tenor.Franchi was born in Cremona, Italy. His father wanted him to become an electrical engineer, so he studied both music and engineering simultaneously. The family moved to South Africa in 1952, where Sergio worked part-time as a draftsman, while continuing to study...

.

In 1946, the English lyrics were written by Harold Barlow

Harold Barlow (songwriter)

Harold Barlow was an American songwriter, and later a consultant on plagiarism.He studied violin at the University of Boston, graduating in 1937....

 and Phil Brito who had their popular recording hit the charts in May 1946.

British singer David Whitfield

David Whitfield

David Whitfield was a popular British male tenor vocalist. This operatic-style tenor had a formidable and predominantly female fan base in the 1950s.-Life and career:...

 also had a hit with the song, which reached number 12 in the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

 in 1955

1955 in music

-Events:*January 1 – RCA Victor announces a marketing plan called "Operation TNT." The label drops the list price on LPs from $5.95 to $3.98, EPs from $4.95 to $2.98, 45 EPs from $1.58 to $1.49 and 45's from $1.16 to $.89...

.

The song was also recorded

Sound recording and reproduction

Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...

 by Connie Francis

Connie Francis

Connie Francis is an American pop singer of Italian heritage and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1950s and 1960s. Although her chart success waned in the second half of the 1960s, Francis remained a top concert draw...

 in 1959 for her album Connie Francis Sings Italian Favorites

Connie Francis Sings Italian Favorites

Connie Francis sings Italian Favorites is a studio album recorded by U. S. Entertainer Connie Francis.The album consists of traditional Italian and Neapolitan songs Connie Francis sings Italian Favorites is a studio album recorded by U. S. Entertainer Connie Francis.The album consists of...

, with her hit single released in February 1960. Arranged and conducted by Tony Osborne

Tony Osborne

Anthony "Tony" Osborne was an American professional wrestler who wrestled under the name "Tough" Tony Borne.-Professional wrestling career:...

, the Connie Francis version of the song was a number two hit in the UK, and peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

chart.