"16 Candles" is a 1958 song performed by The Crests

The Crests

The Crests were a New York R&B doo-wop group of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Their most popular song was "16 Candles", which rose to number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1959. It sold over one million copies, earning a gold disc. The interracial group had three black members , one Puerto...

 and written by Luther Dixon

Luther Dixon

Luther Dixon was an American songwriter, record producer, and singer. Dixon's songs achieved their greatest success in the 1950s and 60s, and were recorded by Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The Jackson 5, B.B. King, Dusty Springfield, and others...

 and Allyson R. Khent.

Tracklisting

7" Vinyl

1. "16 Candles"
2. "Beside You"

Single originally released in 1958 on Coed Records # 506

Chart performance

• The song peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 charts and number four on the R&B charts in 1958.

Covers

Stray Cats

Stray Cats

Stray Cats are an American Rockabilly band formed in 1980 by guitarist/vocalist Brian Setzer , upright bassist Lee Rocker and Slim Jim Phantom in the Long Island town of Massapequa, New York. The group had numerous hit singles in the UK, Australia and the U.S...

 recorded a cover of this song for the Sixteen Candles

Sixteen Candles

Sixteen Candles is a 1984 American film starring Molly Ringwald, Michael Schoeffling and Anthony Michael Hall. It was written and directed by John Hughes.- Plot :...

(1984) movie soundtrack.
The soul group The Passions recorded a cover of this song in 1963 (Diamond Records # 146), and the Jackson 5 released the song on their 4th album.

In popular culture

• The original recording by The Crests
  The Crests
  The Crests were a New York R&B doo-wop group of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Their most popular song was "16 Candles", which rose to number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1959. It sold over one million copies, earning a gold disc. The interracial group had three black members , one Puerto...
  
   features in the film American Graffiti
  American Graffiti
  American Graffiti is a 1973 coming of age film co-written/directed by George Lucas starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips and Harrison Ford...
  
  (1973).
• The 1984 John Hughes teen movie, Sixteen Candles
  Sixteen Candles
  Sixteen Candles is a 1984 American film starring Molly Ringwald, Michael Schoeffling and Anthony Michael Hall. It was written and directed by John Hughes.- Plot :...
  
  , took its title from this song. The cover by The Stray Cats appeared in the film.