Bernie Hanighen
Illustration — Fred Astaire singing Hanighen and Mercer's "Poor Mr. Chisholm" in Second Chorus (1940) Bernard D. Hanighen (April 27, 1908 in Omaha, Nebraska – October 19, 1976 in New York City, New York) was an American songwriter and record producer, best known for "When a Woman Loves a Man", and writing lyrics to the jazz composition "'Round Midnight", composed by jazz musician Thelonious Monk. Hanighen also worked with Clarence Williams and Johnny Mercer.
Also recorded as Bernard D. Hanighen
Bernie Hanighen
Public domain
- Born
- 1908 · Omaha.
- Died
- 1976
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- songwriter · record producer · composer · lyricist
- Fields
- music · pop music · jazz · lyrics
- Education
- Harvard College
- Languages
- English
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wikidata · Q4894399 · wikipedia · Bernie Hanighen
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Songwriting career
Songwriting career
Hanighen composed lyrics for the 1946 Broadway musical Lute Song, which starred Mary Martin and Yul Brynner, and which featured music by Raymond Scott. Bernie Hanighen and Cootie Williams collaborated to transform Thelonious Monk's bop masterpiece "'Round Midnight", creating what became a standard in the vocal canon thanks to performances by Mel Tormé, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae, Nancy Wilson, Chris Connor, and Julie London. Hanighen was one of the writers for the Sing It Again program on CBS Radio.
Producing Billie Holiday
Producing Billie Holiday
From 1936 to 1939, Hanighen co-produced Billie Holiday's early Columbia recordings with John Hammond. He and Holiday remained close friends. She wrote in her 1956 autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues: Bernie almost lost his job at Columbia fighting for me. A lot of guys were big tippers uptown, but when it came to fighting for you downtown, they were nowhere. Not Bernie. He was the cause of me making my first records under my own name - not as anybody's damn vocalist, but Billie Holiday period, and then the list of musicians backing me. Bernie Hanighen is a great guy.
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The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Bernie Hanighen, revision 1356695735 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 31 August 2026.
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