“Happy Birthday” song

The “Happy Birthday” song, or “Happy Birthday to You,” is sung in English and in many other languages around the world. It is often said to be one of the world’s most recognized tunes.

The song is credited to Patty and Mildred Hill, two sisters and educators from Louisville, Kentucky, who said they wrote the song for schoolchildren in the 1890s. Originally called “Good Morning to All,” the song was sung by their students at the start of each school day. Patty Hill has noted that, on a child’s birthday, they would switch the lyrics to the now standard “Happy Birthday” song ones, which appeared in print by 1912. By the 1920s, the “Happy Birthday” song had spread to birthday parties across the U.S.

The copyright history of the “Happy Birthday” song is long, disputed, and complicated. It was first copyrighted (now without basis) in 1935 by a small publishing group, the Summy Company, in 1935, with music  credited to Preston Ware Orem and lyrics to R. R. Forman. In 1988, Warner Chappell Music acquired the company Summy Company had become and collected royalties for major media and public uses of the song—eventually amounting to millions each year. After lawsuits against the validity of their copyright, Warner Chappell Music released the “Happy Birthday” song into the public domain in 2016.

There is a traditional ritual to the Happy Birthday Song. At a point in a birthday party, everyone gathers into the same room, the lights are turned off, someone carries out a cake lit with candles, and people begin singing the “Happy Birthday” song, often with someone jovially adding “And many more!” or other, often humorous well wishes. The celebrants clap, and the birthday honoree blows out the candles, silently making a wish. Forms of this ritual are also done at restaurants and workplaces.