"That's Life" is a popular song written by Dean Kay and Kelly Gordon. It was first recorded in 1963 by Marion Montgomery. The song encourages people to stay positive even when life has challenges, because things will improve.
The most famous version of the song was recorded by Frank Sinatra and included on his 1966 album That's Life. Sinatra heard an earlier recording of the song by O.C. Smith before recording it himself. His version became very popular and reached number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
Many other artists, such as Aretha Franklin, James Booker, Shirley Bassey, James Brown, Van Morrison, David Lee Roth, Michael Bolton, Lady Gaga, Michael Bublé, Russell Watson, Deana Martin, and Holt McCallany, also recorded the song.
Sinatra's version was featured in the 1993 film A Bronx Tale, the 1995 film Casper, the 2019 film Joker and its 2024 sequel Joker: Folie à Deux, the 2004 video game Tony Hawk's Underground 2, and the sixth season finale of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. A version by Bono was included in the soundtrack of the 2002 film The Good Thief.
The song was sung by Manny Delgado, who plays Rico Rodriguez, in the episode "Bad Hair Day" of the TV show Modern Family.
Background
Marion Montgomery joined Capitol Records after being discovered by singer Peggy Lee. In 1963, Montgomery recorded the song "That's Life," which was written by Dean Kay and Kelly Gordon. The song was released in the same year but did not become popular on the charts.
Frank Sinatra version
"That's Life" was first recorded by Marion Montgomery. Frank Sinatra learned about the song when he heard O. C. Smith's popular version in his car in 1965. He stopped the car, called his daughter Nancy, and asked her to find the song's publisher because he wanted to record it. Nancy found the publisher, and Sinatra recorded the song. He first performed it on his television show A Man and His Music – Part II in 1966, with music arranged by Nelson Riddle.
The recording was made on July 25, 1966, at United Recording in Hollywood. Ernie Freeman arranged and conducted the music, and Jimmy Bowen produced the recording. Earlier in 1966, these three people had worked together on "Strangers in the Night," a song that earned Sinatra a Grammy Award for Best Male Vocal. For "That's Life," background singers included B.J. Baker, Gwen Johnson, and Jackie Ward. Forty top musicians, including Glen Campbell and members of the Wrecking Crew, also performed on the recording. Sinatra recorded the song twice. He ended the first take by saying, "Oh yeah." Jimmy Bowen asked him to record it again, which annoyed Sinatra. This led to a strong performance that Sinatra called "My, My."
Jimmy Bowen wanted the songs on the That's Life album to sound similar to "That's Life" instead of following Sinatra's usual style. This idea came from his work on the Strangers in the Night album, where he felt the title song did not match the rest of the album's classic Sinatra sound. For That's Life, the other songs had similar brass music.
The album and song were very successful. "That's Life" reached number four on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number one on the Easy Listening chart for three weeks in December 1966 and January 1967. In Canada, it reached number three. Sinatra's version of the song was later used in the 1993 film A Bronx Tale, the 2004 video game Tony Hawk's Underground 2, and in the 1988 film License to Drive. It also appeared in a scene from the 2019 film Joker and during the final scene of the final episode of the sixth season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
Musicians and Roles:
– Frank Sinatra – lead vocals
– Betty Allan – background vocals
– Betty Jean Baker – background vocals
– Gwenn Johnson – background vocals
– Jackie Ward – background vocals
- Ernie Freeman – arranger and conductor
- Donnie Lanier – conductor
- Norman Botnick – viola
- Ray Brown – string bass
- Joseph DiFiore – viola
- Joseph DiTullio – cello
- Armand Kaproff – cello
- Alex Neiman – viola
- Kurt Reher – cello
- Frederick Seykora – cello
- Abraham Weiss – viola
- Louis Blackburn – trombone
- Buddy Collette – saxophone, woodwinds
- Bill Green – saxophone, woodwinds
- Dick Hyde – trombone
- Plas Johnson – saxophone, woodwinds
- Cappy Lewis – trumpet
- Lew McCreary – trombone
- Oliver Mitchell – trumpet
- Willie Schwartz – saxophone, woodwinds
- Anthony Terran – trumpet
- Hal Blaine – drums
- Eddie Brackett Jr. – percussion
- Lawrence Knechtel – Fender bass
- Michael Melvoin – organ
- Bill Miller – piano
- Ray Pohlman – electric guitar
Other versions
The O.C. Smith version of "That's Life" was successful in places like Detroit and Los Angeles. However, it was not released nationwide until Frank Sinatra's version became popular on the charts. After Sinatra's success, "That's Life" was included on several albums, such as Aretha Franklin's Aretha Arrives, as well as recordings by The Temptations, Shirley Bassey, and James Brown. James Brown recorded the song for his 1968 album Live at the Apollo, Volume II. His studio version was later featured on the soundtrack for the 1999 film EDtv. The Peddlers also recorded a version in 1969, which was released as a single.
David Lee Roth, a former member of Van Halen, released a version of the song and a music video in 1986 for his first solo album Eat 'Em and Smile. Deana Martin included "That's Life" on her 2016 album Swing Street.
The song has also appeared on film soundtracks multiple times. In 2002, a version by Bono with music by Elliot Goldenthal was included on the soundtrack for The Good Thief. The song was also covered by Katharine McPhee and Megan Hilty in the second-season episode "Opening Night" of the TV series Smash. Vik Sahay performed the song on an episode of Preacher.
Lady Gaga performed "That's Life" in the 2024 film Joker: Folie à Deux. She released her version on the 2024 album Harlequin, which is linked to the film. T-Pain performed the song during his concert series at the Sun Rose, which received over 5 million views on YouTube.