Songfacts®:

• Popularized by Julio Iglesias and Willie Nelson, this Hal David and Albert Hammond-penned tune was originally envisioned for Frank Sinatra, who turned it down. Hammond ended up being the first to record it for his 1975 album, 99 Miles From LA. The lyrics show appreciation for all of his past partners, whose love helped him grow into the man he is today.
• Pairing the Latin star and country singer was not a record-industry machination - in fact, on paper, they seemed like a rather odd pairing. The duet came about after Nelson heard Iglesias on the radio while he and his wife Connie were in London.
  
  "I liked his music immediately," he recalled in The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits. "Connie suggested I record with him, and I thought it was a good idea."
  
  Nelson put the word out through his manager, who got in touch with Iglesias. He didn't have charts or dollar signs on the brain, because he had no idea how famous the Spanish singer was outside the US.
  
  "Julio said, sure, he'd like to do a song with me. I didn't know Julio was selling more records at that time than anybody in the world," he admitted.
• Hammond, who was producing some tracks on Iglesias' album, turned to his own catalog to find a suitable tune for the pair. Although "To All The Girls I've Loved Before" had been recorded a couple times - by Hammond himself and Bobby Vinton - it had never been a hit. But Hammond pulled a bit of a fast one on Iglesias.
  
  "When Julio asked me to produce his record in 1983, I thought this song would be perfect for him," he explained in a 2012 interview. "I sang the song to him with my guitar and told him it was a new song, he fell in love with it. But it was 11 years old by that time."
• Iglesias and Nelson cut the vocal track in about two hours at Nelson's studio in Austin, and Iglesias took the tape back with him to Los Angeles, where he continued to work on his English to improve the final result.
• This was the lead single from Iglesias' 1984 album, 1100 Bel Air Place, which helped him breakthrough to the English markets. The song was a huge hit, going to #5 on the Hot 100 and #1 on the Country chart.
• Iglesias and Nelson were named Vocal Duo of the Year by the Country Music Association in 1984. The Academy of Country Music also chose the song as Single of the Year.
• Iglesias and Nelson collaborated again on the duet "Spanish Eyes" in 1988.
• This was also covered by several other artists, including Merle Haggard, Shirley Bassey, Tom Jones, and Engelbert Humperdinck. In 2010, Alanis Morissette recorded a version titled "To All The Boys I've Loved Before" that featured Nelson on rhythm guitar.
• This was used in the movies Everyone Else (2009) and Almost An Angel (1990).
  
  It was also used in these TV shows:
  
  Awkward. ("Responsibly Irresponsible" - 2013)
  Doogie Howser, M.D. ("What You See Ain't Necessarily What You Get" - 1992)
  Day By Day ("Do You Think I'm Sexy?" - 1988)
  Hardcastle And McCormick ("One Of The Girls From Accounting" - 1984)
• 1100 Bel Air Place is a concept album of love songs largely composed by Albert Hammond,
  
  "I thought the song Hal David and I had written would be great as a duet," Hammond recalled to Uncut magazine. "I had to teach Willie the song, and I got to know a man who was just incredible, so humble and kind. I knew I was going against the grain putting them together because I got her telegram from Walter Yetnikoff, the president of CBS at that time: 'What are you doing ruining my European playboy with this cowboy?'"