YVONNE ELLIMAN - I DON’T KNOW HOW TO LOVE HIM

Released: May 13, 1971

Charts:  UK: #47   US: #28 

“I Don’t Know How to Love Him” emerged in 1970 as one of the emotional high points of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s “Jesus Christ Superstar”. Originally conceived as a reworking of an earlier melody titled “Kansas Morning”, the song was reimagined as a torch ballad for Mary Magdalene, who confesses her conflicted, unrequited love for Jesus. With its blend of vulnerability and soaring melody, it became one of the most popular pieces from the rock opera.

Yvonne Elliman, a Hawaiian-born singer discovered by Webber and Rice at a Chelsea folk club, was cast as Mary Magdalene and first recorded the track in 1970. Though initially puzzled by the romantic lyrics—mistakenly believing she was meant to portray the Virgin Mary—Elliman would go on to make the song her signature, performing it in the original Broadway production, on the cast album, and in Norman Jewison’s 1973 film adaptation. Her rendition also became a modest chart hit, especially in Europe.

At nearly the same time, Australian singer Helen Reddy released her own version, and in a rare post-1950s occurrence, both interpretations climbed into the U.S. Top 40 simultaneously. The exposure helped propel “Jesus Christ Superstar” from a concept album into a full-fledged Broadway phenomenon.

Elliman’s association with the song launched a career that would later take her into collaborations with Eric Clapton—she sang backing vocals on “I Shot the Sheriff”—and to disco superstardom with her No. 1 hit “If I Can’t Have You” from the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack. Still, “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” remains her most emblematic performance, a song that captured the intersection of sacred and romantic longing and became a cultural milestone of the early 1970s.