In 1962, it won a Grammy award for "Best Sound Track Album – Original Cast".

In the United States, it was one of the best-selling albums of the 1960s,[4] certifying three times platinum by the RIAA on November 21, 1986.

[5] In her autobiography, I Could Have Sung All Night, Marni Nixon writes about singing the role of Maria and of her observations of some of the other singers whose voices were dubbed into the film.

Russ Tamblyn, who plays Riff in the film, provided his own vocals for the song "Gee, Officer Krupke" and for a few lines in the "Tonight" ensemble, but in the "Jet Song" he was dubbed by Tucker Smith, who plays the role of Ice in the film.

Final determination of which voices would be used and to what extent for the film's songs was left to producer Saul Chaplin, who at various times told Nixon that her voice would be used to supplement or extend that of actress Natalie Wood or to replace it altogether.