"You Light Up My Life" is a ballad written by Joseph Brooks, and originally recorded by Kasey Cisyk for the soundtrack album to the 1977 film of the same title.

[1] 7" vinyl single In a 2013 biographical essay about Cisyk,[3] Cisyk's second husband, Ed Rakowicz (who worked as a sound engineer, but not for this song), wrote that songwriter Brooks was initially pleased with Cisyk's recording of the song with orchestra (and her version appeared in the movie and soundtrack) but "tried to evade payment by false promises and by asking her to be an incidental actor in his film, implying huge rewards yet to come..."[3] Rackowicz claimed that Brooks made improper advances toward Cisyk, that after being rebuffed, he refused to speak directly to her again, and that he continued to evade payments to her while commissioning another recording with Debby Boone.

[citation needed] According to Rackowicz, "Besides wanting Boone to copy Kacey's [sic][4] iconic hit reading of his songs, Brooks needed to cover up Kacey's vocal leakage in the microphones in the piano recorded at the original demo session on which was overdubbed the orchestral track used in the film.

[5] Cisyk later retained a lawyer and sued Brooks for the fees she had earned for her work on the record and for credit on the soundtrack, which she later received.

[5] Boone recorded her vocals over a pre-existing instrumental track that Brooks already had developed for the film's soundtrack.

Cash Box said that "Ms. Boone builds it to a powerful emotional peak as a massive string section lends support.

Elvis Presley's double-sided hit "Don't Be Cruel/Hound Dog", then recognized as the longest-running number one song of the rock era, spent eleven weeks atop the Billboard Best Sellers chart in 1956, before the 1958 debut of the Hot 100.

[10] The ten-week record was matched in 1982 by Olivia Newton-John's "Physical",[11] but was not surpassed until a 1991 change in chart methodology allowed songs to achieve longer reigns at No.

In Cash Box magazine, "You Light Up My Life" managed only an eight-week stay at the top of the chart, before being dethroned by Crystal Gayle's "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue".

The single, which was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), also hit No.

Decades after its release, the Debby Boone version is still considered one of the top ten Billboard Hot 100 songs of all time.

[15] Although it was written by Brooks as a love song, the devout Boone interpreted it as inspirational and proclaimed that it was instead God who "lit up her life."

The song features as a running joke in an episode of Girlfriends, titled "Can't Stan Ya!"