"Everything Is Beautiful" is a song written, composed, and performed by
Ray Stevens. It has appeared on many of Stevens' albums, including one named after the song, and has become a
pop standard and common in religious performances. The children heard singing the chorus of the song, using the hymn, "
Jesus Loves the Little Children", are from the Oak Hill Elementary School in
Nashville, Tennessee. At the time, this group included Stevens' two daughters.
"Everything Is Beautiful" is viewed as a major departure for Stevens, as the song is a more serious and spiritual tune, unlike some of his earlier ("
Gitarzan" and "
Ahab the Arab") and later ("
The Streak") recordings, which were comedy/novelty songs. The success of the record would allow Stevens (while still recording his comedy and novelty songs) to devote much of his 1970s work to more serious material, before pivoting back almost exclusively to comedy in the 1980s.[5]
Neil Sedaka performed a version of this selection on his 1976 album Live in Australia.[13]
Dana named her 1980 album after that song. It made #43 in the UK chart. In 1986 her single reached #42 in Ireland.
Foster & Allen recorded a version of the song for their album Songs We Love to Sing (1994)[citation needed] which reached number 41 on the
UK Albums Chart[14] that year and number 66 on the Irish albums chart.
In 2005,
American Idol season 4, top-ten finalists covered this song during the top 10 results show.
Stevens re-recorded the song in 2020.
[1] This "50th Anniversary" re-recording includes a spoken prologue and epilogue noting how much progress had been made since 1970, while calling out those who use diversity to divide society and beseeching Americans not to fall apart.[15]