Butterfly (Danyel Gérard song)

"Butterfly" is a pop song, written and recorded by the French singer-songwriter, Danyel Gérard (born Gérard Daniel Khertakian,[1] 7 March 1939, Paris[2][3]) in the late 1960s. It was initially a hit in the French language.

In the early 1970s English language words were written, and Gérard recorded it again in the United States. In 1971 he also did German, Spanish and Italian versions. "Butterfly" was a very popular song internationally, selling over seven million copies.[4] Many other musicians recorded it, both in instrumental and vocal versions. In the U.S., that list included Eydie Gormé, Goldie Hawn and Eddy Arnold.

The single was #1 in Germany for fifteen weeks in summer 1971. It also reached #2 in South Africa.[5] It reached #11 (and spent 12 weeks) in the UK Singles Chart in October 1971.[1] Lack of further chart activity in the UK saw both singer and song branded as a one-hit wonder. It also appeared in the first compilation album put together specifically for telemarketing in the UK, K-Tel's 20 Dynamic Hits.[6] It was a similar story in the U.S., where Gérard's single peaked at #78 in the Billboard Hot 100. In Australia Gérard's version peaked at No. 11 on the Go-Set National Top 40 singles chart in December 1971, with a cover version by local artist Matt Flinders peaking on the same chart a month later at No. 4.[7][8] In Germany he had some more songs in the charts, such as "Isabella" and "Meine Stadt".