1 of Elvis Presley’s Girlfriends Wrote a Hit Song for Celine Dion and Barbra Streisand
Elvis Presley had many girlfriends — including a notable songwriter. During the 1990s, she wrote a hit song for Celine Dion and Barbra Streisand. In her autobiography, the songwriter discussed what she wanted to accomplish with the song.
1 of Elvis Presley’s girlfriends was asked to write a song for the 2 icons
Linda Thompson is a songwriter and actor. She is most famous for dating Elvis from 1972 to 1976 and for penning Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing.” She once wrote a hit for Streisand, one of her friends.
In her 2016 autobiography, A Little Thing Called Life: On Loving Elvis Presley, Bruce Jenner, and Songs in Between, Thompson discussed one of the songs she wrote. “In 1997, I had the honor of penning words to be sung by two of the premier female singers of our time, Barbra Streisand, who was a dear friend, and Celine Dion,” she recalled. “The two dulcet divas had decided to sing a duet together and David and Walter Afanasieff had been approached to write the music and produce.”
Why Linda Thompson thought the song ‘Tell Him’ would work for Celine Dion and Barbra Streisand
Thompson revealed what she wanted to accomplish when she wrote the song “Tell Him.” “When they tapped me to handle lyrical duties, I had a creative brainstorm of which I remain extremely proud,” she remembered. “Rather than pitting the two greats against each other with a ‘You stole my man’ — themed song, I decided to put Barbra in the role of the more experienced mentor to the younger Celine, who approaches her for romantic advice in the first verse.”
Thompson felt “Tell Him” would work well for Dion and Streisand. “I knew both women well enough to know they would not wish to be singing about competition or rancor, but rather about the strength of female friendships,” Thompson wrote. Hearing Dion and Streisand sing a song she wrote thrilled Thompson.
The way audiences in the United States and the United Kingdom reacted to Celine Dion and Barbra Streisand’s ‘Tell Him’
“Tell Him” did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100. The song appeared on Dion’s album Let’s Talk About Love. Let’s Talk About Love hit No. 1 for one of its 84 weeks on the Billboard 200.
In the United Kingdom, “Tell Him” became a much bigger hit. According to The Official Charts Company, the track peaked at No. 3 in the U.K. and stayed on the chart for 17 weeks. Meanwhile, Let’s Talk About Love was No. 1 there for five weeks. The album lasted on the chart for 83 weeks in total.
“Tell Him” became a huge hit in the U.K. for two musical icons — and it wouldn’t exist without Elvis’ former girlfriend.
