Mack the Knife, originally Die Moritat von Mackie Messer, is a 1928 song composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for The Threepenny Opera. The Moritat is a street ballad that introduces Macheath, a knife-wielding criminal in London, told in a stark, noir style. The song became a popular standard after English translations; Louis Armstrong recorded it in 1955, and Bobby Darin's 1959 version from the album That's All became a US and UK chart-topper and earned two Grammys. Ella Fitzgerald later performed it in Berlin in 1960 on the album Ella in Berlin: Mack the Knife, winning a Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. The original German song entered the US public domain in 2024, and the tune has since been performed in jazz and traditional pop styles by many artists.
