Midnight Sun is a jazz standard that began as an instrumental composed by Lionel Hampton and Sonny Burke in 1947. Johnny Mercer later wrote the lyrics after hearing the tune while driving from Palm Springs to Hollywood. The first recording was by Lionel Hampton and his Orchestra in Los Angeles on November 10, 1947, released by Decca as the B-side of a 10-inch shellac single. The lyrics were first recorded by June Christy in 1954 on the album Something Cool, and one of the best known vocal versions is Ella Fitzgerald on Like Someone in Love (1957), with further renditions by Carmen McRae and many others. The tune has endured as a jazz standard, performed both instrumentally and as a vocal ballad across decades.
