Stella by Starlight is a 1940s jazz standard with music by Victor Young drawn from the main title and soundtrack of the 1944 Paramount film The Uninvited, with lyrics added by Ned Washington in 1946. In the film it is heard as a serenade to Stella by Starlight, which helped make the tune a dramatic centerpiece. The instrumental was first recorded and released in 1945 by Victor Young and His Concert Orchestra (Ray Turner at the piano) on the The Uninvited soundtrack. It quickly crossed over to the pop charts with 1947 hits by Harry James and Frank Sinatra, and it became a mainstay of jazz with early recordings by Charlie Parker (1952), Stan Getz (1952), Chet Baker (1954) and Nat King Cole on The Piano Style of Nat King Cole (1955), followed by Miles Davis on Jazz Track (1958). Countless vocal versions exist by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra and Mina. Jazzstandards.com ranks Stella by Starlight among the top jazz standards, reflecting its enduring status as a haunting and lyrical ballad in the genre.
