I Will Follow Him

The Creation and Chart History of "I Will Follow Him" by Little Peggy March

"I Will Follow Him" stands as one of the most striking commercial achievements in the early history of the Billboard Hot 100, reaching the top position in the spring of 1963 and establishing the recording career of a teenager who had only recently entered the professional music industry. The song that would become Little Peggy March's signature achievement had a transatlantic origin story, passing through multiple creative hands and musical transformations before arriving at the version that captivated American audiences during the height of the early 1960s pop era.

The melody originated as a French composition titled "Chariot," written by J. W. Stole and Del Roma and released in France in 1962. The original French-language recording was performed by Petula Clark and later by Franck Pourcel, and it achieved considerable success on the European continent. Recognizing the melody's commercial potential for English-language markets, publisher Norman Gimbel was brought in to craft new English lyrics that would make the song accessible and appealing to American teenage listeners. The resulting adaptation transformed what had been a reflective ballad about a Roman chariot race into an expression of devoted romantic love aimed squarely at the teen market that was driving pop music sales at the time.

Little Peggy March, born Margaret Mary Ann Battavio in Lansdale, Pennsylvania in 1948, was only fourteen years old when she recorded the song for RCA Victor Records. She had signed with the label in 1962, making her one of the youngest recording artists on a major label roster at that time. The production team at RCA paired her with producers who understood the commercial requirements of the early 1960s teen pop market, and the resulting arrangement featured the orchestral swell and melodic accessibility that defined the pop sound of the period. March's voice, clear and bright with a natural expressiveness, suited the song's emotional requirements perfectly.

The single was released in early 1963 and debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 on March 23, 1963, entering at number 90. Its ascent was remarkable in its speed and decisiveness. Within a week it had climbed to number 62, and by April 6 it reached number 30. On April 13, the song jumped dramatically to number 7, and the following week it rose to number 3. The track achieved its peak position, number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, during the week of April 27, 1963, and held that position for three consecutive weeks. The song spent a total of fourteen weeks on the chart, demonstrating sustained commercial appeal throughout the spring of 1963.

The achievement was particularly notable because it made Little Peggy March, at fifteen years of age, the youngest female artist to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 at that point in the chart's history. This record brought considerable attention to the recording and to the artist, amplifying the song's cultural footprint well beyond what its chart performance alone might have generated.

International success accompanied the American chart performance. The song reached high positions in numerous European markets, and the recording helped establish March as a viable international pop act. In Germany particularly, where she would later build a sustained career, the song generated substantial commercial interest that would inform the trajectory of her subsequent recording activities.

The song appeared at a culturally significant moment in American pop music. The early months of 1963 represented the final period before The Beatles' arrival in the United States fundamentally reshaped the commercial landscape. The pop formula that "I Will Follow Him" exemplified, orchestrated teen ballads built around expressive young female vocalists, would soon give way to the guitar-driven sounds of the British Invasion. In that context, the song's overwhelming success captures the sound of a particular pop moment at its commercial apex.

The recording's lasting legacy has been sustained by its appearances in film and television productions over the decades. Most prominently, the song featured in the 1992 comedy film Sister Act, where it was performed by the cast in a memorable musical sequence that introduced the song to a new generation of listeners and sparked renewed commercial interest in the original recording. This renewed exposure demonstrated the song's durable melodic appeal and its capacity to generate enthusiasm across different audiences and cultural contexts.