Writer: Roy Orbison
Producer: Ted Templeman
Recorded: Late 1981 in Los Angeles, California
Released: Spring 1982
| Players: | David Lee Roth — vocals Edward Van Halen — guitar, vocals Michael Anthony — bass, vocals Alex Van Halen — drums |
| Album: | Diver Down (Warner Bros., 1982) |
"Oh, Pretty Woman" was written and originally recorded by Roy Orbison, who had a Number One hit with it in 1964.
Van Halen's version of the song peaked at Number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the spring of 1982.
It was not the first time Van Halen had a hit with a cover song–the group's first single, in fact, was a cover of the Kinks' "You Really Got Me," which hit Number 36.
"Oh, Pretty Woman" also wasn't the only cover on the Diver Down album, which also included the Kinks' "Where Have All The Good Times Gone" and Martha & the Vandellas' "Dancing In The Street."
Diver Down, the group's first release after Edward Van Halen married actress Valerie Bertinelli, was Van Halen's fifth consecutive million-selling album and has sold more than four million copies total.
The album was the group's highest-charting album to date as well, peaking at Number Three on the Billboard 200.
It hit Number 36 on the U.K. chart.
During the tour to support Diver Down, Van Halen was paid one million dollars to play the U.S. Festival for a crowd of 300,000 people in 1983.