Patti Lupone - Don't Cry For Me Argentina (1976)

"Don't Cry for Me Argentina" is the best-known song from the 1978 musical Evita with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Sung by the title character Eva Perón, it was titled “It's Only Your Lover Returning” before Rice settled on the eventual name. It appears early in the second act as Evita addresses the crowd from the balcony of the Casa Rosada and features a sweeping melody tied to broad emotional themes of regret and defiance, characteristic of Lloyd Webber’s most popular songs. The musical Evita began as an album, before being adapted for the stage.

The song was first offered to singer Elkie Brooks who turned it down. Julie Covington sang “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” for the original 1976 studio release. The single reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart in February 1977 for a week, selling almost a million copies in the United Kingdom.

Due to concerns that the song might not have commercial appeal in its original form, Covington recorded a version with alternative lines; however, in the end the original version was released for the single. The B-side was "Rainbow High".

When Madonna covered “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina”, this song did not appear as a B side for the same song, but for "You Must Love Me" instead.

When Covington chose not to take the stage role, Elaine Paige was cast as Eva in the London production.  In the United States, the song is also closely linked with Patti LuPone, who performed the role of "Eva" in the original Broadway production of the show.

During the 1982 Falklands War between the United Kingdom and Argentina, the song was sometimes played sarcastically by British regimental bands as they deployed to the Falklands. At the same time the Covington recording was banned from play on the BBC.