The Recording Industry Association of America ranked it #1 on its “Songs of the Century” list. The American Film Institute called it the greatest movie song of all-time. The song has been covered by numerous artists and charted on many occasions. However, “Over the Rainbow” almost didn’t make it out of the recording studio.

After a preview of The Wizard of Oz was shown to an audience, one of the movie’s executive producers had the song deleted because he felt it was too slow for the film. Eventually the song was added to the movie and the rest is history.

Judy Garland first recorded the song in 1938 at the age of 16. While discussing the song, Garland said, “'Over the Rainbow' has become part of my life. It's so symbolic of everybody's dreams and wishes that I'm sure that's why some people get tears in their eyes when they hear it. I've sung it thousands of times and it's still the song that's closest to my heart.”

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir covers “Over the Rainbow” in the video above. It was one of the Choir’s most popular videos in 2013.