Ray Hildebrand, ‘Paul’ of 1960s Pop Duo ‘Paul & Paula,’, Dies at 82

Ray Hildebrand is dead.

Paul & Paula's other half, Ray Hildebrand, dominated the pop charts in the 1960s. He passed away on Friday in Kansas City at the age of 82. The cause of death is yet unknown.

The breakthrough hit Hey Paula, written by Hildebrand and performed in association with duet partner Jill Jackson under their shared pen name, helped Paul & Paula reach No. 1 in 1963.

The song was first released in 1962, and in February of the following year, it peaked on two Billboard charts: the Hot 100 and the Hot R&B Singles chart.

Since all four of the songs, Paul & Paula propelled into the Hot 100 did so in the year 1963, their successful period was brief. Their only other top 10 success, Young Lovers, which came after Hey Paula, peaked at No. 6. In total, they put out three albums in 1963, all in a short eight-month span.

Jackson was the niece of the man who oversaw the boarding house where Hildebrand resided while a college student, therefore the two were solely musical collaborators and had no romantic ties.

They parted ways in 1965, although they continued to record singles sporadically all the way up until 1970. They also occasionally regrouped for oldies gigs or other events well into the twenty-first century.

In the early years of contemporary Christian music, Hildebrand went on to have a different kind of career, releasing the album He's Everything to Me in 1967 and penning songs like Say I Do and Anybody Here Wanna Live Forever?

He and Paul Land founded the CCM duet Land & Hildebrand in the 1980s, which performed both song and faith-based comedy.

Hildebrand, who was born in Joshua, Texas in 1940, met Jackson while he was a student at Howard Payne College. Naturally, they initially referred to themselves as Ray & Jill.

However, after they released Hildebrand's song Hey Paula and it started to gain popularity, the name change was unavoidable. He had been prompted to compose it by an acquaintance named Paula, who was engaged.

Hildebrand is survived by his son Mike Hildebrand and daughter Heidi Sterling. His wife Judy Hendricks, whom he married in 1964, died before him.