"To Each His Own" is a popular song with music written by Jay Livingston and lyrics by Ray Evans. It is the title song of the movie of the same name and was published in 1946 by Paramount Music. The duo were assigned to write this song after film composer Victor Young turned it down. While many popular songs of the pre-rock period had multiple hit versions – for example, "Dinah" had nine top-10 covers over the years, and 15 versions of "St. Louis Blues" charted between 1916 and 1953 – according to its co-composer Ray Evans, "To Each His Own" is the only song to take up half the slots on the Top Ten at the same time.
- Eddy Howard reached number one after debuting on the Most Played On the Air chart with his version of the song on July 6, 1946. Released by Majestic Records as catalog number 7188 and 1070, the single lasted 24 weeks on the chart, reaching the top spot on August 3 for eight weeks, and scoring number-one single of 1946 The two Howard releases had different B sides – "Cynthia's in Love" on Majestic 7188 and "Careless" on Majestic 1070.
1946 was the first full year in which Billboard ran its three main popular charts, "Best Selling", "Most Played Jukebox", and "Most Air Play". Each week in each section, 15 points were awarded for No. 1, 9 points for No. 2, 8 points for No. 3, and so on. There were no ties. The totals of all three categories were combined, and the highest numbers won. Eddy Howard's version of "To Each His Own" was the no. 1 record of the year, leading the runner-up by more than 100 points.
Other recordings
- Margie Rayburn released a version of the song as a single in 1958, but it did not chart.
- Johnny Hartman included a version on his 1959 And I Thought About You album.
- The Platters covered "To Each His Own" in 1960, their version reaching number 21 (US).
- Marty Robbins covered the song on his 1961 album Just a Little Sentimental.
- Sam Cooke recorded the song for his 1965 LP Try a Little Love.
- Frankie Laine's 1968 version reached No. 82 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. It also spent four weeks at number two on the Easy Listening chart.