Helping to start a trend for male-female singing duos, Paul and Paula scored a massive hit with “Hey Paula” in 1962 and found success as a typically wholesome and innocent mainstream pop act of the era. Ray Hildebrand (Paul) and Jill Jackson (Paula) both grew up in West Texas and met when a local radio DJ turned up at their college looking for talented singers. It led to the pair recording “Hey Paula” in the basement studio of the radio station and landing a deal with Mercury Records to release the swaying, romantic lullaby written by Hildebrand. The duo was renamed to match the song and became big national stars as the track sold over two million copies and topped the US charts for three weeks. They followed up with another Top 10 hit called “Young Lovers” and released three albums in 1963: Paul & Paula Sing for Young Lovers, We’ll Go Together, and Holiday for Teens. The duo also promoted their releases by touring the country with Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars. Tired of travelling and the industry as a whole, the pair split in 1965, but Jill Jackson continued to perform solo shows and Ray Hildebrand later teamed up with guitarist Paul Land to release Christian gospel music throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Suffering from dementia, Ray Hildebrand died on August 18, 2023, at the age of 82.
