Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend — Marilyn Monroe
The term “iconic” is used too casually these days. But if a performance is still remembered nearly 70 years after it first aired, and the performer is still remembered by virtually everyone on the planet nearly 60 years after her death, it probably more than meets the standard for “iconic”.
Although she wasn’t the person to perform of “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend” — that was Carol Channing in the Broadway musical ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’ — Marilyn Monroe’s version, from the 1953 movie adaptation of the Broadway show, is the one everybody remembers today.
Marilyn Monroe’s performance was so iconic, a range of artists have since paid homage to it in one way or another, most notably Madonna in her “Material Girl” video, which is almost a straight copy of Marilyn Monroe’s routine in ‘Gentleman Prefer Blondes’.
Over the years, the expression “diamonds are a girl’s best friend” has permeated its way into everyday language. It is one of the few instances where a song lyric has become an everyday phrase people from all walks of life understand.
The fact that there are so few others — “Blowin’ In The Wind”, perhaps, or “The Times They Are A-Changin’” — further cements the iconic status of “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend”.
