"I Will Wait for You" is the English version of "Je ne pourrai jamais vivre sans toi", a song from the French musical The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Les Parapluies de Cherbourg, 1964). Its music was composed by Michel Legrand and the original lyrics written by Jacques Demy. It was performed in the film by Catherine Deneuve, whose voice was dubbed by Danielle Licari. The English lyrics of the song were written by Norman Gimbel. This version was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song at the 38th Academy Awards held in 1966.
The song has been covered by many vocalists including Eddie Fisher, Frank Sinatra, Astrud Gilberto, Violetta Villas, Trini Lopez, Bobby Darin, Nana Mouskouri (French, German, Spanish, Italian and Japanese), Cher, Andy Williams, Jason Kouchak, Petula Clark, Tony Bennett, Vikki Carr, Liza Minnelli, Connie Francis, Beverley Craven, the Walker Brothers, Maria Morlino, and Matt Monro. Among jazz musicians who have recorded versions are Oscar Peterson, Gil Evans, Donald Byrd, Louis Armstrong, Kirsti Huke and Richard "Groove" Holmes.
Sergio Franchi covered this song on his 1967 RCA Victor recording From Sergio – With Love.
Pop instrumental recordings include those made by Roger Williams, and Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass. In 2000, Russian pop singer Vitas remade a fragment of this song at the very beginning of his song "Prelude" from his first album Philosophy of Miracle (2001).
The song (as sung by Connie Francis) was notably heard in the Futurama episode "Jurassic Bark".