A month in, I’m really loving Throwback Weekends. Maybe I’ve just gotten lucky with the song selection, but so far it seems like I’m unearthing plenty of gems.

Today we throw back 60 years to the week of May 11, 1963, when the Billboard Hot 100 was topped by 15-year-old Little Peggy March and her recording of ‘I Will Follow Him.’ The song spent 14 weeks on the Hot 100 and three in the top spot.

This song was first recorded in 1961 as an instrumental by French composer Franck Pourcel titled ‘Chariot.’ Canadian bandleader Percy Faith released his own instrumental version a couple of years later.

Lyrics were added for a 1962 French-language version by Petula Clark, also titled ‘Chariot,’ that charted well in Europe. The versatile Clark later released versions in English, German and Italian.

But it was the 1963 version by Italian-American pop singer Little Peggy March that made it to #1. Born Margaret Annemarie Battavio, the young singer got her stage name because she was under five feet tall and her birthday was in March. She was just 14 when her version of ‘Chariot,’ re-branded ‘I Will Follow Him,’ was released.

March was 15 when the song hit #1, making her the youngest-ever female artist to achieve the milestone. She still holds that record today (Stevie Wonder, 13, and Michael Jackson, 14, were the youngest overall).