Billie Holiday recorded her co-written composition on May 9, 1941, for Columbia Records (originally issued on their subsidiary label, Okeh). The number made the charts that year and rose to #25.

On December 30, 1938, Billie Holiday began singing at Barney Josephson’s Cafe Society nightclub at a salary of $75 a week, seven-days-a-week. The gig had been arranged by impresario John Hammond, who, although not Holiday’s manager per se, had been instrumental in many strategic career moves for her. Holiday was happy to have a steady New York engagement after being on the road with the big bands of Count Basie and Artie Shaw.

Working at Cafe Society was the first time she was able to have complete artistic control over her material. She began singing and recording more standards rather than Tin Pan Alley material that song pluggers insisted she do. Although she quit Cafe Society in August, 1939, the exposure there, plus having a recording in the charts (“Strange Fruit”), enabled her to find work at 52nd Streets clubs such as Kelly’s Stables and the Famous Door for much better pay. In May, 1941, when she recorded “God Bless the Child,” she was working at Kelly’s Stables for $300 a week with pianist Art Tatum accompanying her.

Songwriter Arthur Herzog, an employee of Edward B. Marks Music Company, had begun an association with Holiday in early 1940, supplying the words for a number composed by pianist Teddy Wilson’s first wife, Irene Kitchings. The song, “Ghost of Yesterday,” was a slow, melancholy piece, the type of thing that Holiday wouldn’t have been able to record prior to the release of “Strange Fruit.” (Columbia Records, with whom Holiday was under contract, wouldn’t record the controversial tune. Instead, indie label Commodore did, and once the tune hit the charts Columbia executives realized their mistake, ultimately giving Holiday more latitude.)

In May, 1941, Herzog had an idea for getting himself and Holiday some much-needed royalty income. Herzog asked for Billie’s help in coming up with something, a title or words, they could use. Billie’s mother, Sadie, was trying to find funds to open a little after-hours joint and turned to her daughter for financial support. Billie refused, telling her “God bless the child that’s got his own.” Herzog liked the title, and the two, along with pianist/arranger Danny Mendelsohn, put it together in 20 minutes. Billie recorded it on her next date for Columbia Records. It would be a regular feature in her repertoire for the rest of her life.