"Unchained Melody" has mostly been associated with the Righteous Brothers, who released it in 1965, but it was actually written for the 1955 prison film Unchained, in which it was sung by a heartsick convict. Interestingly, only about a minute of the song was included in the film; see clip at the bottom of this post.
Three versions were released in 1955, by three different artists, all of which charted in the top ten. The lyricist Hy Zaret allegedly refused to include the word "unchained," even when asked by the composer Alex North. Seems to have worked out pretty well, as the song has been covered hundreds of times.
Roy Hamilton's 1955 release:
Music begins at 1:00, but the story before is pretty moving:
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