"Til I Can Make It on My Own" is a

song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

co-written and first recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artist

Tammy Wynette Tammy Wynette (born Virginia Wynette Pugh; May 5, 1942 – April 6, 1998) was an American country music singer and songwriter, considered among the genre's most influential and successful artists. Along with Loretta Lynn, Wynette helped bring a ...

. It was released in January 1976 as the first single and title track from the album '' 'Til I Can Make It on My Own''. The song was Wynette's fifteenth number one on the country charts. The single stayed at number one for one week and spent a total of eleven weeks on the country charts. Wynette noted on multiple occasions that the song was her personal favorite of all that she had written or recorded, and it would remain a staple of her concerts for the remainder of her career. Wynette wrote the song with

George Richey George Richey (born George Baker Richardson; November 30, 1935 – July 31, 2010) was an American songwriter and record producer. He was born in Arkansas, but raised in Malden, Missouri. Career Richey was a mainstay of the Nashville country mus ...

and

Billy Sherrill Billy Norris Sherrill (November 5, 1936 – August 4, 2015) was an American record producer, songwriter, and arranger associated with country artists, notably Tammy Wynette and George Jones. Sherrill and business partner Glenn Sutton are regar ...

Cover versions

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (born Kenneth Donald Rogers) (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer and songwriter. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particul ...

and

Dottie West Dottie West (born Dorothy Marie Marsh; October 11, 1932 – September 4, 1991) was an American country singer and songwriter. She also had several credits as an actress. A distinguished figure in the country genre, West was among several people ...

released their own version in July 1979 and took it up to #3 on the

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...

s. It was also covered by Billy Gilman on his 2000 album '' One Voice'' and by

Martina McBride Martina Mariea McBride (née Schiff, July 29, 1966) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She is known for her soprano singing range and her country pop material. McBride was born in Sharon, Kansas, and relocated to Nashville, T ...

in 2005 on her '' Timeless'' album.

Lulu Roman Bertha Louise "Lulu" Roman (née Hable; May 6, 1946 – April 23, 2025) was an American comedian, singer and author. She is known for having been a regular on the comedy-music show '' Hee Haw'', which ran from 1969 to 1993. Background Afflicte ...

(of

Hee Haw ''Hee Haw'' is an American television variety show featuring country music and humor with the fictional rural "Kornfield Kounty" as the backdrop. It aired from 1969 to 1993, and on TNN from 1996 to 1997. Reruns of the series were broadcast on ...

fame) released a cover on her 2013 album ''At Last'' featuring Georgette Jones (daughter of

and

George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American Country music, country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for a long list of hit records, and is well known for his distinctive voice an ...

) on harmony vocals. Georgette then released an album with this as the title track in 2013.

Charts

Tammy Wynette

Year-end charts

Kenny Rogers and Dottie West

Year-end charts

References

1976 singles 1979 singles Tammy Wynette songs Kenny Rogers songs Dottie West songs Billy Gilman songs Martina McBride songs Male–female vocal duets Songs written by Billy Sherrill Songs written by George Richey Song recordings produced by Billy Sherrill Song recordings produced by Larry Butler (producer) Epic Records singles United Artists Records singles Songs written by Tammy Wynette 1976 songs Liberty Records singles {{1970s-country-song-stub