"Tragedy" is a song by Gerald H. Nelson and Fred B. Burch.

Thomas Wayne recording

A recording of the song by Thomas Wayne and the DeLons rose to #5 on the

Billboard Top 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), on ...

in 1959. Wayne's hit version was released on

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

-based Fernwood Records, which was owned by Ronald "Slim" Wallace from 1957 to 1965. The single was made with a trio of girls recruited from the local high school. Wayne was a

one hit wonder A one-hit wonder is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music performers with ...

who cut around 20 songs including a remake of his hit for the reactivated Sun label which sounds similar to the original. Some of his other songs were hits for others such as " This Time" (

Troy Shondell Gary Wayne Schelton (May 14, 1939 – January 7, 2016), better known as Troy Shondell, was an American singer, who achieved fame in the early 1960s. He became a transatlantic one-hit wonder, by releasing a single that made the record charts ...

) and "Girl Next Door Went a Walkin'" (

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

). Despite all of his recordings for three different labels before his death in a car crash on August 15, 1971, he never cut an album and there was no CD issued of his songs until 2021 when Jasmine Records released every Thomas Wayne recording from his debut in 1958 to the end of 1962.

Other recordings

*A 1961

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

The Fleetwoods The Fleetwoods were an American vocal group from Olympia, Washington, whose members were Gary Troxel (born November 28, 1939), Gretchen Christopher (born February 29, 1940), and Barbara Ellis (born February 20, 1940). Early history The band ...

rose to #10 on the charts. *

Brian Hyland Brian Hyland (born November 12, 1943) is an American pop singer and instrumentalist who was particularly successful during the early 1960s. He had a No. 1 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 with " Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot B ...

also recorded it in 1969, but it only made it to #56. *

Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces both lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-drag ratio, which compares the bene ...

also recorded a version of the song for the planned 2-LP set ''

Red Rose Speedway ''Red Rose Speedway'' is the second studio album by the English-American Rock music, rock band Paul McCartney and Wings, Wings, although credited to "Paul McCartney and Wings". It was released through Apple Records on 4 May 1973, preceded by its ...

''. The idea for the 2-LP set was later abandoned and instead they released a single LP with the same title, but without "Tragedy". Wings' version was officially released on the 2018 deluxe edition of Red Rose Speedway which included the original proposed double album. *

Brenda Lee Brenda Mae Tarpley (born December 11, 1944), known professionally as Brenda Lee, is an American singer. Primarily performing rockabilly, pop, country and Christmas music, she achieved her first ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' hit aged 12 i ...

recorded a version of the song on her 1961 album ''All the Way''. *Actress and singer

Bette Midler Bette Midler ( ;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and author. Throughout her five-decade career Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Bette Midler, numero ...

recorded a version of the song on her 1976 album ''Songs For the New Depression''. *Pop and country singer

Ronnie Dove Ronald Eugene Dove (born September 7, 1935) is an American pop music, pop and country music singer who had a string of hit pop records in the mid to late 1960s and several country chart records in the 1970s and 1980s. Early life Ronnie Dove, th ...

recorded a country version of the song in 1976, although it failed to chart.

References

1959 singles 1961 singles 1969 singles The Fleetwoods songs Brian Hyland songs Brenda Lee songs 1959 songs Songs written by Fred Burch Paul McCartney and Wings songs Paul McCartney songs Song recordings produced by Paul McCartney {{1950s-single-stub