"(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song" is an American

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

and pop song made famous by

B. J. Thomas Billy Joe Thomas (August 7, 1942 – May 29, 2021) was an American singer widely known for his pop, country and Christian hits of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Popular songs by Thomas include "Hooked on a Feeling" (1968), "Raindrops Keep Fallin' ...

. It won the 1976

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

for

Best Country Song The Grammy Award for Best Country Song (sometimes known as the Country Songwriter's Award) has been awarded since 1965. The award is given to the songwriter(s) of the song, not to the artist, except if the artist is also the songwriter. There ha ...

, awarded to its songwriters Larry Butler and

Chips Moman Lincoln Wayne "Chips" Moman (June 12, 1937 – June 13, 2016) was an American record producer, guitarist, and songwriter. He is known for working in R&B, pop music and country music, operating American Sound Studios and producing hit albums lik ...

. The song debuted at number 99 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on February 1, 1975. The hit song became Thomas' second number 1 single on April 26, 1975. At ten words, including the parenthetical part "Hey Won't You Play", it became the longest title of any single to top the Hot 100 up to that time. It would hold the record for six years until "

Stars on 45 Stars on 45 was a Dutch novelty pop act that was successful in Europe, the United States, and Australia in the early 1980s. The group later shortened its name to Stars On in the U.S., while in the UK and Ireland it was known as Starsound (aka S ...

" by

, whose proper charting title is 41 words long due to a copyright agreement, climbed to the top in the summer of 1981. It also topped ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Easy Listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...

chart, and was the last of his four Number Ones on that chart. It also hit number 1 on the ''Billboard''

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart. ''Billboard'' ranked it as the number 17 song for 1975. Although Thomas would not have any major country hits for another eight years, this hit song paved the way for his future success as a mainstream artist in that genre. In 1976, the song was performed by the Muppets on ''

The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and featuring the Muppets. The series originated as two pilot episodes produced by Henson for ABC in 1974 and 1975. While neither episode was moved forward as a s ...

''. In 1979, Larry Butler produced a cover version by

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particularly popular with country audiences but also charted mo ...

and

Dottie West Dorothy Marie Marsh West (October 11, 1932 – September 4, 1991) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Along with her friends and fellow recording artists Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn, she is considered one of the genre's most in ...

, for their album ''

Classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

''.

Alvin and the Chipmunks Alvin and the Chipmunks, originally David Seville and the Chipmunks or simply The Chipmunks, are an American animated virtual band and media franchise first created by Ross Bagdasarian for novelty records in 1958. The group consists of three s ...

and Butler covered the song for the 1981 album ''

Urban Chipmunk ''Urban Chipmunk'' was the first country album by Alvin and the Chipmunks, released on February 4, 1981. The title parodies the 1980 movie '' Urban Cowboy''. Track listing Original 1981 release ''Urban Chipmunk'' was released on CD in 1993. ...

''. Butler produced the song again in 1981 on Sammy Davis' album Closest of Friends. "(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song" was certified gold for sales of one million units by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hey Won't You Play Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song 1975 singles B. J. Thomas songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Songs written by Chips Moman Song recordings produced by Chips Moman ABC Records singles Songs written by Larry Butler (producer) 1975 songs Songs about music