"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 Thomas Wayne Perkins (July 22, 1940, Batesville, Mississippi – August 15, 1971, Memphis, Tennessee) was an American singing, singer. He is best remembered as a one-hit wonder for "Tragedy (Thomas Wayne song), Tragedy". Career Wayne was the broth ...

rose to #5 on the

Billboard Top 100 The ''Billboard'' 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), radio play, and online streaming i ...

in 1959. Wayne's hit version was released on

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

-based Fernwood Records, which was owned by Ronald "Slim" Wallace (1957–1965). 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 or viral hit 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 p ...

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), also known as Troy Shondell, was an American vocalist, 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), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

). Despite all of his recordings for 3 different labels before his death in a car crash on August 15, 1971, he never cut an album and there has never been any 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 mem ...

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 continued recording into the 1970s. AllMusic journalist Jason Ankeny says "Hyland's puppy-love pop vir ...

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

Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expresse ...

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 British–American rock band Wings, although credited to "Paul McCartney and Wings". The album was released by Beatles-owned label Apple Records in April 1973, preceded by its lead single, t ...

''. 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. Performing rockabilly, pop and country music, she had 47 US chart hits during the 1960s and is ranked fourth in that decade, surpassed only ...

recorded a version of the song on her 1961 album ''All the Way''.Brenda Lee, ''All the Way''
Retrieved 09-24-11 *Actress and singer

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

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

Ronnie Dove Ronnie may refer to: *Ronnie (name), a unisex pet name and given name * "Ronnie" (Four Seasons song), a song by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe *"Ronnie," a song from the Metallica album ''Load'' *Ronnie Brunswijkstadion, an association football stadium ...

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