"It Doesn't Matter Anymore" is a pop ballad written by

Paul Anka Paul Albert Anka (born July 30, 1941) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter and actor. He is best known for his signature hit songs including "Diana", " Lonely Boy", " Put Your Head on My Shoulder", and " (You're) Having My Baby". Anka also ...

and recorded by

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer and songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas ...

in 1958. The song was issued in January 1959, less than a month before Holly's death. "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" reached number 13 as a

posthumous Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award - an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication – material published after the author's death * ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1987 * ''Posthumous'' (E ...

hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in early 1959, shortly after Holly was killed in a plane crash on February 3, 1959. The single was a two-sided hit, backed with "

Raining in My Heart "Raining in My Heart" is a song recorded by Buddy Holly on October 21, 1958 at the Pythian Temple on West 70th Street in New York City, with the orchestral backing by Dick Jacobs. The music and lyrics are written by the songwriting team of ...

". "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" was Holly's last US Top 20 hit and featured the orchestral backing of

Dick Jacobs Dick Jacobs (29 March 1918 – 20 May 1988) was an American musician, conductor, arranger, orchestrator, music director and an artists-and-repertoire director for several record labels (Coral, Decca, Brunswick and Springboard). He helpe ...

. It was also successful in the United Kingdom, where it became the country's first posthumous number 1 hit. The song was recorded in mid-October 1958 in New York City. Paul Anka wrote it specifically for Holly. He donated his royalties from the song to Holly's wife. He said: "'It Doesn't Matter Anymore' has a tragic irony about it now, but at least it will help look after Buddy Holly's family. I'm giving my composer's royalty to his widow - it's the least I can do." The song has been covered many times, most commercially successful by

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

-born singer songwriter Mark Williams, who had a number-one hit with it in 1977.

Track listing

#"It Doesn't Matter Anymore" (2:01) #"Raining in My Heart" (2:45)

Chart performance

In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

the song reached number 1 on April 24, 1959, and remained in that position for three weeks, becoming the first posthumous number 1 hit in UK chart history. Holly would continue to achieve posthumous chart success in the UK well into the 1960s. In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

it reached number 13 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. It was Holly's last Top 20 hit in the United States. Internationally, the song reached number 1 in both Canada and Ireland, and also peaked at number 2 in the Australian charts.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Linda Ronstadt version

Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is a retired American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American ...

covered "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" in 1974 on her multi-platinum album ''

Heart Like a Wheel ''Heart Like a Wheel'' is the fifth solo studio album by Linda Ronstadt, released in November 1974. It was Ronstadt's last album to be released by Capitol Records. At the time of its recording, Ronstadt had already moved to Asylum Records and re ...

''. As the B-side of " When Will I Be Loved," it became a double-sided hit in the United States. The single reached number 20 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, number 47 on the Pop chart, and number 54 on the Country chart in the fall of 1975.

Chart history

Mark Williams' version

"It Doesn't Matter Anymore" was covered by

-born singer songwriter, Mark Williams. The song was released in April 1977 as the second single from his third studio album, '' Taking It All In Stride'' (1977). The song peaked at number 1 on the New Zealand charts and was the highest selling single by a New Zealand artist in New Zealand in 1977.

Track listing

; 7" single (EMI – HR 566) Side A: "It Doesn't Matter Anymore"
Side B: "True Love (Is Never Easy)"

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Other cover versions

Wanda Jackson Wanda LaVonne Jackson (born October 20, 1937) is an American singer and songwriter. Since the 1950s, she has recorded and released music in the genres of rock, country and gospel. She was among the first women to have a career in rock and roll, ...

included a cover of this song on her 1961 album, ''There's a Party Goin' On''. * John Barry did an instrumental cover, included on the compilation album ''The EMI Years: 1961''. *

himself recorded this song on his 1963 album, ''21 Golden Hits'', which contains re-recordings of his old hits, most of which he wrote. *

Freddie and the Dreamers Freddie and the Dreamers were an English beat band that had a number of hit records between 1963 and 1965. The band's stage act was enlivened by the comic antics of Freddie Garrity, who would bounce around the stage with arms and legs flying ...

recorded this song for their album '' You Were Mad for Me'' in 1964. *

Al Stewart Alastair Ian Stewart (born 5 September 1945) is a Scottish born singer-songwriter and folk-rock musician who rose to prominence as part of the British folk revival in the 1960s and 1970s. He developed a unique style of combining folk-rock so ...

recorded a cover of the song, which was included as a bonus track on a re-release of his 1972 album ''Orange''. *The song was used in the BBC television series '' Survivors'' episode 9, sung by

Chris Tranchell Chris Tranchell (born Christopher Peter John Small, 13 April 1941) is a British actor, best known for his role in the television drama ''Survivors (1975 TV series), Survivors'' as Paul Pitman. He also appeared in three different ''Doctor Who' ...

in 1975. *

Don McLean Donald McLean III (born October 2, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for his 1971 hit song " American Pie", an eight-and-a-half-minute folk rock "cultural touchstone" about the loss of innocence of the early ...

included a version on his 1978 album Chain Lightning *

Hank Marvin Hank Brian Marvin (born Brian Robson Rankin, 28 October 1941) is an English multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and songwriter. He is widely known as the lead guitarist for The Shadows, a group which primarily performed instrumentals and was the ba ...

performed an instrumental version in 1996 on his album ''Hank Plays Holly''. *

The Seekers The Seekers were an Australian folk-influenced pop quartet, originally formed in Melbourne in 1962. They were the first Australian pop music group to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the United States. They were ...

performed a cover on their 1997 album, ''Future Road''. *

Waylon Jennings Waylon Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He pioneered the Outlaw Movement in country music. Jennings started playing guitar at the age of eight and performed at age f ...

performed a cover as a bonus track on the 1999 reissue of his album "This Time" with

the Crickets The Crickets were an American rock and roll band from Lubbock, Texas, formed by singer-songwriter Buddy Holly in January 1957. Their first hit record, " That'll Be the Day", released in May 1957, peaked at number three on the ''Billboard'' Top ...

in the background *

Eva Cassidy Eva Marie Cassidy (February 2, 1963 – November 2, 1996) was an American singer and guitarist known for her interpretations of jazz, folk, and blues music, sung with a powerful, emotive soprano voice. In 1992, she released her first albu ...

's version of the song was the lead-in to her album ''Imagine'', released posthumously in 2002. *

Serena Ryder Serena most commonly refers to: * Serena Williams (born 1981), professional tennis player Serena may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Serena (genre), 13th-century Occitan poetic genre * ''Serena'' (1962 film), a British crime t ...

recorded a cover on her 2006 album ''If Your Memory Serves You Well''. *

Marty Wilde Marty Wilde, (born Reginald Leonard Smith; 15 April 1939) is an English singer and songwriter. He was among the first generation of British pop stars to emulate American rock and roll, scoring several 1950s hit singles including " Endless Sl ...

recorded the song on the DVD release of ''The 50th Anniversary Concert'' in 2007. *Australian

Gina Jeffreys Gina Jeffreys (also known as Gina Jeffries, Gina Hillenberg and Gina McCormack born 1 April 1968) is an Australian country singer-songwriter and radio presenter. Career In 1991, Jeffreys competed in The Toyota Star Maker Quest at the Tamworth C ...

covered the song on her album, '' Old Paint'' (2010). *In season 11 of the television program ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to A ...

'', Jessica Sanchez, Deandre Brackensick, and Candice Glover performed the song in the Las Vegas round. *

Lucius Lucius ( el, Λούκιος ''Loukios''; ett, Luvcie) is a male given name derived from ''Lucius'' (abbreviated ''L.''), one of the small group of common Latin forenames (''praenomina'') found in the culture of ancient Rome. Lucius derives from L ...

(with

JD McPherson Jonathan David "JD" McPherson (born April 14, 1977), is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. He is known for a retro sound rooted in the rock and roll, rockabilly, and rhythm and blues music of the 1950s. Amon ...

and Jimmy Sutton, recorded live in Brooklyn 2014), included on their 2014 album ''Wildewoman (Extended Edition)''

References

;General Whitburn, Joel (2000). Top Pop Singles 1955-1999. Record Research Inc. . ;Specific {{authority control 1959 singles Buddy Holly songs Linda Ronstadt songs UK Singles Chart number-one singles Songs written by Paul Anka Songs released posthumously Paul Anka songs 1958 songs Coral Records singles EMI Records singles 1977 singles Mark Williams (singer) songs Number-one singles in New Zealand Pop ballads 1950s ballads

Track listing

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Linda Ronstadt version

Chart history

Mark Williams' version

Track listing

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Other cover versions

See also

References