On This Day in 1969, Bill Anderson Topped the Charts With a Song That Beat Out Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard

There’s a reason that Bill Anderson is the Grand Ole Opry’s longest-running member. Composing his first country hit, “City Lights” in 1957, Anderson has sent seven songs to number one on the country charts and continues to perform even today, at age 88. On this day (May 26) in 1969, he was atop the country charts for the fourth time with “My Life (Throw It Away If I Want To)”.

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The harmonica-fueled song, written by Bill Anderson himself, is a not-so-fond farewell to a soon-to-be former partner. You think this burning fever in my heart is just a folly / And I’m throwin’ away my happiness by leaving you / Well, it’s my life, throw it away if I want to.

Anderson included the song on his 1969 studio album My Life/But You Know I Love You. The title referenced the record’s two singles, with “But You Know I Love You” reaching the top 20 of both the Hot 100 and the adult contemporary chart.

This Bill Anderson Hit Was the Top Country Song of the Year

1969 was a banner year for country music. Johnny Cash released his gospel-fueled hit “Daddy Sang Bass” and the Shel Silverstein-penned “A Boy Named Sue”. Merle Haggard’s defiant anti anti-protest song “Okie From Muskogee” spent four weeks atop the country singles chart. Tammy Wynette dropped the career-defining “Stand By Your Man”.

Despite Cash and Haggard each spending more time at number one, Billboard named Bill Anderson’s “My Life (Throw It Away If I Want To) as its top country song of 1969.

In January 2025, one fan shared a humorous childhood story involving Anderson’s fourth career number-one hit.

[RELATED: Whisperin’ Bill Anderson Reflects on Award-Winning Novelty Song That Took “Three Years and 20 Minutes” to Write]

“My grandmother, who raised me, got onto me and made me mad. I told her, “It’s my life, throw it away if I want to!”, referring to a Bill Anderson song that I had heard,” the letter read. “She proceeded to tear my butt up! I’ll never forget that! Thanks, Bill Anderson!”

Anderson’s other number-one hits include “Mama Sang a Song” (1962), “Still” (1963), “I Get the Fever” (1966), and the Jan Howard duet “For Loving You” (1967).

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