On This Day in 1977, Dolly Parton Set a Chart Record with a Single That Outperformed Every Other Country Hit for More Than a Decade

On this day (December 31) in 1977, Dolly Parton’s “Here You Come Again” entered its fifth consecutive week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. It was the last single to spend that long at the top of the chart until 1990, when one of George Strait’s biggest hits achieved the feat. The song was also a major crossover success for Parton.

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“Here You Come Again,” and the album of the same name marked a major turning point in Parton’s career. When she first came to Nashville, she had to fight to be a country singer. At the time, her label believed her looks and voice made her a better fit for the bubblegum pop scene. Finally, she got her way and began to find chart success with country music material. However, as time went on, Parton started to feel the draw of the pop world.

[RELATED: On This Day in 1977, Dolly Parton Topped the Charts With Her Longest-Running No. 1 Single–a Song Originally Intended for a Different History-Making Artist]

She never wanted to leave country music behind, though. Instead, Parton wanted to find an even larger audience for the art she created. To do so, she knew she needed to find crossover success. “Here You Come Again” was her first major crossover hit. It spent five weeks at the top of the country chart. It also peaked at No. 3 on the Hot 100. Additionally, it earned Parton a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

While “Here You Come Again” was a success on the pop chart and almost won a Grammy in the pop category, Parton did all she could to keep her country sound at the heart of the song. For instance, she enlisted Al Perkins to play steel guitar on the song.

How Dolly Parton (Kind of ) Set a Chart Record

“Here You Come Again” was a historic hit for Dolly Parton. It was her longest-running No. 1 single. It was also the last country single to retain the top spot for five weeks for more than a decade. George Strait’s 1990 single “Love Without End, Amen” was the next single to achieve the feat.

However, this was all happening in the long shadow of the Buck Owens hit “Love’s Gonna Live Here.” The single spent 16 weeks at the top of the country chart. No other single would come close to that for nearly 50 years. More specifically, the first song to spend 10 weeks at No. 1 after Owens’ massive run was Taylor Swift’s “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” in 2013.

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