About The Song
“That’ll Be the Day” was released by Linda Ronstadt as a single in August 1976 via Asylum Records. It serves as the opening track on her album Hasten Down the Wind, issued August 21, 1976. Produced by Peter Asher, the song runs 2:32 and was deliberately recorded live in the studio with minimal overdubs to echo the raw, spontaneous feel of Buddy Holly’s original. The arrangement delivers crisp rock-and-roll energy with tight guitars, steady drums, and Ronstadt’s bright, defiant vocal that adds a fresh 1970s edge.
Written by Buddy Holly, Jerry Allison, and Norman Petty in 1956, the track became Holly & The Crickets’ breakthrough No. 1 hit in 1957. Asher suggested the cover to Ronstadt, and the band captured it quickly, preserving the hiccupping rhythm and playful attitude of the source material while giving it new life.
The lyrics form a sassy, confident rebuttal to a breakup threat: “Well, that’ll be the day when you say goodbye / That’ll be the day when you make me cry / You say you’re gonna leave me, you know it’s a lie / ‘Cause that’ll be the day that I die.” The narrator refuses to accept abandonment, turning potential heartbreak into swaggering dismissal. The chorus repeats the title phrase with bold insistence, flipping vulnerability into strength.
The single climbed to No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 11 on the Cash Box Top 100, while reaching No. 27 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs. In Canada it peaked at No. 2 and ranked as the 35th biggest hit of 1976. The B-side was Ronstadt’s take on Willie Nelson’s “Crazy.” The album Hasten Down the Wind earned a Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and went platinum.
The track appears on Linda Ronstadt’s Greatest Hits (1976) and the 2011 Buddy Holly tribute album Listen to Me: Buddy Holly. Ronstadt performed it live throughout the late 1970s, where its upbeat drive made it a concert highlight. Critics praised how her version shifted her sound further toward accessible rock without losing country roots.
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Lyric
[Chorus]
Well, that’ll be the day when you say goodbye
That’ll be the day when you make me cry
You say you’re gonna leave me, you know it’s a lie
‘Cause that’ll be the day when I die[Chorus]
Well, that’ll be the day when you say goodbye
That’ll be the day when you make me cry
You say you’re gonna leave me, you know it’s a lie
‘Cause that’ll be the day when I die[Verse 1]
Well, you gave me all your lovin’ and your turtledovin’
All your hugs and kisses and your money too
You know you love me, baby, still you tell me maybe
That someday, well, I’ll be through[Chorus]
Well, that’ll be the day when you say goodbye
That’ll be the day when you make me cry
You say you’re gonna leave me, you know it’s a lie
‘Cause that’ll be the day when I die[Verse 2]
When Cupid shot his dart, he shot it at your heart
So if we ever part and I’ll leave you
You kiss and hold me and you tell me boldly
Well, that some day, well, I’ll be through[Chorus]
Well, that’ll be the day when you say goodbye
That’ll be the day when you make me cry
You say you’re gonna leave me, you know it’s a lie
‘Cause that’ll be the day when I die[Outro]
Oh, that’ll be the day, ooh
That’ll be the day, ooh
That’ll be the day, ooh
That’ll be the day when I die