The Four Seasons hit #1 with “Big Girls Don’t Cry”

Big Girls Don’t Cry The Four Seasons

Writer(s): Bob Gaudio, Bob Crewe (see lyrics here) First Charted: October 20, 1962 Peak: 15 BB, 14 CB, 13 GR, 16 HR, 13 RB, 13 UK, 12 CN, 11 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, -- UK, 1.0 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 1.0 radio, 18.5 video, 88.24 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Five weeks after the Four Seasons got their first #1 with “Sherry” they were back on top again with “Big Girls Don’t Cry.” The two songs “were recorded at the same session and it was a toss-up as to which would be released first. As it turned out, it didn’t matter. They both established Frankie Valli’s falsetto voice and the danceable rhythms of the group as the definitive East Coast sound, with its roots in doo-wop and R&B music of the fifties.” FB The two songs – both of which spent five weeks at #1 – were very similar. The group’s chief songwriter Bob Gaudio said, “I didn’t feel it was the freshest follow-up…After the success of ‘Sherry,’ we had to follow it up with something vaguely similar. The harmonies were structured differently, a little bigger.” FB The group would reach #1 again in early 1963 with “Walk Like a Man,” making them the first group in history to have three consecutive non-holiday #1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100. “Big Girls Don’t Cry” was inspired by a line in the 1955 Western Tennessee’s Partner, which starred Ronald Reagan with John Payne and Rhonda Fleming. In one scene, Payne slaps Fleming and asks her what she thinks about that. She responds, “Big girls don’t cry.” According to the liner notes in Time-Life Records’ Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, Gaudio was dozing off during the movie, but heard the slap. He wrote the line on a scrap of paper and wrote the song the next morning. WK However, another account attributes the story to Bob Crewe, the Four Tops’ producer and the song’s other writer. SF While not featured on the blockbuster soundtrack to the 1987 movie Dirty Dancing, this song played in the opening scene of the movie. It also appeared in the movies The Main Event (1979) and Mermaids (1990). SF Resources: FB Fred Bronson (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (5th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 120. SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 3/12/2021; last updated 5/12/2025.

 

Fergie hit #1 with “Big Girls Don’t Cry”

Big Girls Don’t Cry (Personal) Fergie

Writer(s): Stacy Ferguson, Toby Gad (see lyrics here) Released: May 22, 2007 First Charted: May 5, 2007 Peak: 11 US, 17 BA, 18 RR, 16 AC, 17 A40, 2 UK, 13 CN, 19 AU, 24 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 5.0 US, 0.6 UK, 6.39 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 0.8 radio, 596.7 video, 496.67 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Fergie was with the band Wild Orchid for ten years before joining the hip-hop group Black Eyed Peas in 2002. The group took off with her as a member – the albums Elephunk (2003) and Monkey Business (2005) moved 8 and 10 million copies worldwide respectively. In 2006, Fergie decided to release her first solo album – The Dutchess. With 9 million in sales worldwide, it matched her group efforts and the album’s five top-five singles gave her even more chart success as a solo act than what the Peas had previously achieved. “Big Girls Don’t Cry” was the fourth single from the album and the third to top the Billboard Hot 100. It made her the first female artist since Christina Aguilera in 2000 to have three #1 songs from an album. BB Instead of relying on the hip hop and urban elements of the previous singles, this one was an acoustic-based ballad featuring credits from about thirty instrumentalists, including eighteen violinists and players on viola, celli, bass, drums, and keyboards. WK The song is about breaking up with someone, but reminiscing about what that person was like. Fergie told AOL the song, which she wrote before she joined the Black Eyed Peas, was about independence. SF About.com’s Bill Lamb noted that it represented artistic growth for Fergie and UKMix.org’s Alex MacGregor praised the song as timeless. WK “Big Girls” also reached #1 in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, and Norway. WK and was Fergie's first No. 1 on the U.S. Mainstream Top 40, Adult Contemporary and Adult Top 40 charts. BB It was iTunes most-downloaded song in 2007. SF Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Fergie BB Billboard (9/08). “All-Time Hot 100” SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Last updated 8/6/2023.