Tragedy (Bee Gees song)

"Tragedy"
Single by Bee Gees
from the album Spirits Having Flown
B-side	"Until"
Released	February 1979
Format	7" single, 45rpm
Recorded	1978
Genre	Pop rock, disco
Length	5:03
Label	RSO
Writer(s)	Barry, Robin & Maurice Gibb
Producer(s)	Bee Gees, Albhy Galuten, Karl Richardson
Certification	Platinum (RIAA)[1]
Bee Gees singles chronology
"Too Much Heaven" (1978) "Tragedy" (1979) "Love You Inside Out" (1979)

"Tragedy" is a song released by the Bee Gees, written by Barry, Robin & Maurice Gibb, included on their 1979 album Spirits Having Flown. The single reached #1 in the UK in February 1979 and repeated the feat the following month on the US Billboard Hot 100.

Origin

Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb wrote this song and "Too Much Heaven" in an afternoon off from making the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band movie in which they were starring. In the same evening they wrote "Shadow Dancing" which was performed by Andy Gibb (and reached #1 in the US).^[2]

Though not originally in Saturday Night Fever, it has subsequently been added to the musical score of the West End version of the movie-musical. The song knocked "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor off the top spot in the US for two weeks before that song again returned to #1 for an additional week. In the US, it would become the fifth of six consecutive #1s, tying the record with the Beatles for most consecutive #1s in the US.

In 1979, NBC aired The Bee Gees Special which showed how the sound effect for the explosion was created. Barry cupped his hands over a microphone and made an exploding sound with his mouth. Several of these sounds were then mixed together creating one large boom heard on the record. The song is also playable on Rock Band 3.

Charts and certifications

Chart performance

Chart (1979) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report) 2 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[3] 2 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[4] 3 Brazil 1 Canadian RPM Disco Singles[5] 7 Canadian RPM Top Singles[6] 1 Chile 2 Eurochart Hot 100 Singles[7] 1 Finland (Suomen virallinen lista) 7 France (SNEP)[8] 1 Germany (Official German Charts)[9] 2 Irish Singles Chart[10] 1 Italy (FIMI)[11] 1 Japan (Oricon) 32 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[12] 4 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[13] 5 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[14] 1 Norway (VG-lista)[15] 4 South African Chart[16] 2 Spain (PROMUSICAE)[17] 1 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[18] 6 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[19] 2 UK (Official Charts Company)[20] 1 US Billboard Hot 100[21] 1 US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play[21] 22 US Billboard Hot R&B Singles[21] 44 US Cash Box[22] 1 US Record World Singles[7] 1 Sales and certifications Region Certification Sales/shipments Canada (Music Canada)[23] Platinum 150,000^^ France (SNEP)[24] Gold 821,000[25] United Kingdom (BPI)[26] Gold 500,000^^ United States (RIAA)[27] Platinum 2,000,000^^ Total certified sales: 3,150,000 ^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone ^xunspecified figures based on certification alone Steps version In 1998, Steps covered "Tragedy", releasing it as a double A-side with "Heartbeat". It debuted at #2 on the UK Singles Chart, before climbing to the top spot in its eighth week, and achieving platinum status. Charts Chart (1998) Peak position UK (Official Charts Company) 1 See also List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1979 (U.S.) List of million-selling singles in the United Kingdom List of UK Singles Chart number ones of the 1970s References RIAA Gold & Platinum Searchable Database - Bee Gees Platinum Singles. RIAA.com. Retrieved 2009-09-29. Tragedy Songfacts "Austriancharts.at – Bee Gees – Tragedy" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. "Ultratop.be – Bee Gees – Tragedy" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. "Tragedy in Canadian Disco Singles Chart". Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 2 June 2013. "Tragedy in Canadian Top Singles Chart". Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 2 June 2013. Steve Hawtin; et al. "Song title 301 - Tragedy". Tsort.info. Retrieved 7 July 2013. "Toutes les Chansons N° 1 des Années 70" (in French). Infodisc.fr. 2 June 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2013. "Officialcharts.de – Bee Gees – Tragedy". GfK Entertainment. "Tragedy in Irish Chart". IRMA. Retrieved 2 June 2013. 2nd result when searching "Tragedy" "The best-selling singles of 1979 in Italy". HitParadeItalia (it). Retrieved 2 June 2013. 4. Tragedy - The Bee Gees [#1] "Nederlandse Top 40 – Bee Gees search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40. "Dutchcharts.nl – Bee Gees – Tragedy" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. "Charts.org.nz – Bee Gees – Tragedy". Top 40 Singles. "Norwegiancharts.com – Bee Gees – Tragedy". VG-lista. John Samson. "Tragedy in South African Chart". Retrieved 2 June 2013. Danyel Smith, ed. (1979). Billboard 23 june 1979. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 7 July 2013. "Swedishcharts.com – Bee Gees – Tragedy". Singles Top 100. "Swisscharts.com – Bee Gees – Tragedy". Swiss Singles Chart. "1979 Top 40 Official UK Singles Archive - 3rd March 1979". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 June 2013. "Spirits Having Flown awards on Allmusic". Allmusic. Retrieved 2 June 2013. "Cashbox Top 100". Cashbox Archives. March 17, 1979. Retrieved 14 February 2015. "Canadian single certifications – Bee Gees – Tragedy". Music Canada. Retrieved 29 March 2012. "French single certifications – Bee Gees – Tragedy" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved 29 March 2012. Select BEE GEES and click OK "Les Singles en Or :" (in French). Infodisc.fr. Retrieved 29 March 2012. "British single certifications – Bee Gees – Tragedy". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 29 March 2012. Enter Tragedy in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select single in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search "American single certifications – Bee Gees – Tragedy". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 29 March 2012. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH External links Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics