Starting Over Again (Donna Summer song)

"Starting Over Again"
"Starting Over Again"
Single by Reba McEntire
from the album Starting Over
B-side	"I Won't Mention It Again"
Released	1996
Recorded	1995
Genre	Country
Length	4:07
Label	MCA Nashville
Songwriter(s)	Donna Summer, Bruce Sudano
Producer(s)	Tony Brown, Reba McEntire
Reba McEntire singles chronology

"Starting Over Again"
"Starting Over Again"
Single by Dolly Parton
from the album Dolly, Dolly, Dolly
B-side	"Sweet Agony"
Released	February 25, 1980
Recorded	December 1979
Genre	Country
Length	3:58
Label	RCA
Songwriter(s)	Donna Summer, Bruce Sudano
Producer(s)	Gary Klein
Dolly Parton singles chronology

"Starting Over Again" is a song recorded by American entertainer Dolly Parton. The song was written by Donna Summer and her husband Bruce Sudano.^[1] Parton's recording was performed as a slow tempo ballad, gradually building to a dramatic crescendo. It was released in March 1980 as the first single from her album Dolly, Dolly, Dolly. "Starting Over Again" made the U.S. pop top forty, peaking at number 36, and reached number 1 on the U.S. country charts on May 24, 1980, becoming Parton's 12th number one. ^[2] Dolly’s recording would also make Donna Summer the first black female to co-write a number 1 country hit.^[3]

Donna Summer performed it live numerous times on television specials during the 1980s, including her own program, The Donna Summer Show. A studio version of the track has yet to surface.

Content

The song tells the story of a middle-aged couple separating after 30 years of marriage. It was based upon the divorce of Sudano's parents.

Chart history

Weekly

Chart (1980)	Peak position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)^[4]	1
US Billboard Hot 100^[5]	36
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)^[6]	35
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	2

Year-End

Chart (1980)	Peak Position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)^[7]	22

Reba McEntire cover

Reba McEntire also covered the song in 1995 for her Starting Over album. Released as the album's third single, McEntire's version peaked at number 19 on the Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.^[8] In the album's liner notes, McEntire wrote that she chose to cover the song as a tribute to Parton and Summer, both artists whom she'd admired.

Chart history

Chart (1996)	Peak position
Canada Country Tracks (RPM)^[9]	26
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)^[10]	19

Other cover versions

Martine McCutcheon covered "Starting Over Again" in 2001.

References

^ Tennessean Music Team (24 July 2009). "Bruce Sudano's 'Wedding Day' rings bells with listeners". Advertisement Music. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 262.
^ "How Donna Summer made black female history on country charts before Beyoncé". 23 February 2024.
^ "Dolly Parton Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
^ "Dolly Parton Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
^ "Dolly Parton Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard.
^ "Billboard Hot Country Songs - Year-End Charts (1980)". Billboard. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1844-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 226.
^ "Top RPM Country Tracks: Issue 2987." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. June 3, 1996. Retrieved July 20, 2013.
^ "Reba McEntire Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.

External links

Starting Over Again lyrics at Dolly Parton On-Line
Listen to "Starting Over Again" on YouTube (Donna Summer)
Listen to "Starting Over Again" on YouTube (Dolly Parton)
Listen to "Starting Over Again" on YouTube (Reba McEntire)

This 1980 country song-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] Tennessean Music Team (24 July 2009). "Bruce Sudano's 'Wedding Day' rings bells with listeners". Advertisement Music. Retrieved 19 September 2015.

[2] Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 262.

[3] "How Donna Summer made black female history on country charts before Beyoncé". 23 February 2024.

[sc_Billboardcountrysongs_Dolly_Parton-4] "Dolly Parton Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.

[sc_Billboardhot100_Dolly_Parton-5] "Dolly Parton Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.

[sc_Billboardadultcontemporary_Dolly_Parton-6] "Dolly Parton Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard.

[7] "Billboard Hot Country Songs - Year-End Charts (1980)". Billboard. Retrieved 4 December 2020.

[8] Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1844-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 226.

[sc_Canadacountry_-9] "Top RPM Country Tracks: Issue 2987." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. June 3, 1996. Retrieved July 20, 2013.

[sc_Billboardcountrysongs_Reba_McEntire-10] "Reba McEntire Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

v t e Reba McEntire singles
Albums Singles Videos
1970s	"I'd Really Love to See You Tonight" (with Jacky Ward) "Sweet Dreams"
1980s	"(You Lift Me) Up to Heaven" "I Can See Forever in Your Eyes" "I Don't Think Love Ought to Be That Way" "Today All Over Again" "Only You (And You Alone)" "I'm Not That Lonely Yet" "Can't Even Get the Blues" "You're the First Time I've Thought About Leaving" "Why Do We Want (What We Know We Can't Have)" "There Ain't No Future in This" "Just a Little Love" "He Broke Your Memory Last Night" "How Blue" "Somebody Should Leave" "Have I Got a Deal for You" "Only in My Mind" "Whoever's in New England" "Little Rock" "What Am I Gonna Do About You" "Let the Music Lift You Up" "One Promise Too Late" "The Last One to Know" "Love Will Find Its Way to You" "A Sunday Kind of Love" "I Know How He Feels" "New Fool at an Old Game" "Cathy's Clown" "'Til Love Comes Again" "Little Girl"
1990s	"Walk On" "You Lie" "Rumor Has It" "Fancy" "Fallin' Out of Love" "For My Broken Heart" "Is There Life Out There" "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" "The Greatest Man I Never Knew" "Take It Back" "The Heart Won't Lie" (with Vince Gill) "It's Your Call" "Does He Love You" (with Linda Davis) "They Asked About You" "Why Haven't I Heard from You" "She Thinks His Name Was John" "Till You Love Me" "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter" "And Still" "On My Own" "Ring on Her Finger, Time on Her Hands" "Starting Over Again" "You Keep Me Hangin' On" "The Fear of Being Alone" "How Was I to Know" "I'd Rather Ride Around with You" "What If It's You" "If You See Him/If You See Her" (with Brooks & Dunn) "Forever Love" "Wrong Night" "One Honest Heart" "What Do You Say"
2000s	"I'll Be" "We're So Good Together" "I'm a Survivor" "Sweet Music Man" "I'm Gonna Take That Mountain" "Somebody" "He Gets That from Me" "My Sister" "You're Gonna Be (Always Loved by Me)" "Love Needs a Holiday" "Because of You" (with Kelly Clarkson) "The Only Promise That Remains" (with Justin Timberlake) "Every Other Weekend" (with Kenny Chesney or Skip Ewing) "Strange" "Consider Me Gone"
2010s	"I Keep On Loving You" "Turn On the Radio" "If I Were a Boy" "When Love Gets a Hold of You" "Somebody's Chelsea" "Going Out Like That" "Until They Don't Love You" "Just Like Them Horses" "Softly and Tenderly" "Back to God" "God and My Girlfriends" "Freedom"
2020s	"Does He Love You" (with Dolly Parton) "I Can't"
Other singles	"Mind Your Own Business" (with Hank Williams Jr.) "Oklahoma Swing" (with Vince Gill) "Cowgirls Don't Cry" (with Brooks & Dunn) "Forever Country" (with Various artists) "Be a Light" (with Thomas Rhett) "What If"