"A Dear John Letter", or "Dear John" is the name of a popular country music song. It was popularized by Ferlin Husky

Ferlin Husky

Ferlin Eugene Husky was an early American country music singer who was equally adept at the genres of traditional honky honk, ballads, spoken recitations, and rockabilly pop tunes...

 and Jean Shepard

Jean Shepard

Ollie Imogene Shepard , better known as Jean Shepard, is an American honky tonk singer-songwriter who was a pioneer for women in country music. Shepard released a total of 73 singles to the Hot Country Songs chart, one of which reached the #1 spot...

, and was a crossover country-pop hit in 1953.

The song played on the concept of a Dear John letter

Dear John letter

A "Dear John letter" is a letter written to a husband or boyfriend by his wife or girlfriend to inform him their relationship is over, usually because the author has found another lover. Dear John Letters are often written out of an inability or unwillingness to inform the person face to face...

while referencing the United States' involvement in the Korean War

Korean War

The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

. Here, a young woman, whose boyfriend John was stationed in Korea, writes stating that she is breaking off the relationship. To add to the heartbreak: She is marrying John's brother, Don, and wants her photograph back (because — according to the lyrics — Don wants it now).

Chart success

"A Dear John Letter" was performed as duet by the two performers, with Husky speaking his part while Shepard sang hers. "Dear John" was released in 1953 and was a big success. The song topped the Billboard magazine country charts and reached No. 4 on the Billboard pop charts; in addition, it turned the unknown singers into star performers in the United States.

When "A Dear John Letter" topped the Billboard country charts, Shepard — at 19 years, nine months — became the youngest artist to that point to have a no. 1 country single. She kept that record for nearly 20 years, when 14-year-old Tanya Tucker

Tanya Tucker

Tanya Denise Tucker is a female American country music artist who had her first hit, "Delta Dawn", in 1972 at the age of 13...

 topped the Hot Country Singles chart with "What's Your Mama's Name."

Cover versions and sequels

"Dear John" has been covered by several other performers, including Pat Boone

Pat Boone

Charles Eugene "Pat" Boone is an American singer, actor and writer who has been a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He covered black artists' songs and sold more copies than his black counterparts...

. Following Husky and Shepard, Skeeter Davis

Skeeter Davis

Mary Frances Penick , better known as Skeeter Davis, was an American country music singer best known for crossover pop music songs of the early 1960s. She started out as part of The Davis Sisters as a teenager in the late 1940s, eventually landing on RCA Records. In the late '50s, she became a solo...

, and Bobby Bare

Bobby Bare

Robert Joseph Bare is an American country music singer and songwriter. He is the father of Bobby Bare, Jr., also a musician.-Early career:...

 recorded the song together in 1965, resulting in a No. 11 country hit for themselves that year. Red Sovine

Red Sovine

Woodrow Wilson Sovine , better known as Red Sovine, was an American country music singer associated with truck driving songs, particularly those recited as narratives but set to music...

 and Ernest Tubb

Ernest Tubb

Ernest Dale Tubb , nicknamed the Texas Troubadour, was an American singer and songwriter and one of the pioneers of country music. His biggest career hit song, "Walking the Floor Over You" , marked the rise of the honky tonk style of music...

 also recorded cover versions of "A Dear John Letter." The song was released as "Käre John" in Sweden/Scandinavia by Swedish jazz vocalist Alice Babs

Alice Babs

Alice Babs is a singer and actor from Kalmar in Sweden. While she has worked in a wide number of genres - e.g. Swedish folklore, Elizabethan songs and opera - she is best known internationally as a jazz singer...

 and Charlie Norman och deras Reeperbahn Stompers in the fifties. Tommy wrote the Swedish lyrics.

Shepard and Husky recording a reply to "Dear John," called, "Forgive Me John", which was another popular country music song.

Between 1972 and 1974, this song was covered by Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

-based female singer Ervinna, backing music by The Charlie & His Boys, on her LP album Golden Hits Of 20th Century Vol. 4 with the local White Cloud Record.

In popular culture

The song was featured in a BASF

BASF

BASF SE is the largest chemical company in the world and is headquartered in Germany. BASF originally stood for Badische Anilin- und Soda-Fabrik . Today, the four letters are a registered trademark and the company is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, London Stock Exchange, and Zurich Stock...

 advertisement for cassette tapes in 1980, which was shown mainly in Australia and New Zealand. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD6S8DZHpG4 http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/2005/film-director-tony-williams/ http://www.filmarchive.org.nz/education/online-resources/SellingNZ-Y13/02,The_Seventies.php http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/dear-john-basf-commercial-1981