| "The Great Pretender" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by The Platters | ||||
| from the album Encore of Golden Hits | ||||
| B-side | "I'm Just a Dancing Partner" | |||
| Released | November 3, 1955 | |||
| Recorded | 1955 | |||
| Genre | Rhythm and blues, doo-wop | |||
| Length | 2:36 | |||
| Label | Mercury | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Buck Ram | |||
| Producer(s) | Buck Ram | |||
| The Platters singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"The Great Pretender" is a popular song recorded by the Platters, with Tony Williams on lead vocals, and released as a single in November 1955. The words and music were written by Buck Ram,[1] the Platters' manager and producer who was a successful songwriter before moving into producing and management. The song reached No. 1 on Billboard's Top 100, and No. 5 on the UK charts.
The song has been covered by a number of singers, most notably by Freddie Mercury, whose version reached No. 4 on the UK charts. Sam Cooke's cover of the song is believed to have inspired Chrissie Hynde to name her band the Pretenders.[2]
- ^ Buck Ram interviewed on the Pop Chronicles (1969)
- ^ Sobsey, Adam (2017). Chrissie Hynde: A Musical Biography. University of Texas Press. p. 10. ISBN 9781477310397.