"Achy Breaky Heart" is a song written in 1990 by Don Von Tress. First released in 1991 by the Marcy Brothers with the title "Don't Tell My Heart", it was later recorded by American singer and actor Billy Ray Cyrus and released on his debut album, Some Gave All (1992). The song is Cyrus' debut single and signature song. It became the first single ever to achieve triple platinum status in Australia and also 1992's best-selling single in the same country. In the United States, it became a crossover hit on pop and country radio, peaking at 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topping the Hot Country Songs chart, becoming the first country single to be certified platinum since "Islands in the Stream" by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton in 1983. The single topped in several countries, and after being featured on Top of the Pops in the United Kingdom, peaked at No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart. It was Cyrus' biggest hit single in the U.S. until he was featured on "Old Town Road" by rapper Lil Nas X, which peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 27 years later. The music video for the song led to the explosion of the line dance into the mainstream. The song is considered by some as one of the worst songs of all time, featuring at No. 2 on VH1 and Blenders list of the "50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs Ever". However, it later became a cult classic. Background Achy Breaky Heart was written by amateur songwriter Don Von Tress from Cypress Inn, Tennessee, in 1990, according to him "just fooling around on the guitar and a drum machine". The song was initially to be recorded by the Oak Ridge Boys in the early 1990s, but the group decided against recording it after lead singer Duane Allen said that he did not like the words "achy breaky". It was then recorded in 1991 under the title "Don't Tell My Heart" by the Marcy Brothers, although their version changed some lyrics. Billy Ray Cyrus heard Von Tress's version of the song, and chose to include it on his debut album Some Gave All in 1992. It is written in the key of A major and has only two chords: A and E. Critical reception J.D. Considine from The Baltimore Sun wrote, "It would be hard to think of