Stand by Your Man

"Stand by Your Man" was reportedly written in 1968 at Columbia Recording Studios in Nashville in all of 15 minutes. The song came from an idea that originated with Wynette's producer, Billy Sherrill, who along with Wynette is one of the two writers credited. Tammy was not very fond of the song at first because it was unlike anything she had ever written before, and because there is a high note that was hard for her to sing. She said that, over time, she got to love the song, and came to the point where she "couldn't do a show without it." Sherrill originally stated that, before "Stand by Your Man" release, he thought that Wynette's "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" would be Wynette's signature song. However, after witnessing how successful the song came to be in America during that time, Sherrill then agreed that "Stand by Your Man" was definitely Wynette's career-defining hit.

Derided by the feminist movement of the late 1960s and 1970s, Wynette in later years defended the song as not a call for women to place themselves second to men, but rather a suggestion that women attempt to overlook their husbands' shortcomings and faults if they truly love them (and in fact, the last line in the final verse says "after all, he's just a man"). Wynette always defended her signature song. The song remained contentious into the early 1990s, when soon-to-be First Lady Hillary Clinton told CBS' 60 Minutes during the "Gennifer Flowers interview" that she "wasn't some little woman 'standing by my man' like Tammy Wynette."

The song opens Jack Nicholson's 1970 drama film Five Easy Pieces.[6]

Answer songs included Conway Twitty's 1971 No. 1 hit "How Much More Can She Stand" and Ronnie Milsap's "(I'm A) Stand by My Woman Man," a 1976 number that also topped the country music charts.[7]

In 2003, "Stand by Your Man" was rated number one on CMT's 100 Greatest Songs in Country Music. In 2004, "Stand by Your Man" was rated number sixteen on CMT's 100 Greatest Country Love Songs.

Country music star Carrie Underwood performed the song at the Grand Ole Opry in May 2008.[8]

In the 2022 adaptation of Stephen King's novella Mr. Harrigan's Phone, Craig's and the namesake's phone ringtones are set to the song.[9]

In 1996, Heike Makatsch recorded her version of the song, which was used as the soundtrack of the movie Jailbirds. The cover was a great success in the German-speaking countries. In terms of musical genre, the cover remained true to the original, but more pop.

A Hebrew version of the song was written by famed Israeli lyricist Ehud Manor for the 1982 Israeli television show "Red River Valley", which was dedicated to Manor's translations of famous country songs. The Hebrew version, titled "Rak Letzido" (lit. "Only by His Side"), was performed by Riki Gal.

• In 1968, Patti Page covered the song and released it as an easy listening single, peaking at No. 20.
• In 1970, Candi Staton covered the song, peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard R&B chart and at No. 24 on the pop Hot 100.[18] She also reached No. 21 on the Cash Box Top 100.[19]
• In 1979 Tina Turner Covered the song on her album Tina Goes Country
• Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi performed the song in their 1980 film, The Blues Brothers.
• In 1982, Wendy O. Williams of the Plasmatics and Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead released a duet cover the song.
• In 1989 Lyle Lovett famously covered this song for his album Lyle Lovett and His Large Band.
• In 1992, The Chipmunks released a country cover album titled Chipmunks in Low Places. Many of the tracks included their original artists, including Tammy Wynette on Stand By Your Man.
• In 1994, Lisa Brokop covered the song for the soundtrack to the film Harmony Cats. It was released as a single and peaked at number 88 on the RPM Country Tracks chart.[20]
• In 1998, Elton John covered the song for the Tammy Wynette tribute album, Tammy Wynette Remembered.
• In 2012, Willam Belli and Drake Jensen covered the song for Belli's debut studio album The Wreckoning. It was released as the ninth single on November 10, 2012.[21]