"I'm Sorry" is a 1960 hit song by 15-year-old American singer Brenda Lee. It peaked at No. 1 on the BillboardHot 100 singles chart in July 1960. AllMusic guide wrote that it is the pop star's "definitive song", and one of the "finest teen pop songs of its era". It was written by Dub Allbritten and Ronnie Self. On the UK Singles Chart, the song peaked at No.12. According to the Billboard Book of Number One Hits by Fred Bronson, Brenda Lee recorded the song early in 1960, but her label, Decca Records, held it from release for several months out of concern that a 15-year-old girl was not mature enough to sing about unrequited love. When the song finally was released, it was considered to be the flip side of the more uptempo "That's All You Gotta Do". Although "That's All You Gotta Do" was a chart success in its own right, reaching No. 6 on the Hot 100, it was "I'm Sorry" that became the smash hit and the standard. On other charts, "I'm Sorry" peaked at number four on the R&B chart and "That's All You Gotta Do" peaked at number nineteen on the R&B charts. "I'm Sorry" was released as the A-side when the single was released in the UK in July 1960. "I'm Sorry" was not one of Lee's more successful singles in the UK, where Lee's previous single, "Sweet Nothin's", and several later releases were substantially bigger hits. Although "I'm Sorry" was never released to country radio in the United States as a single, it would in time become accepted by American country fans as a standard of the genre. The song—a fixture on many "country oldies" programs—was an early example of the new "Nashville sound", a style that emphasized a stringed-instrumental sound and background vocals. A remake of "I'm Sorry" was a minor hit for Joey Heatherton in 1972 reaching No. 87 on the Billboard Hot 100. Recorded July 26, 1972, the track was issued that November as the second single from The Joey Heatherton album being the followup to Heatherton's sole Top 40 hit "Gone". "I'm Sorry" has also been recorded by Bobby Vee, Jane Morgan, Dottie West, Allison Durbin, Billy Joe Royal and Roch Voisine. A recording by Pat Boone made in 1960 was first released on the 2006 Pat Boone box setThe Sixties 1960-1962. A Czech-language rendering of "I'm Sorry", titled "Roň Slzy", was recorded in 1965 by Yvonne Přenosilová. There is also a lesser known version by Helena Vondráčková. "I'm Sorry" has since been rendered in Danish as "Jeg be'r dig" recorded by Birthe Kjær on her 1974 album Tennessee Waltz and in Flemish as "Vergeef me" recorded by Mieke. Alvin and the Chipmunks covered the song for their TV series episode "The Secret Life of Dave Seville". Ben Vaughn referenced it in his song "I'm Sorry ". The song was sampled in the Sweet Valley track "Hypomania". It was used as an interlude in Beyoncé's 2016 tour The Formation World Tour and in episode 3 of the Netflix series The End of the F***ing World.
