Which Johnny Cash single reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969?

“A Boy Named Sue” reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969.

Johnny Cash recorded his famous version live at California’s San Quentin State Prison on February 24, 1969. The performance was released as a single on July 2 and also appeared on the album At San Quentin. Its humorous narrative follows a boy seeking revenge on the father who abandoned him and gave him the traditionally feminine name Sue.

The song was written by poet and songwriter Shel Silverstein, who also recorded his own version in 1969. Cash’s performance became a major crossover success: it topped Billboard’s country chart and Adult Contemporary chart while reaching No. 2 on the Hot 100. It spent three weeks in the runner-up position, behind the Rolling Stones’ “Honky Tonk Women.”

“A Boy Named Sue” is sometimes confused with “I Walk the Line,” “Ring of Fire,” or “Folsom Prison Blues,” all major Cash songs. However, none of those reached No. 2 on the 1969 Billboard Hot 100; “A Boy Named Sue” was Cash’s only Hot 100 top-ten single.