“Ringo” was a spoken-word country song that was released by Lorne Greene in 1964. The song rose all the way to number one on the Billboard Hot 100. It also reached the top spot on the Easy Listening chart. It stayed in that position for six weeks.
In addition to singing, Green was also an actor and radio personality. He played Ben Cartwright in Bonanza and Commander Adama in Battlestar Galactica. He also worked on a nature documentary called Lorne Greene’s New Wilderness.
When speaking about the hit song, “Ringo,” Greene told The Morning Union, “How about that? I’m suddenly the Elvis Presley of the Stone Age.”
He continued, “You see a bunch of kids singing, and the audience screaming, but you can’t imagine what it is really like until it happens to you. I now know why all those teenage idols use big electronic instruments. It’s the only way to hold back the crowd.”
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He contributed some of his success to his role on Bonanza, which aired from 1959 until 1973. He also thought the song was successful because it told a complete story, saying, “It’s interesting to speculate on why it is really a success. Greek tragedy has been successful all these years because people have dug it. This song has Greek tragedy about it: a man saves another man’s life and thereby dooms himself.”
To this day, there are still many fans of this song. As one listener on YouTube said, “They don’t write songs like this anymore… Wonderful lyrics.” Another said, “Lorne Greene was another great voice for narration. I could listen to him narrating anything.”
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Greene released several more songs throughout his lifetime. He performed “Bonanza,” which was a tribute to his famous series. He also performed “I’m a Gun,” “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” and “Saga of the Ponderosa.”
Greene died in 1987 due to complications from pneumonia. He was 72.
This story was originally published by Parade on Sep 23, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
