Considered one of country’s biggest stars, Tammy Wynette had a series of hits with her then-husband George Jones, and one of them was released after a turbulent time in their marriage.
The singer married Jones, her third husband, in 1969 and became a hit music duo on the charts. “We’re Gonna Hold On” has some backstory behind it, as it became Wynette and Jones’ first No. 1 hit on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart and the first chart-topper of their careers.
Like many of their songs, “We’re Gonna Hold On” mirrored their stormy marriage. Wynette had actually filed for divorce in 1973 before the track was ever released. Reports claimed that the country singer largely made the decision based on Jones’ excessive drinking. He had also returned for a binge that lasted several days.
“We’re Gonna Hold On” was released after the couple reconciled in August 1973 as a duet single. Jones told Music City News that he understood his faults and the pain he caused his then-wife.
“I was tired of waking up sick and having people talk about me – having my wife and children mad at me…I just looked at the situation and realized all the pain I was causing, and all the pain I was suffering wasn’t worth it. We love each other very much,” he explained.
The track also has more interesting details behind its backstory. Jones wrote the song alongside Earl “Peanutt” Montgomery, who found inspiration for “We’re Gonna Hold On” from his own blunder with alcohol.
In an interview with the Drifting Cowboy podcast, Montgomery’s wife, Charlene, recalls how he came up with the title for the song. They were all in Jonestown, Pennsylvania, when the couple had been fighting and said something along the lines of, “We’re going to have to stop this mess. We’re going to have to hold on.”
Later on, Montgomery and his wife went to the lounge, where the songwriter raked up a large bill by buying drinks for people. He ended up charging it to Wynette’s room and later worried that the singer would be angry.
Montgomery wrote “We’re Gonna Hold On” based on what the couple said and as a way to save himself from Wynette.
“You went up to their room the next morning to play it to them and sat down beside their bed. You wanted to get yourself out of trouble, but Tammy had done got word before we got there that you had run up a bill on her. So you went ahead and sung the song, and George helped you write and finish it up,” explained Charlene.
“And Tammy said, ‘I love it, Peanut. I’m going to record it, but you ain’t out of trouble for what you did last night.”
The track, born from a hopeful way of getting out of trouble, ended up becoming Wynette and Jones’ biggest chart hit. Sadly, the duo would still divorce in 1975 due to Jones’ continued alcohol consumption, missed recording sessions, and more. Jones gave the singer everything and “didn’t fight it.”
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