About the Song

Among Conway Twitty’s many collaborations, none was more personal or heartfelt than “Don’t Cry Joni.” The ballad was recorded with his then sixteen-year-old daughter, Joni Lee, making it a unique and touching duet between father and daughter.

Released as a single in 1975, the song climbed to No. 63 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It became one of only two major duets outside of Twitty’s legendary partnership with Loretta Lynn, cementing its place as a special moment in his career.

The Story Told in the Song

Written by Conway Twitty himself, the lyrics narrate the bittersweet tale of Joni, a fifteen-year-old girl who falls for Jimmy, her twenty-two-year-old neighbor. With youthful innocence, Joni begs him to wait for her until she’s old enough to marry:

“Jimmy, please say you’ll wait for me. I’ll grow up someday, you’ll see. Savin’ all my kisses just for you. Signed with love, forever true.”

Jimmy, aware of their age gap, gently tells her to forget him, believing she’ll move on with time. Heartbroken, Joni cries as he leaves. Years later, Jimmy cannot forget her words. After searching for love elsewhere, he returns home only to find Joni has married his best friend, John. The song ends with a poignant twist of fate—Jimmy realizes too late that Joni was the love he had been seeking all along.

A Father and Daughter Duet

Conway Twitty’s children all explored careers in country music at some point. His son Mike (known as Charlie Tango) and daughter Kathy (who performed as Jessica James) struggled to find lasting success, making Twitty initially hesitant to let Joni try. But at sixteen, Joni was determined to follow her passion for music.

To encourage her, Twitty brought Joni into the studio to record a demo of “Don’t Cry Joni.” At first, he told her the track would later be re-recorded with a professional singer. But secretly, he had no intention of replacing her voice.

Joni recalled in an interview with Billboard: “I had no idea I was going to be on the actual record. Dad kind of tricked me. He told me he was going to take my voice off the track and replace it with a professional singer.”

To her surprise, when the record was released, her vocals were left intact. The duet became a hit, giving Joni a sudden taste of success. “I was going to college up in Virginia when I found out,” she said. “Dad called and said, ‘You’re not going to believe this—we have a hit record.’ I couldn’t believe my voice was still on it. I even started calling radio stations, asking them to play the new Conway Twitty song with his daughter.”

A Lasting Legacy

“Don’t Cry Joni” remains one of Conway Twitty’s most memorable duets—not just because of its storyline, but because it immortalized a rare and genuine father-daughter collaboration in country music history. What began as a simple demo turned into a charting single that captured both innocence and heartbreak, leaving an enduring mark on fans of Twitty’s music.