It's My Party

1963 single by Lesley Gore
the song originally by Lesley Gore

"It's My Party" is a song by American singer songwriter Lesley Gore from her debut studio album I'll Cry If I Want To (1963). It was released as the lead single from the album on April 5, 1963, by Mercury Records. The song was collectively written by Herb Wiener, John Gluck Jr., and Wally Gold, while production was helmed by Quincy Jones.

The song lyrically portrays the discomfort of a teenage girl at her birthday party when her boyfriend Johnny disappears, only to return in the company of Judy, another girl, who is "wearing his ring", to indicate he has replaced the birthday girl as his love interest. "It's My Party" is in the key of A major. The song's effectiveness is enhanced by several musical touches that producer Quincy Jones incorporated, including Latin sounding rhythms, double tracked vocals, and effective horn parts. The demo for the song was cut by Barbara Jean English, a girl group veteran (the Clickettes, the Fashions), who was then working as a receptionist at the firm. She also worked with Jimmy Radcliffe, serving as the firm's in house demo singer. Radcliffe produced the demo, and, according to English, "tried to persuade Musicor [the label owned by Aaron Schroeder] to release it as a record, or to take me into a master studio and redo it, but they weren't interested". The song was also recorded by Helen Shapiro for her Helen in Nashville album in February 1963, with Shapiro's regular producer, Norrie Paramor, and also Al Kasha. Shapiro later recalled: "Right from the first time we heard the song on the rough demo back in London, we thought we were going to sock them between the eyes with that one";

In March 1963, Phil Spector heard the demo of "It's My Party" while visiting Aaron Schroeder's office. Wally Gold later recalled: "He [Spector] said, 'Great, I love it. I'm gonna do it with the Crystals.' We [the song's writers] were really excited, because that would ensure that the record was #1!" Schroeder apparently only learned of the Lesley Gore recording of "It's My Party" when Quincy Jones invited him to hear the completed track, which Schroeder found formulaic; believing that Spector would be able to cut a much stronger version of the song with the Crystals and not wanting to lose Spector's good will, Schroeder attempted to convince Jones to suppress the track. Schroeder did not mention Spector's version to Jones, but Jones and Spector both happened to attend a concert with Charles Aznavour at Carnegie Hall on the evening of March 30, 1963, and when they met outside it came up in conversation that Spector had recorded a version of "It's My Party" with the Crystals.#tag:ref|As with "He's a Rebel", the Crystals' hit for which it was intended as the follow up, "It's My Party" was actually recorded not by the Crystals but the Blossoms, who cut the track at Gold Star Studios. Darlene Love says the Spector version was "kinda slow with me and my sister Edna [Wright] singing together on lead. Much more R&B than Lesley Gore's version." Gore released a sequel to "It's My Party", which was titled "Judy's Turn to Cry". In 1999, the song was used as an advertising jingle to promote Burger King's 99 cent meal. In August 2021, a trend of using a remixed version of the song in videos on video sharing app TikTok led to a resurgence of interest in the song.

In 1977, Carroll Baker had a number one country hit in Canada with her version of "It's My Party". In 2010, Amy Winehouse recorded "It's My Party" for a Quincy Jones tribute album Soul Bossa Nostra. In 2015, Melanie Martinez released "Pity Party". The track uses an interpolation of the chorus from "It's My Party". In 2023, Anna Waronker recorded "It's My Party" for season 2 of Apple TV+ animated series Harriet the Spy.