Billy Don't Be a Hero US version sold over three and a half million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. in June 1974. Donaldson and the Heywoods's version was a massive hit in Latin America and Japan as well, but it remained largely unknown elsewhere as of late July 2017. "Billboard" ranked it as the No. 21 song for 1974. Despite the song's popularity, it was poorly received, and it was voted No. 8 on "Rolling Stone" magazine's readers' poll of "10 Worst Songs of the 1970s." The song is mentioned as having played on K-Billy's "Super Sounds of the '70s
Billy Don't Be a Hero performed a comedic cover of this song, featuring the altered line, "Where did Billy's head go?" in place of "Billy, keep your head low." Dav Pilkey, creator of Captain Underpants, named the hero of "The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby" Billy solely to make possible a passing homage to "Billy Don't Be a Hero." Since then, the "Billy Don't Be a Hero" homage has been applied to other characters whose names rhyme with "Billy" in several Captain Underpants spin-off comics. In the season 4 episode of "Dinosaurs," the episode title was referenced, "Earl, Don't Be A Hero." Billy Don't Be