Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart, and BMI calculated that radio stations had played it 3 million times from seventeen continuous years of airplay. "Billboard" ranked it as the No. 1 song for 1973. It also reached No. 1 in the UK and Australia, and has sold 1 million copies in the UK. In New Zealand, the song spent 10 weeks at number one. In the Philippines, the song was best known for its use in the return of exiled politician Benigno Aquino, Jr. to the country in 1983, during which Aquino supporters tied yellow ribbons on trees in anticipation
Tony Orlando and Dawn its predecessor (with sketches featuring sarcastic back-and-forth banter between Orlando, Hopkins and Vincent, similar to the sarcastic dialogue between Sonny and Cher) and became a Top 20 hit. With a new record label (Elektra), the group continued their string of hit singles during the show's run, hitting the Top 10 on the Hot 100 and adult contemporary charts, including "He Don't Love You (Like I Love You)" (a reworking of Jerry Butler's "He Will Break Your Heart") (#1), from the album of the same name, and "Mornin' Beautiful" (#14). In 1975 a remake of the Sam Cooke song "Cupid", from