“So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star” was the lead single put out in advance of The Byrds‘ fourth album, Younger Than Yesterday. Released January 9, 1967, it cracked the Top 40 in America, peaking at #29 the week of March 4th. However, it failed to chart whatsoever in the UK.

It’s well-remembered as a scathing critique on the manufactured pop bands of the time. Though often described as a direct put-down of The Monkees, both McGuinn and Hillman have gone on record to dispute that. Though they wrote the song with The Monkees' sitcom in mind, they were really writing about the assembly-line, throwaway nature of mainstream pop stardom.

It remains one of the group’s most popular songs and its warnings about the crazed, fleeting nature of fame are still just as relevant today as they were 50 years ago.