wayne, who was born thomas wayne perkins, was the brother of johnny cash's guitarist, luther perkins. he released several singles between 1958 and 1964, primarily on the labels fernwood and mercury, including "this time", which would later become a hit for troy shondell. he scored a major u.s. hit with the song "tragedy" (credited to thomas wayne with the delons), which peaked at #20 on the r&b singles chart and #5 on the "billboard" hot 100 in 1959. it sold over one million copies, earning gold disc status.