Written by Ronnie Scott and Steve Wolfe, and co-produced with David Mackay, the single was released in November 1977 by RCA Records.

Producer David Mackay finished the construction of his recording studio in mid-1977, and this song was cut during the very first session.

[6] "It's a Heartache" was one of the first recordings Tyler made following a surgical procedure to remove nodules from her vocal folds.

The procedure left Tyler with an "unusually husky voice", which AllMusic journalist Marcy Donelson described as "an effective instrument".

Mackay, Scott and Wolfe threatened to terminate their contract with RCA if they did not release the track immediately.

"[10] In 1978, Juice Newton released a cover through Capitol Records, produced by John Palladino.

Tyler, Newton and Spector's versions were all released in the same week in the United States, with Billboard listing each one as "recommended" tracks.

[51] In the following year, Tyler included a solo version of the song, sung entirely in English, on her album Wings.

American country music group Trick Pony recorded a version of the song for their third studio album R.I.D.E.

Slowly, the song barely missed the top twenty, peaking at number 22 on July 30, 2005 and becoming the most successful single from the album.