After arriving in Houston, Texas, Nelson was hired to play for the Esquire Ballroom band, where he would be allowed to close the shows singing the song.

It reached number twenty-four on Billboard's Hot Country Singles, and it was included as the title track of Nelson's album.

[1] When he moved to Houston, Texas, Nelson stopped by the Esquire Ballroom to sell his original songs to house band singer Larry Butler.

[4] Buskirk convinced singer Claude Gray to record a set of original songs by Nelson, including "The Party's Over", "Night Life", "Family Bible" and "Leave Alone".

[11] The song was later popularized by former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Don Meredith, who in the 1970s was a color analyst on ABC's Monday Night Football.

After a key play that ended the possibilities of the other team winning the game, Meredith would sing part of the song: "Turn out the lights, the party's over".