Elton John and Kiki Dee were in a Motown mood when they made the song "Don't Go Breaking My Heart."
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"Both Elton and I were big fans of those duets on Motown by the likes of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell and as there hadn't been any around for a bit, we thought we'd do one ourselves," Kiki Dee explained in the book, 1000 UK #1 Hits.
Released on June 21, 1976, in America, "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" marched up the charts, peaking at #1 for the week of August 7, 1976. It remained the #1 song in the country for the entire month, finally falling on September 3, 1976, to the Bee Gees' "You Should Be Dancing." At the end of the year, Billboard cited the track as the #2 Hot 100 song for the year 1976. Listed at #1: Paul McCartney and Wings with "Silly Love Songs."
The one-off single didn't appear on an Elton John studio album until the 1993 LP, Duets.
John has covered and parodied the song multiple times over the years, including a duet with RuPaul, a Snickers commercial, and on The Muppet Show, where he sang the song with Miss Piggy.
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