On July 24th 1976 Elton John scored his first UK number 1 single with Don’t Go Breaking My Heart, a duet with Kiki Dee.
It was written by Elton and Bernie Taupin under the pseudonyms “Ann Orson” and “Carte Blanche” and was intended as a pastiche of Tamla Motown’s duet style, notably the various collaborations recorded by Marvin Gaye with singers such as Tammi Terrell and Kim Weston.
Had things worked out differently it would have been Elton & Dusty, because the duet role was offered to Dusty Springfield. When she declined, due to illness, Elton’s sometime backing singer Kiki Dee stepped in and the rest is musical history.
The song became the big hit of summer 1976 in a sun-drenched Britain, where it became Elton’s first UK No.1 after 16 Top 40 hits.
Don’t Go Breaking My Heart resurfaced on Elton’s 1993 Duets album, where he recorded it with RuPaul. You can hear both versions, along with all of Elton’s hits and back catalogue, on our Exclusive radio station.
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