Elton John's 'Bennie and the Jets' Nearly Pulled but Became a #1 Hit

Collider reports Elton John's song "Bennie and the Jets" was nearly pulled by John, who reportedly believed releasing it as a single would be a massive failure, but heavy airplay in the Detroit area helped the track gain recognition instead.

Released in 1974 on his seventh studio album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, the song is built around a funky, slightly awkward rhythm and features John on a Farfisa electronic organ amid the rise of Moog synthesizers and other electronic instruments. Co‑written with Bernie Taupin—who envisioned a proto‑sci‑fi punk act led by an androgynous woman—the track became John's second U.S. number‑one hit, spent 18 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and crossed over to the Hot Soul Singles chart, peaking at number 15. Producer Gus Dudgeon created a fake‑live atmosphere by mixing crowd noise, clapping, whistles and shouts into the studio recording.

Decades later the song has continued to resurface: a 2017 music video revisited its futuristic concept, a 2022 TikTok mashup with ABBA's "Chiquitita" was used in roughly 50,000 videos and was joined by Benny Andersson and John in a stitched clip, and John has performed the song with artists including Cher and Lady Gaga. The track has also been used in films such as 27 Dresses, where director Anne Fletcher said the song choice was already written into the script and they debated whether they could "beat this song."

Key Topics

Culture, Elton John, Bernie Taupin, Gus Dudgeon, Tiktok