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Don't Go Breaking My Heart

"Don't Go Breaking My Heart"
Don't Go Breaking My Heart Single.jpeg
Single by Elton John and Kiki Dee
B-side "Snow Queen"
Released 21 June 1976
Recorded March 1976
Genre Pop
Length 4:28
Label Rocket (UK)
MCA (US)
Writer(s) Ann Orson (Elton John)
Carte Blanche (Bernie Taupin)
Producer(s) Gus Dudgeon
Elton John chronology
"Love Song"
(1976)
"Don't Go Breaking My Heart"
(1976)
"Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word"
(1976)
Kiki Dee chronology
"Once a Fool"
(1975)
"Don't Go Breaking My Heart"
(1976)
"First Thing in the Morning"
(1977)

"Don't Go Breaking My Heart" is a duet by Elton John and Kiki Dee. It was written by Elton John with Bernie Taupin under the pseudonyms "Ann Orson" and "Carte Blanche" (a pun on the expression "an horse and cart, blanche"), respectively, and intended as an affectionate pastiche of the Motown style, notably the various duets recorded by Marvin Gaye and singers such as Tammi Terrell and Kim Weston. It is not to be confused with the Burt Bacharach/Hal David song of the same title recorded in 1965 by Dionne Warwick for the album Here I Am.

John and Taupin originally intended to record the song with Dusty Springfield, but ultimately withdrew the offer; Dusty's partner Sue Cameron later said this was because she was too ill at the time.

Writers John and Taupin received the 1981 Ivor Novello award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically.

Unlike many of John's singles from the 1970s, it was never included on an original album (although it was recorded during the Blue Moves sessions), but was subsequently released as the third single on the album Duets, in early 1994. This version of the song was recorded with RuPaul, and the album included another duet with Kiki Dee, Cole Porter's "True Love."

"Don't Go Breaking My Heart" was the first No. 1 single in the UK for both John and Kiki Dee, topping the chart for six weeks in mid 1976. John would not enjoy a solo British chart-topper until "Sacrifice" in 1990. It also became his sixth No. 1 single in the US, topping the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks and spent one week on the Easy Listening chart.Billboard ranked it as the No. 2 song for 1976. In the U.S. it was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. After this duet with Dee, John failed to have another #1 single, without sharing the top song with other credited artists, until his 1997 smash "Candle in the Wind 1997". This 21-year "Kiki jinx" included two intervening #1 hits in America for John: "That's What Friends Are For" by Dionne & Friends in 1986; and, a 1992 re-make of John's "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" with George Michael credited as a duet.


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Wikipedia

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