"The Bitch Is Back" is a rock song by Elton John, written with lyrics Bernie Taupin. It was the second single released from his 1974 album Caribou, and reached number 1 in Canada (his sixth in that country), number 4 in the United States and number 15 in the United Kingdom. With lyrics parodying John's celebrity lifestyle, the song has been identified as one of his best hard rock cuts. In the U.S., it was certified Gold on 13 September 1995 by the Recording Industry Association of America.

The idea to create the song was inspired not by John or Taupin directly, but rather by Bernie Taupin's wife at the time, Maxine Feibelman, who would say, "The bitch is back," when Elton was in a bad mood. Taupin then wrote the lyrics. Musically, the song originally was written in A-flat major, but is today performed live a half step lower in the key of G major. The saxophone solo in the middle is nowadays usually performed by synthesizers, while a guitar solo occasionally substitutes, as can be seen in the concert videos, One Night Only and Live in Australia.

Several radio stations in the United States and elsewhere refused to play the song because of the word "bitch". For example, in 1976, the program director of WPIX-FM in New York told Billboard, "We will play records that are borderline suggestive records such as 'Disco Lady' by Johnny [sic] Taylor but we will not play 'The Bitch Is Back' by Elton John. We won't play those types of records no matter how popular they get."

Producer Gus Dudgeon added a live version of it, recorded on Thanksgiving night 1974 at Madison Square Garden, at the close of the There disc on the reissued two-CD version of Here and There. It is a concert staple for John, who loves to play the song live to this day, often as his opening number. A mixed media presentation of it, with a video cameo from Pamela Anderson, was created for part of John's very successful Red Piano show in Las Vegas.

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