One Of The Best Duets In Classic Rock Became Elton John's First UK No. 1

In 1976, Elton John finally made it to No. 1 in the U.K. with the timeless duet "Don't Go Breaking My Heart." John, who was born and raised in Britain, took longer to ascend to the top of the charts in his home nation than he did in the U.S. Only after he'd already gone all the way to No. 1 in the United States with five other songs was he able to rule the pop chart in the U.K. It was a gentle, playful tune about a deep and abiding fear of infidelity, and collaborating with sweet-voiced rising star Kiki Dee finally allowed John to notch that particular career milestone.

A false assumption about Elton John is that the piano rocker was a superstar at home before he was abroad, but it's just not true, at least in terms of No. 1 hits. "Crocodile Rock," "Bennie and the Jets," "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," "Philadelphia Freedom," and "Island Girl," made it to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Back in the U.K., John's best-performing single before "Don't Go Breaking My Heart," among the best soft rock duets of all time, was the No. 2 hit "Rocket Man." "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" proved undeniable and irresistible on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, spending six weeks at No. 1 in the U.K. and four weeks atop the American pop chart.

Kiki Dee emerged around the same time as Elton John, her duet partner on "Don't Go Breaking My Heart." By mid-1971, John had only charted two Top 40 singles in the U.S.; Kiki Dee's "Love Makes the World Go Round" was a flop in that same timeframe, with the Motown-distributed single topping out at No. 87. When John Reid, the company's executive in the U.K., later managed John, he brought Dee into the singer-songwriter's orbit, and John eventually signed her to his imprint, the Rocket Record Company. Apart from her 1976 team-up with John, Dee could be considered a '70s one-hit wonder, having reached No. 12 in 1974 with "I've Got the Music in Me." With the boost from her very famous boss — who co-wrote the No. 1 "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" under a pseudonym — Dee broke out in the U.S.

In 1993, John returned to "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" and Dee, although separately. The two singles off John's "Duets" collection were a new version of the smash, performed with RuPaul, and a cover of the Cole Porter standard "True Love," that he recorded with Dee. The latter was only a minor hit at adult contemporary radio.