About The Song
“Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” is a pop duet written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin under the pseudonyms Ann Orson and Carte Blanche. Recorded by Elton John and Kiki Dee, it was released as a single on June 21, 1976, by Rocket Records in the UK and MCA Records in the US. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks starting August 7, 1976, and hit No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart for six weeks, as well as No. 1 in Canada, Australia, France, Ireland, Italy, and New Zealand. It spent 16 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified platinum by the RIAA for one million US sales. The track was not included on an album at release but appeared on John’s 1976 compilation Greatest Hits Volume II and Dee’s 1977 album Stay with Me.
Recorded in May 1976 at AIR Studios in London, the song was produced by Gus Dudgeon. It features John and Dee’s lead vocals, with backing by The Martyn Ford Orchestra, Alan Parker on guitar, Barry Morgan on drums, and Dee’s touring band members Roger Pope, Jo Partridge, and Lesley Duncan. John played a Yamaha electric piano, and the track’s Motown-inspired groove, with its call-and-response vocals, was crafted to evoke a Marvin Gaye-Tammi Terrell duet, as John told Rolling Stone in 1976. The song’s upbeat lyrics about pleading for love’s endurance were written by Taupin in Montserrat, inspired by John’s desire for a fun, chart-topping duet, per Songfacts.
John, already a global star with hits like “Rocket Man,” suggested Dee, a British singer signed to his Rocket label, after her 1974 hit “I’ve Got the Music in Me” (No. 12 UK). Dee, born Pauline Matthews, recorded her part in one take, as she recalled in a 2016 Billboard interview, with John directing her to “sound like Tammi Terrell.” The music video, shot in London, showed John and Dee in a studio with playful choreography, airing on Top of the Pops. The song’s success led to their 1981 duet “Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever,” which didn’t chart. They performed it live at Madison Square Garden in 1976 and during John’s 1980 Central Park concert.
Covers include a 1993 version by RuPaul and John for the Duets album (No. 92 Billboard Hot 100, No. 7 UK), and a 2003 live take by Shania Twain and John. The song appeared in films like Summer of Sam (1999) and Ella Enchanted (2004), and TV shows like Glee (2010). Its creation followed John’s 1975 album Rock of the Westies, with Taupin aiming for a light, commercial hit, per Rhino’s archives. The track’s Grammy nomination for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group in 1977 lost to Chicago’s “If You Leave Me Now,” per American Songwriter.
Video
Lyric
Don’t go breaking my heart
I couldn’t if I tried
Oh, honey, if I get restless
Baby, you’re not that kindDon’t go breaking my heart
You take the weight off of me
Oh, honey, when you knock on my door
Ooh, I gave you my keyOoh-ooh, nobody knows it
When I was down, I was your clown
Ooh-ooh, nobody knows it (nobody knows it)
Right from the start, I gave you my heart
Ooh-ooh, I gave you my heartSo don’t go breaking my heart
I won’t go breaking your heart
Don’t go breaking my heartAnd nobody told us
‘Cause nobody showed us
And now it’s up to us, babe
Ooh, I think we can make itSo don’t misunderstand me
You put the light in my life
Oh, you put the spark to the flame
I’ve got your heart in my sightsOoh-ooh, nobody knows it
When I was down, I was your clown
Ooh-ooh, nobody knows it (nobody knows it)
Right from the start, I gave you my heart
Ooh-ooh, I gave you my heartDon’t go breaking my heart
I won’t go breaking your heart
Don’t go breaking my heartOoh-ooh, nobody knows it
When I was down, I was your clown
Right from the start, I gave you my heart
Ooh-ooh, I gave you my heartDon’t go breaking my heart
I won’t go breaking your heart
Don’t go breaking my heart