Also see:
• Rock 'n' Roll History [1]
• Singing and Stuttering [2]

---

There is a monumental milestone in the stuttering world. It is the 50th anniversary of the song “Bennie and the Jets” by Elton John becoming the first song with stuttering vocals to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was written by lyricist Bernie Taupin and Elton John.

Originally, Elton did not want “Bennie and the Jets” released as a single in the U.S., but lo and behold it gave him a number one song on the Billboard Hot 100, and even crossed over onto the Billboard Soul chart; this accomplishment of which earned him an invitation to appear on the show Soul Train, thus exposing Elton to new audiences.

In the UK, “Bennie and the Jets” was the B-side to “Candle in the Wind” and did not chart. In 1976, it was released as an A-side single in the UK and reached number 37.

“Bennie and the Jets” entered the Top 40 on March 2, 1974 and spent 16 weeks in the Top 40. It reached number one on April 13, 1974, staying in the top slot for one week. It was Elton John’s second number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100, the first being “Crocodile Rock”, which topped the charts for three weeks in February 1973.

Previous to the “Bennie and the Jets” release, two other songs from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road were released as singles and charted in the Top 40. “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting” reached number 12 on the charts, while “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” stalled for three weeks at number two in December 1973 and could not make the jump to the top position.

For “Bennie and the Jets”, Bernie Taupin wrote the lyrics with the imagine of a female leader of a rock band who was almost a sci-fi rock goddess. He wanted the song to be futuristic in that they were supposed to be a prototypical female rock and roll band out of science fiction. Taupin stated in an interview with Melody Maker that it was entirely Elton’s idea to use a stuttering vocal and he thought it worked out well with his futuristic robotic lyrics.

There had been songs with stuttering lyrics prior to “Bennie and the Jets” reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Ironically, soon after “Bennie and the Jets” there would be other number one songs with stuttering vocals, such as “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet” by Bachman-Turner Overdrive (1974), “Jive Talkin’” by The Bee Gees (1975), “Changes” by David Bowie (1975), “Saturday Night” by The Bay City Rollers (1976) and “My Sharona” by The Knack (1979), “The Reflex” by Duran Duran (1984), “Sussudio” by Phil Collins (1985), and a couple of others.

Let us not forgot that we are upon the 50th anniversary of Elton John landing “Bennie and the Jets” on to the top of the charts to be the first song with stuttering vocals to reach number one. Such a milestone should be recognized by the stuttering community.

From the Fall 2024 Magazine