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Elton John and Kiki Dee Celebrate 50th-Year of Chart-Topping Duet with Rare Wembley Performance
On Friday, July 24, 2026, a hidden gem slipped into the public eye when the Rocket fan club posted a previously unseen recording of Sir Elton John and Kiki Dee belting out their 1976 classic “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” at Wembley’s Empire Pool. The clip, taken from a charity concert on November 3, 1977, coincides with the single’s 50th‑anniversary milestone and its first reign at the top of the UK Singles Chart.
The track was issued by The Rocket Record Company on June 25, 1976, and was written by John and lyricist Bernie Taupin under the pseudonyms “Ann Orson” and “Carte Blanche.” Conceived as a Motown‑style duet, the song spent six straight weeks at number one in Britain and four weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States.
The Wembley performance was captured during a concert that also featured Stevie Wonder. In the video, John explains that the duo had not planned to perform the number that night. “We weren’t gonna do this number. [But] we found out that a certain person was in the country, so we panicked and we said, ‘Well, we must do it.’ So she has agreed to come on and sing it. It’s Kiki Dee, ladies and gentlemen,” he says.
Released on YouTube by the fan club as a tribute to the song’s half‑century anniversary, the clip is the first public footage of the duo together at Wembley. The Rocket fan club has not posted any live recordings of the duet before, making this upload a rare addition to the public record of John’s performance history.
Since its debut, “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” has become a staple of John’s live shows. The pair have performed the song together more than ten times, including a 2022 appearance at Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium—the final stop of John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour. John has also performed the track with a variety of other performers, from Miss Piggy and RuPaul to Minnie Mouse, the Spice Girls and Ed Sheeran.
The song’s success was part of a broader period of commercial triumph for John in the mid‑1970s. In 1976, he released the album Rock of the Westies, which was later reissued with the single included. The track earned John and Taupin the 1976 Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically.
Kiki Dee, born Pauline Matthews, is an English singer known for her blue‑eyed soul style. Prior to the duet, she had chart success with “Amoureuse” (1973) and “I’ve Got the Music in Me” (1974). Her collaboration with John remains her most commercially successful single, reaching number one in both the UK and the US.
The 1977 Wembley concert was part of a charity event that also featured other notable acts. According to setlist archives, the show took place at the Empire Pool, the original name of what is now Wembley Arena—a venue that has hosted numerous significant performances over the decades.
Releasing the video on YouTube provides a new visual record of a pivotal moment in pop‑music history. It also underscores the enduring popularity of John’s catalog, which continues to generate interest half a century after its original release.
The Rocket fan club’s decision to share the footage aligns with a broader trend of archival releases from the 1970s, offering fans and scholars fresh material for analysis. While the clip does not add new information about the song’s creation or chart performance, it preserves a live rendition that had not previously been available to the public.
In summary, the 50th‑anniversary upload of Elton John and Kiki Dee’s Wembley performance celebrates a landmark single that defined a generation of pop music. The recording confirms the song’s status as a duet icon and provides a rare glimpse into a live show that helped cement John’s legacy as one of the most successful solo artists in history.
The track was issued by The Rocket Record Company on June 25, 1976, and was written by John and lyricist Bernie Taupin under the pseudonyms “Ann Orson” and “Carte Blanche.” Conceived as a Motown‑style duet, the song spent six straight weeks at number one in Britain and four weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States.
The Wembley performance was captured during a concert that also featured Stevie Wonder. In the video, John explains that the duo had not planned to perform the number that night. “We weren’t gonna do this number. [But] we found out that a certain person was in the country, so we panicked and we said, ‘Well, we must do it.’ So she has agreed to come on and sing it. It’s Kiki Dee, ladies and gentlemen,” he says.
Released on YouTube by the fan club as a tribute to the song’s half‑century anniversary, the clip is the first public footage of the duo together at Wembley. The Rocket fan club has not posted any live recordings of the duet before, making this upload a rare addition to the public record of John’s performance history.
Since its debut, “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” has become a staple of John’s live shows. The pair have performed the song together more than ten times, including a 2022 appearance at Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium—the final stop of John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour. John has also performed the track with a variety of other performers, from Miss Piggy and RuPaul to Minnie Mouse, the Spice Girls and Ed Sheeran.
The song’s success was part of a broader period of commercial triumph for John in the mid‑1970s. In 1976, he released the album Rock of the Westies, which was later reissued with the single included. The track earned John and Taupin the 1976 Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically.
Kiki Dee, born Pauline Matthews, is an English singer known for her blue‑eyed soul style. Prior to the duet, she had chart success with “Amoureuse” (1973) and “I’ve Got the Music in Me” (1974). Her collaboration with John remains her most commercially successful single, reaching number one in both the UK and the US.
The 1977 Wembley concert was part of a charity event that also featured other notable acts. According to setlist archives, the show took place at the Empire Pool, the original name of what is now Wembley Arena—a venue that has hosted numerous significant performances over the decades.
Releasing the video on YouTube provides a new visual record of a pivotal moment in pop‑music history. It also underscores the enduring popularity of John’s catalog, which continues to generate interest half a century after its original release.
The Rocket fan club’s decision to share the footage aligns with a broader trend of archival releases from the 1970s, offering fans and scholars fresh material for analysis. While the clip does not add new information about the song’s creation or chart performance, it preserves a live rendition that had not previously been available to the public.
In summary, the 50th‑anniversary upload of Elton John and Kiki Dee’s Wembley performance celebrates a landmark single that defined a generation of pop music. The recording confirms the song’s status as a duet icon and provides a rare glimpse into a live show that helped cement John’s legacy as one of the most successful solo artists in history.