"Grease" is a song written by

Barry Gibb Sir Barry Alan Crompton Gibb (born 1 September 1946) is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Along with his younger fraternal twin brothers, Robin Gibb, Robin and Maurice Gibb, Maurice, he rose to global fame as a member ...

and recorded by

Frankie Valli Francesco Stephen Castelluccio (born May 3, 1934), better known by his stage name Frankie Valli, is an American singer and occasional actor, best known as the frontman (lead singer) of The Four Seasons (band), the Four Seasons. He is known for ...

: it was released as a single in May 1978. It is the title song for the musical motion picture '' Grease'' of that year, which was in turn based on the 1971 stage play ''Grease''. The song celebrates the greaser lifestyle. It sold over seven million copies worldwide and appeared twice on the film's

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

, first as the opening track and again as the closing track. "Grease" is one of four songs written specifically for the film that had not been in the stage production.

Background

Jim Jacobs Jim Jacobs (born October 7, 1942) is an American actor, composer, lyricist, and writer for the theatre, long associated with the Chicago theater scene. Jacobs is best known for creating the book, storyline, characters, and lyrics for the 1971 m ...

and

Warren Casey Warren Casey (April 20, 1935 – November 8, 1988) was an American theater composer, lyricist, writer, and actor. He was the writer and composer, with Jim Jacobs, of the stage musical '' Grease''. Career Warren Casey was born on April 20, 1935, ...

had written a different title track for '' Grease'' for its original Chicago production, but the song was discarded when the show was picked up on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

was commissioned to compose a new title song for

Robert Stigwood Robert Colin Stigwood (16 April 1934 – 4 January 2016) was an Australian-born British-resident music entrepreneur, film producer, and impresario, best known for managing musicians such as Cream, Andy Gibb, and the Bee Gees; theatrical produc ...

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

of the stage musical.

Production

The song was recorded separately from, and later than, the rest of those in the film. Shortly after the filming of the 1978 musical ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'', Gibb invited castmate

Peter Frampton Peter Kenneth Frampton (born 22 April 1950) is an English-American guitarist, singer, and songwriter who rose to prominence as a member of the rock bands the Herd and Humble Pie. Later in his career, Frampton found significant success as a s ...

to play guitar on the ''Grease'' session, while also providing

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

himself. The other musicians were some of those from the

Andy Gibb Andrew Roy Gibb (5 March 1958 – 10 March 1988) was an English singer and songwriter. He was the younger brother of Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, Robin, and Maurice Gibb, musicians who had formed the Bee Gees during the late 1950s. Andy G ...

album that was being made around the same time.

was approached to provide the vocals, due to his vocal range being similar to that of Barry Gibb, his being under the management of

Allan Carr Allan Carr (; May 27, 1937 – June 29, 1999) was an American producer and manager of stage and screen. He was nominated for numerous awards, winning a Tony Award and two People's Choice Awards, and was named Producer of the Year by the Nation ...

at the time, and his status as a popular singer from the pre-

British Invasion The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when Rock music, rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of Culture of the United Kingdom, British culture became popular in the United States with sign ...

era that ''Grease'' represented. Gibb had a long-standing respect for Valli as "one of the hallmark voices of our generation". Valli accepted, despite suffering from severe

otosclerosis Otosclerosis is a condition of the middle ear, middle and inner ear where portions of the dense enchondral layer of the bony labyrinth Tissue remodeling, remodel into one or more lesions of irregularly-laid spongy bone. As the lesions reach the s ...

and loss of hearing at the time. When Valli recorded "Grease", he did not have a recording contract, having been contracted to

Private Stock Records Private Stock Records was a record label that operated from 1974 to 1978. The label was founded by Larry Uttal after he left Bell Records. The label primarily focused on pop music and had numerous hit records, many of them one-hit wonders, incl ...

which had folded earlier in 1978. After the single was released on the RSO label, which also issued the soundtrack, Valli quickly landed a deal with

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

, which had Valli's group The Four Seasons under contract at the time. Valli did not want to record a full album for RSO because he felt that

had too much control over the Bee Gees' career and had too much of a

conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple wikt:interest#Noun, interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates t ...

in his numerous job titles. "Grease" was one of four songs in the film that had not been part of the original musical, and it was the only one not performed by the cast. Valli had been offered the part of the Teen Angel but chose to sing the theme song instead, stating that although that character's song ("

Beauty School Dropout "Beauty School Dropout" is a song from the musical '' Grease''. It was written by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey, and was performed by Frankie Avalon for the film version and soundtrack album. Overview In the musical, the song is the showcase pie ...

") did not chart as a hit, both Valli and

Frankie Avalon Francis Thomas Avallone (born September 18, 1940), better known as Frankie Avalon, is an American singer, actor and former teen idol. He had 31 charting U.S. ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' singles from 1958 to late 1962, including Record ...

profited mightily from their respective appearances through album royalties, and thus the choice worked out. The film's director,

Randal Kleiser John Randal Kleiser (born July 20, 1946) is an American film and television director, producer, screenwriter and actor. He is best known for directing the films ''Grease (film), Grease'' (1978), ''The Blue Lagoon (1980 film), The Blue Lagoon'' (1 ...

, did not like the added songs because they did not fit the late 1950s/early 1960s style either musically or lyrically, and Kleiser had planned on a different composition by Charles Fox and

Paul Williams Paul Williams may refer to: Authors * Paul Williams (Crawdaddy) (1948–2013), American music and science fiction journalist; founder of ''Crawdaddy'' and the Philip K. Dick Society * Paul Williams (Irish journalist) (born 1964), Irish journalis ...

(Fox having written the theme from ''

Happy Days ''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marsha ...

'') before being overruled by the producers. The anachronism was especially true of "Grease", which used

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

instrumentation and a contemporary 1970s beat but was, nonetheless, left in. The film's opening title sequence animation, with "Grease" being played, was created by animator

John David Wilson John David Wilson (7 August 1919 – 20 June 2013) was an English artist, animator and film producer, producer. He owned his own production studio, Fine Arts Films. Early years Wilson was born on 8 August 1919 in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, ...

's Fine Arts Films studio.

Reception

"Grease" became a number-one single in the United States in 1978 and also reached number forty on the R&B charts in the same year. Later in 1978, Valli released a follow-up album, the title of which, '' Frankie Valli... Is the Word'', echoes the "grease is the word" lyric contained in the chorus of "Grease". To date, "Grease" is Valli's most recent Top 40 hit as a solo artist. ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' said that it has "a hot, seventies dance beat that is far from the fifties" and that "Valli sings it well." As of 2019, "Grease" ranked 220th in

airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...

among songs played on classic hits stations in the United States. By 2024, it had fallen out of the top 500 most-played songs in the format, a casualty of the format's shift toward 1990s music. The

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in ...

never recorded a studio version of this song; however, they later performed the song in their ''One Night Only'' tour from 1997 until 1999 and included a performance (as a virtual duet with Valli's original 1978 studio vocal) on their live album, '' One Night Only'' (September 1998).

Personnel

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

–

The Sweet Inspirations The Sweet Inspirations are an American R&B girl group from Newark, New Jersey, founded by Cissy Houston who are mostly known for their work as backup singers on studio recordings for other R&B and rock artists but who are also a Grammy-nominat ...

–

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

* Joey Murcia, George Terry –

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

* Harold Cowart –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

* Ron Ziegler –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

Gary Brown
– saxophone * Karl Richardson –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

, producer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Cover versions

Craig McLachlan Craig Dougall McLachlan (born 1 September 1965) is an Australian actor, musician, singer and composer. He has been involved in film, television, the music industry and music theatre for over 30 years. He is best known for appearing in the soap o ...

covered the song in 1993. This version reached number 44 in the UK. *

Gareth Gates Gareth Paul Gates (born 12 July 1984) is an English singer-songwriter and actor. He was the runner-up in the first series of the ITV talent show ''Pop Idol'' in 2002. As of 2008, Gates had sold over 3.5 million records in the UK. He is ...

covered the song in 2003 as part of

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: Television TV stations/networks/channels ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network and company, including: **ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network in the United Kingd ...

's ''Greasemania''.Gross Is The Word
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grease (Song) 1978 songs 1978 singles 1993 singles American disco songs American funk songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Craig McLachlan songs Film theme songs Frankie Valli songs RPM Top Singles number-one singles RSO Records singles Song recordings produced by Albhy Galuten Song recordings produced by Barry Gibb Songs about teenagers Songs about youth subcultures Songs from Grease (film) Songs from Grease (musical) Songs written by Barry Gibb Warner Records singles