"Rubber Duckie" is a song written by Jeff Moss, arranged by Joe Raposo and originally sung by Jim Henson who performed it as the Muppet character Ernie on the television program ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

''. The song is named after Ernie's toy, a rubber duck affectionately named Rubber Duckie. The song's debut was on a ''Sesame Street'' episode which aired February 25, 1970. "Rubber Duckie" was popular enough to be recorded and released as a 45 rpm single and became a surprise mainstream hit, peaking at No. 16 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on September 26, 1970, and at No. 10 in Australia. It was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Recording for Children in 1971 but lost out to the album ''The Sesame Street Book & Record'', which contained the song. The song was followed by other

Sesame Street songs Sesame (; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a plant in the genus '' Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cultivated for ...

about Ernie and his rubber duck, including "Do De Rubber Duck", "D-U-C-K-I-E", "The Honker Duckie Dinger Jamboree", and 1988's " Put Down the Duckie", performed by Hoots the Owl but also featuring Ernie.

Composition

The song is written in the key of

B-flat major B-flat major is a major scale based on B, with pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two flats. Its relative minor is G minor and its parallel minor is B-flat minor. The B-flat major scale is: Changes needed for ...

Other recordings and performances

In 1971, one of The Irish Rovers sings the song on an episode of ''The Irish Rovers Show''.

Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American singer, pianist, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the "Ar ...

performed a rock-and-roll version of the song as a guest on a 1994 episode of ''

''. Bob McGrath recorded the song in his album ''Bob's Favorite Street Songs''. The song made a brief appearance in a scene in '' Three Men and a Little Lady'', and during an episode of '' Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' Daveed Diggs, in costume as Mr. Noodle's Brother Mr. Noodle, performed a hip-hop infused version on Sesame Street's

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel and it’s just like Shake a Tail Feather and When I See an Elephant Fly.

also performed a rockabilly-tinged version of the song, which can also be found on Sesame Street's official YouTube channel. Pianist Dick Wellstood included an instrumental performance of the song on his 1974 live album ''Walkin' with Wellstood''. Jane Krakowski sings the song on her live album ''The Laziest Gal in Town'' (2010). A 2017 re-recorded version of the song features guest appearances by Tori Kelly, James Corden, Sia, Jason Derulo, Anthony Mackie and Daveed Diggs.

References

{{Sesame Street 1970 singles Novelty songs Sesame Street songs Columbia Records singles Bert and Ernie Ducks in popular culture Rubber ducks