Most musician-actor crossovers will spend time chasing success in one performance field before switching to the other, but John Travolta is a notable exception. The actor, singer, and dancer proved he could have his cake and eat it too after dominating the musical charts within the first decade of his entertainment career.
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After dropping out of high school to become an actor in New York City, Travolta picked up gigs in touring theatre troupes before making the big move to Los Angeles. It didn’t take long for Travolta to land roles in movies like Carrie and sitcoms like Welcome Back, Kotter. Six years into his move to the West Coast, John Travolta was well on his way to becoming one of the hottest actor-musicians in the business.
In 1978, two songs associated with Travolta films—one of which he sings on—topped global charts that summer. Indeed, it was John Travolta’s world. Everyone else was just living in and singing along to it.
John Travolta Movies Dominated the Charts in 1978
Of all the years encompassed in his decades-long career, 1978 was perhaps the most fortuitous for a young John Travolta. He starred as Danny Zuko in the film adaptation of Grease, opposite Olivia Newton-John as Sandy Olsson. The movie came out in June of that year, and its corresponding soundtrack became an instant hit. Songs like “You’re the One that I Want”, “Grease”, and “Hopelessly Devoted to You” became impossible to avoid on the radio and at subsequent award ceremonies. “Summer Nights” was even more pervasive, breaking into the top five in the U.S., U.K., and throughout Europe.
And how can anyone blame the general public in 1978? With all its 1950s coyness and call-and-response features, it’s no wonder people wanted the song to “tell me more, tell me more.” The song spent a whopping seven weeks at No. 1 in the U.K. But amazingly, that wasn’t the only song related to a John Travolta film that dominated the charts.
That same year, John Travolta starred in Saturday Night Fever, a dance drama film which featured several songs by The Bee Gees, including “Stayin’ Alive”, “More Than a Woman”, “How Deep Is Your Love”, and “Night Fever”. While all of these tracks turned into successful hits, the U.K. latched onto “Night Fever” in particular, pushing the disco song to No. 1, the same placement it would receive in the U.S., Spain, Canada, and Ireland.
All of this tremendous success followed Travolta’s top ten Billboard Hot 100 hit, “Let Her In”, which he released as a solo artist in 1976. You might have had a good year in 1978, but we’d argue John Travolta had an even better one.
Photo by Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
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