48 Years Ago, John Travolta Scored His First and Only No. 1 Song

A song from one of the biggest movie musicals of all time catapulted John Travolta to the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart 48 years ago today.

On June 10, 1978, the single "You're the One That I Want" from Grease became Travolta's first and only No. 1 hit. For duet partner Olivia Newton-John, the track was her third of five singles throughout her career to reach the top spot, and her only release to reach that milestone with another singer.

Even more surprising? The song hit No. 1 before Grease even premiered on June 16, 1978, at Grauman's Chinese Theater.

Behind the Hit Song

While "Grease" was adapted from the stage musical of the same name, "You're the One That I Want" wasn't in the original show. The song replaced the original ender "All Choked Up," and was written specifically for the movie by frequent Newton-John collaborator John Farrar.

According to the songwriter, Farrar was asked to write Newton-John a ballad for the film after she was cast, which led to "Hopelessly Devoted" being added to the movie. After the filmmakers liked it, he was then asked to write a new song for the ending.

While director Randal Kleiser allegedly didn't think "You're the One That I Want" fit the style of the rest of the movie, it stayed in the film, and the rest is history. Both songs were later added to the stage show as well.

In a 2018 interview with Vanity Fair, Kleiser recalled filming the iconic number, in which Newton-John's Sandy debuts her "bad girl" makeover to Travolta's Danny.

"When we were shooting this, we showed up that day. We had the audio track, but we had not rehearsed it at all. This is something that you normally would not do," he recalled.

"We didn't know it was going to be a hit. Although, it sounded pretty cool and everybody on set who heard it for the first time, went, ‘Wow, that's great,'" he continued. "But the sequence itself, we were just scrambling to do it."

Travolta's Other Chart Successes

While both "Hopelessly Devoted" and "Summer Nights" also made it into the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978, "You're the One That I Want" is the only song on the Grease soundtrack to make it to No. 1. It's also Travolta's only release to reach that height, ever.

Prior to Grease, the actor had released three albums, including his 1976 self-titled debut, the 1977 follow-up Can't Let You Go, and the 1978 compilation, Travolta Fever. His cover of Gary Benson's "Let Her In" is his only solo song to crack the Top 10 on the Hot 100 chart, landing in the 10th position in July 1976.

Travolta had modest chart success with singles "Whenever I'm Away from You" and "All Strung Out on You" prior to Grease, while his soundtrack song "Greased Lightnin'" also made it into the Top 50 on the Hot 100.

1978 was a hot year for Travolta in general, who was riding high on the massive success of Saturday Night Fever, another movie with an incredibly popular soundtrack. Though he appeared on the album cover, he's not a featured performer.

Already a name before starring opposite Travolta in the film, Newton-John's music career continued to flourish following the release of "Grease." The singer would have two additional solo singles-"Xanadu" and "Physical"-reach the No. 1 spot in the years to come.

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Jun 10, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published June 10, 2026 at 4:00 AM.