“You’re the One That I Want” is a song performed by American actor and singer John Travolta and Anglo-Australian singer and actress Olivia Newton-John for the 1978 film version of the musical Grease. It was written and produced by John Farrar, and released in 1978 as the second single from Grease: The Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture. The song is one of the best-selling singles in history to date, having sold over 4 million copies in the United States and the United Kingdom alone, with estimates of more than 15 million copies sold overall.
“You’re the One That I Want” was one of the two singles, along with “Hopelessly Devoted to You”, that Farrar wrote specifically for Newton-John’s appearance in the film that had not been in the original stage musical. Randal Kleiser, the film’s director, was not fond of this song because he felt that it did not mesh well with the rest of the Warren Casey-Jim Jacobs score.
Record World called it “a frantic, up-tempo duet between the two stars that is bound to leave listeners breathless.”
Danny Zuko (Travolta), leader of the T-Birds, has recently lettered in cross-country running in an effort to win back his estranged girlfriend Sandy Olsson (Newton-John); unbeknownst to him, Sandy, who has been conflicted about her upright and proper etiquette in a school full of brash greasers, has herself transformed into a greaser queen to win back Danny. In the song, Danny expresses pleasant shock and arousal at Sandy’s transformation, with Sandy responding that Danny must “shape up” to prove himself capable of treating her the right way.
The song originally written at this point in the original musical, “All Choked Up” (which had previously replaced a song titled “Kiss It”), was similar in theme, but different in style, written as a pastiche of Elvis Presley’s “All Shook Up” and with Sandy being more provocative. “All Choked Up” was one of two songs from the Jacobs/Casey score that was excised completely from both the film and the film’s soundtrack. Most 21st-century performances of the musical also include “You’re the One That I Want” instead of “All Choked Up”.
Upon its release in conjunction with the film (and its status as a potential blockbuster worldwide), the single became a huge international hit, reaching number one in several countries.
In the United States, the single reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and on July 18 was certified Platinum for shipments exceeding 2 million copies. (It was already Gold by April 12.)
It also topped the UK Singles Chart for nine weeks in the summer of 1978, some months before the film had even been released in that country. As of 2018, it is still the fifth best-selling single of all time in the United Kingdom, where it has sold two million copies.
In Australia, the single spent nine nonconsecutive weeks at the top and became the best charting single of the year.
A re-released “Martian remix” of the single by PolyGram Records reached #4 in the United Kingdom and #27 in Australia in 1998, the twentieth anniversary of the film’s debut.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
British comedians Arthur Mullard and Hylda Baker also released a version of the song in 1978. Their version reached No. 22 in the United Kingdom.
In 1978, the German comedians Dieter Hallervorden and Helga Feddersen released a parody version under the title Du, die Wanne ist voll. The song reached position number four in the German charts.
Also in 1978, the Swedish crooner Svante Thuresson released a version in Swedish under the title Det ar dej jag vill ha. The song reached position number four in the Svensktoppen.
In 1993, Epic Records released the London cast recording, Grease – Original London Cast Recording, and “You’re the One That I Want” was issued as the lead single by Craig McLachlan and Debbie Gibson (Epic UK 659 522, released July 1993). It peaked at number thirteen in the UK.
In 2021, American rapper and singer Doja Cat performed the song in a commercial for Pepsi to promote their “Soda Shop” line.
A reworked version of the song is featured in a 2023 commercial for British home furnishings retailer Dunelm.
