"The Rumour" is a song recorded by Australian singer

Olivia Newton-John Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British-Australian singer, actress and activist. She was a four-time Grammy Award winner whose music career included 15 top-ten singles, including 5 number-one singles on the ...

for her 1988 thirteenth studio album of the same name. It was released as the album's

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

in April 1988 through

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it i ...

. The song was written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, and it features

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 ...

and piano by John. '' Cash Box'' said that it's "the snappiest tune that Olivia's done in a long stretch and she rises to the occasion delivering a heartfelt performance."

Personnel

* Olivia Newton-John – lead vocals, backing vocals * Elton John –

digital piano A digital piano is a type of electronic keyboard instrument designed to serve primarily as an alternative to the traditional acoustic piano, both in how it feels to play and in the sound it produces. Digital pianos use either synthesized emulat ...

, lead and backing vocals * James Newton Howard – additional keyboards, additional synthesizer, drum programming *

Davey Johnstone David William Logan Johnstone (born 6 May 1951) is a British rock guitarist and vocalist, best known for his long-time collaboration with Elton John as a member of the Elton John Band. Career Johnstone's first work was with Noel Murphy in ...

– guitar * Neil Stubenhaus – bass *

Carlos Vega Carlos Vega (December 7, 1956 – April 7, 1998) was a Cuban-born Los Angeles-based session drummer best known for his performances with James Taylor. As a part of the L.A. studio scene from the late 1970s through the 1990s, Vega contributed to ...

– drum overdubs * Lenny Castro – percussion * Kim Hutchcroft – baritone saxophone * Gary Herbig – tenor saxophone *

Dan Higgins Dan Higgins (born January 28, 1957 in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American saxophone and woodwind player. He has worked with such artists as John Williams, Seth MacFarlane, Aerosmith, Stevie Wonder, Neil Diamond, Al Jarreau, Maroon 5, Kenny Loggin ...

– tenor saxophone * Lew McCreary – trombone *

Bill Reichenbach Jr. William Frank Reichenbach Jr. (born November 30, 1949) is an American jazz trombonist and composer. He is the son of Bill Reichenbach, who was the drummer for Charlie Byrd from 1962 to 1973. He is best known as a session musician for television, ...

– trombone * Gary Grant – trumpet *

Jerry Hey Jerry Hey (born 1950) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, horn arranger, string arranger, orchestrator and session musician who has played on hundreds of commercial recordings, including Michael Jackson's ''Thriller'', '' Rock with You'' ...

– trumpet * Bruce Roberts – backing vocals

Charts

References

1988 singles 1988 songs Olivia Newton-John songs Mercury Records singles Song recordings produced by Elton John Song recordings produced by James Newton Howard Songs with music by Elton John Songs with lyrics by Bernie Taupin {{1980s-pop-song-stub