ABBA’s Benny Andersson and Elton John have stepped up their TikTok transition game to remotely perform a live rendition of popular audio on the app that combines the former’s 1979 hit “Chiquitita” with the latter’s 1973 hit, “Bennie and the Jets.” You can check the track out here.
The TikTok audio seamlessly blends the “Chiquitita” into “Bennie and the Jets,” using only instrumental piano from both tracks. In the collaborative video, Andersson sits in front of his jet black piano and plays to the tune before the camera cuts to a pair of hands on a set of gold keys. As he goes, John plays along, smiling in a dazzling custom tracksuit.
“I heard ‘Chiquitita’ was in again…with Elton John!” the caption on the official ABBA TikTok account reads.
“So… what if Benny and the Jets were in ABBA?” the original audio, uploaded in June, imagine. The TikTok user captioned the source video, “For all your beautiful summer transitions.” The audio has since been used in over 54,000 videos on the app.
“Chiquitita” meets “Bennie and the Jets” topped John’s own catalog on the app, his most popular official audio, “I’m Still Standing,” with 34,800 videos. But ABBA is something of TikTok royalty.
The original audio for “Chiquitita” was used in 39,000 videos, but even that isn’t worth the 117,800 videos that feature “Dancing Queen,” the 252,100 uses of “Mamma Mia,” or the 431,800 videos where the soundtrack is “Give Me! Give Me! Give Me! (A man After Midnight)”.
ABBA’s original recording of “Chiquitita” was released in January 1979 as the first single from the group’s sixth album, Voulez-Vous. Agnetha Fältskog performed the lead vocals. It proved to be one of ABBA’s biggest hits and, as of September 2021, it became the Swedish group’s ninth-biggest song in the UK including both pure sales and digital streams.
“Bennie And The Jets” first appeared on Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album in 1973. It remains one of John’s most popular songs and was performed during his appearance at Live Aid.
Listen to the best of ABBA on Apple Music and Spotify.