John Travolta's 1976 Top 10 Hit Song Led Star to a Career-Defining Movie Role
John Travolta's 1976 Top 10 Hit Song Led Star to a Career-Defining Movie Role
Victoria MillerSun, March 1, 2026 at 2:59 PM UTC
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(Photo by ABC Photo Archives on Getty Images)
In 1976, John Travolta was best known as the breakout star on Welcome Back, Kotter. The actor played Vinnie Barbarino on the ABCsitcom, which aired from 1975 to 1979. But by the show’s fourth and final season, Barbarino was seen less and less, and that’s because Travolta was on his way to becoming a major movie star.
The change came in 1976, when Travolta released a pop-rock single titled “Let Her In.” The song appeared on the star’s self-titled album that year and became a hit. “Let Her In” peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in July 1976 and remained on the charts for 20 weeks.
A push from ‘American Bandstand’
Buzz for the song came after Travolta’s April 1976 appearance on American Bandstand. Host Dick Clark introduced the young actor as someone fans would recognize “from Welcome Back, Kotter as the man who plays Barbarino." "Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. John Travolta!" he announced, as the actor appeared onstage wearing an orange turtle neck and black jeans.
After performing the song on TV for the first time, Travolta said, “I want to thank everybody for giving me that response because this is the first time. … It's nice to sing when there's a lot of affinity going on in the air, you know.”
After Clark asked him about his musical background, Travolta replied, ”Well, I'm from New Jersey… and in order to survive in New York City as an actor, you had to learn how to sing and dance. ...I took voice lessons for like two or three years,” he added.
While he was still known as a TV star at the time, Travolta dished that he had landed an exciting big-screen role. “I'm working on a movie now called Carrie,” he told Clark. “And I'm very excited about it because it's the first time in a movie I've been able to act, and it's a serious, dramatic role. And I've done a lot of comedy, and I think I'd like to get into that area a little bit.”
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More movies--and more songs
After Carrie, Travolta starred in the film Saturday Night Fever, where he showed off his dancing skills as Tony Manero. One year later, Travolta’s career skyrocketed when he starred as Danny Zuko in the film version of Grease. The actor recorded multiple Top 10 hits for the soundtrack with co-star Olivia Newton-John, including “Summer Nights” and “You’re the One That I Want.”
In an interview posted by Blackfilm, Travolta credited "Let Her In" for helping to pave the way for his singing role in Grease.
“The good news about that is that it allowed me to do something like Grease, which I wouldn't have if I hadn't done that song,” he shared. “Because that's what stirred them on saying, ’Oh, he can sing, too. Let's pull him into this.’"
During an interview with CNN’s Larry King, Travolta noted that while he had a few hits in the ‘70s, the first big one was “Let Her In.”
Travolta also admitted that he was encouraged to continue on as a rock star, but he followed his bigger passion. “I was much more attracted to acting by nature, because that was what I grew up doing,” the Oscar nominee explained. “But I didn't mind every once in a while, you know, doing that as well, singing.”
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This story was originally published by Parade on Mar 1, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
