The song—with its lyrics of "Rock and roll is here to stay / It will never die"—was originally written in response to attacks on
rock and roll music by some conservative
radio stations, including
KWK in
St. Louis, that included the smashing of "undesirable" rock and roll records. It has subsequently been recorded by many other artists, including
Sha Na Na on their debut 1969 album
Rock & Roll Is Here to Stay!. They also released the song as their first single that year. They later performed the song in the 1978 film
Grease as "Johnny Casino and the Gamblers" as
John Travolta and
Olivia Newton-John danced to the song. Sha Na Na performed the song on their syndicated TV show in 1977 during the first season, episode 8, with Screamin' Scott Simon on lead vocals. Sha Na Na performed the song in the 1970 concert film
Festival Express, a train tour of Canada by the leading rock musicians of the era, which was released in 2003 as a documentary. The song appeared in
John Carpenter's
Christine (1983), based on
Stephen King's
novel, and on the soundtrack album.
Showaddywaddy released a recording of the song in 2002.
Kristy McNichol and
Jimmy McNichol,
Tiny Tim,
Cliff Richard,
John Earle, and
Esa Pakarinen have also recorded the song. ==References==