Jeremiah Was A... Bullfrog? Three Dog Night's Accidental Hit 'Joy To The World'

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Three Dog Night as pictured on the cover of the 1970 album 'Naturally.' Source: Amazon

Kicking off with the opening line "Jeremiah was a bullfrog," Three Dog Night's "Joy To The World" was a #1 hit for the band in 1971. In fact, it spent six weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and was the #1 single of the year. Three Dog Night didn't write "Joy To The World" -- that was Hoyt Axton -- and its curious line about a bullfrog named Jeremiah wasn't even intended to be committed to vinyl, much less played on radio.

The story behind the hit song, which saw a resurgence in popularity with its inclusion on the soundtrack of The Big Chill, is really quite unusual and amusing. It was an unlikely story of irony and success.