“Rainbow Connection” was first released for the 1979 film, The Muppet Movie. With music and lyrics written by Paul Williams and Kenneth Ascher, the song was performed by Jim Henson – as Kermit the Frog – in the film.

The song reached No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1979 and Williams and Ascher received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song at the 52nd Academy Awards. It was even selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress earlier this year!

Amazingly, the hit song was only performed once on The Muppet Show—Season 5, Episode 9, filmed on August 4th, 1980 to be exact. It was a duet with Blondie lead singer, Debbie Harry, who was the guest star for the episode. You can watch it above and enjoy 🙂