The Twist (song) The Twist (song) "The Twist" is an American pop song written and originally released in early 1959 (having been recorded on 11/11/1958) by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters as a B-side to "Teardrops on Your Letter". Ballard's version was a moderate 1960 hit, peaking at number 28 on the "Billboard" Hot 100. Chubby Checker's 1960 cover version of the song gave birth to the Twist dance craze. His single became a hit, reaching number 1 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 on September 19, 1960, where it stayed for one week, and setting a record as the only song to reach
The Twist (song) "Hot 100 50th Anniversary" list of "The "Billboard" All-Time Hot 100 Top Songs in the first 50 years of the Hot 100 chart. It has retained this honor in re-tabulated lists released by "Billboard" in 2013, 2015 and for the "Hot 100 60th Anniversary" chart of "Billboard"s All-Time Hot 100 Top 600 Songs. The song is ranked number 451 on the "Rolling Stone" magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Jim Dawson wrote a 1995 book about the song and the Twist phenomenon called "The Twist: The Story of the Song and Dance That Changed the World"