Who wrote the hit Three Dog Night song “Joy to the World”?

Written by Hoyt Axton and recorded by Three Dog Night (TDN), “Joy to the World” was released in November, 1970 on “Naturally”, the band’s fourth studio album. It was edited and re-released as a single in February, 1971.

When the single reached the top spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 Chart that year, Hoyt Axton and his mother, Mae Axton, became the first mother and son to each have written a number one rock-pop single, as Mae had co-written Elvis Presley’s first number one hit, “Heartbreak Hotel”.

Axton wrote the melody and approached his producers about recording it. They asked him to sing it using any lyrics. When Axton approached TDN’s lead vocalists, his opening lyrics were, “Jeremiah was a prophet”. None of the three appreciated that, but while Danny Hutton and Cory Wells rebuffed the song, Chuck Negron embraced it.

The band had been dealing with internal issues and Negron thought that a “silly” song would help them pull together. Rather than just the three main vocalists, all seven band members sang it.

With Jeremiah a bullfrog rather than a prophet, the song became a hit. It is featured in the 1983 film “The Big Chill”, and has been covered many times. It is also played after each Denver Broncos home victory.