Danny Zuko Returns: John Travolta Surprises ‘Grease’ Sing-Along Crowd With Hollywood Bowl Appearance

Oh, those summer nights. It’s been 47 years since the release of Grease, the 1978 movie musical starring Olivia Newton-John as Sandy and John Travolta as Danny, and its blockbuster soundtrack that reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and notched four top-five hits on the Billboard Hot 100. On Friday night (June 27), the movie-star version of Danny Zuko, Travolta himself, reemerged at the Hollywood Bowl.

Travolta — who was in his early 20s during his time at Rydell High on the Grease film set, and is now 71 — made an unannounced appearance Friday at the Hollywood Bowl’s summer Grease Sing-A-Long event, all dressed up as Danny.

The actor captured his leather jacket and slicked-back hair throwback for fans, sharing the moment later on Instagram.

“Tonight at the Hollywood Bowl, for the first time I surprised everyone at the GREASE Sing-A-Long and dressed up as Danny Zuko. No one knew. Not even the cast,” Travolta revealed in his post.

“Thank you for a great evening,” he added, directing followers to swipe to watch a video filmed during his visit to the June 27 get-together for Grease fans, which had encouraged attendees to show up in costume and was advertised as an evening “where you are the stars and Grease is truly the word! Watch Danny, Sandy, and the gang while singing and dancing along to the lyrics as shown on the screen.”

Little did they know that the OG leader of the Rydell High T-Birds would be rockin’ and rollin’ and whatnot amongst them.

“A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop, a-wop-bam-boom!” he led the crowd with glee.

See Travolta’s video clip — and a closeup photo of what Danny Zuko looks like in 2025 — on Instagram here.