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"Candle in the Wind 1997" is a remake of his own 1973 hit "Candle in the Wind" by Sir Elton John that was released as a tribute single to Diana, Princess of Wales. With over 37 million copies sold, it is the best-selling single of all time since records began. On release in September 1997, "Candle in the Wind 1997" peaked at number one in the UK, becoming John's fourth number one single, and in most other countries worldwide, also becoming the first song in history to reach the top in each of the four major countries in the music industry: United States, Japan, United Kingdom, and Germany.
The lyrics of the earlier version of "Candle in the Wind," written by Bernie Taupin, were a tribute to Marilyn Monroe. The opening lines of the 1973 version, "Goodbye Norma Jean, though I never knew you at all," were adapted to "Goodbye England's rose, may you ever grow in our hearts." In fact, most of the lyrics were adapted to suit the circumstances of Diana's life and death, but a notable and poignantly ironic omission was the line, "Even when you died, the press still hounded you…"
The lyrics were changed by Bernie Taupin from a tribute to Marilyn Monroe to tribute to Princess Diana and sung by Elton John at Diana’s funeral in front of probably the biggest audience in anyone’s life- a total viewing figure of over 2.5 billion. The re-written lyrics by Bernie Taupin were sold for $400,000, a record for a set of lyrics.
Over 37 million copies of this tribute to Princess Di were sold worldwide making it the biggest selling single of all time. It was the biggest UK single in 1997 selling 4,864,611 copies and accounting for 6.7% of all singles sold that year. It also sold 11 million in the USA earning John a RIAA Diamond Disc for US sales over 10 million (the only single to get such an award).
John won the 1997 Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for this.
Background:
On 31 August 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales was killed in a car crash in Paris, France. The news immediately shocked Elton John, as he and the Princess had been very good friends: he had also lost another good friend, the fashion designer Gianni Versace, earlier in the summer, and had attended his funeral with Diana where she was seen comforting him.
I thought it was very important to project it from a nation's standpoint. I wanted to make it sound like a country singing it. From the first couple of lines I wrote , the rest sort of fell into place
“”
Bernie Taupin on writing the lyrics for "Candle in the Wind 1997"
As a result of these deaths, John sank into a deep depression, and to cope with grief quickly decided he wanted to pay a tribute to Diana. With that in mind, he contacted his veteran writing partner, Bernie Taupin, asking him to write lyrics for a song similar to "Candle in the Wind". However, Taupin misunderstood and thought he was being asked to revise the lyrics of the 1973 song "Candle in the Wind" to honour Diana. As a result, Taupin rewrote the song accordingly. George Martin was contacted to help produce the song, and added a string quartet, (Peter Manning, Keith Pascoe, Levine Andrade and Andrew Shulman), and woodwind (Pippa Davies, flute) to help balance the recording. Elton John met Martin at Townhouse Studios in West London to record the song.
John publicly performed "Candle in the Wind 1997" only once, at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales in Westminster Abbey on 6 September 1997. Though he continues to sing the original 1973 version of the song at his concerts, John has repeatedly turned down requests to perform the 1997 version. He refused even when asked to do so for the memorial Concert for Diana in July 2007, having vowed never to perform it again unless asked by Diana's sons. The song has never been released (or re-released) on any of his other albums or compilations, not even on the 1997 Diana Princess of Wales: Tribute album (an official 2-CD release sanctioned by Diana's family that included other artists such as Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, Queen, Celine Dion and Rod Stewart).
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