*** Welcome to piglix ***

Candle in the Wind 1997

"Candle in the Wind 1997"
Something About the Way You Look Tonight & Candle in the Wind 1997.jpg
Single by Elton John
A-side
B-side "You Can Make History (Young Again)"
Released 13 September 1997 (1997-09-13)
Format
Recorded September 1997
Genre Pop
Length
  • 3:59 ("Something About the Way You Look Tonight")
  • 4:11 ("Candle in the Wind 1997")
Label
Writer(s)
Producer(s) George Martin
Elton John singles chronology
"Something About the Way You Look Tonight"
(1997)
"Something About the Way You Look Tonight" / "Candle in the Wind 1997"
(1997)
"Recover Your Soul"
(1998)
Music sample

"Candle in the Wind 1997" is a song by Elton John, a re-written and re-recorded version of his 1973 song "Candle in the Wind". It was released on 13 September 1997 as a tribute single to the late Diana, Princess of Wales, with the global proceeds from the song going towards Diana's charities. In many countries, it was pressed as a double A-side with "Something About the Way You Look Tonight". It was produced by Sir George Martin.

According to the Recording Industry Association of America, with certified sales, it is "the second best-selling single of all time." The Guinness World Records 2009 states that the song is "the biggest-selling single since UK and US singles charts began in the 1950s, having accumulated worldwide sales of 33 million copies".

After being released, "Candle in the Wind 1997" entered at number one in the UK Singles Chart, John's fourth UK number one single, and became the best-selling single in UK Chart history. In October it became John's ninth U.S. number one single, where it topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 14 weeks, and is the best-selling single in Billboard history, and was the first single certified Diamond in the U.S. The song topped the German Singles Chart for seven weeks, the Australian ARIA Charts for six weeks, reached number one in Japan, Canada, France and music charts around the world.

The 1997 version won John the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 40th Grammy Awards ceremony in 1998. At the 1998 Brit Awards the song was nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Single. 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 Jeane, though I never knew you at all," were adapted to "Goodbye England's rose, may you ever grow in our hearts." Most of the lyrics were adapted to suit the circumstances of Diana's life and death, but a notable omission, which needed no adaptation, was the line, "Even when you died, the press still hounded you." which was replaced with the lyric, "Even though we try, the truth brings us to tears."


...
Wikipedia

...