"Candle in the Wind" (1997) by Sir Elton John was a hit song on both sides of the Atlantic and a tribute to a world icon, although its co-writer wasn't too fond of the tune.
Lyricist Bernie Taupin discussed rewriting Candle in the Wind 24 years after the song's original release in honor of Princess Diana, who passed away in 1997, during an appearance on Andy Cohen's SiriusXM radio show on Monday.
Having worked with Sir Elton since the 1960s, Bernie said that he still thinks it's probably one of the biggest-selling singles of all time.
He added that the fact that it was global in scope made it truly remarkable.
He stated that he completed the update "in about five or ten minutes," but claimed he couldn't recall a word of the lyrics if asked to perform them today.
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A tribute to Marilyn Monroe, the original version of Candle in the Wind was released on Sir Elton's 1973 album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.
In the fifty years following its first publication, the song has experienced multiple cultural comebacks.
The song's music video, which Sir John released in 1986 and included footage from an Australian concert, quickly became popular on MTV. After that, he dedicated the song four years later to Ryan White, an Indiana teenager who contracted HIV through a blood transfusion and went on to become the face of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
At Diana's burial on September 6, 1997, Sir Elton sang Candle in the Wind 1997 and made a promise never to perform it live again. He received a Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance the next year thanks to the song.
The chorus was changed to highlight Diana's enduring legacy, noting, "Your footsteps will always fall here, along England's greenest hills."
According to Bernie Taupin, he rewrote the song's lyrics "very much as a favor to Elton, because he was very close with Diana," after a conversation with Andy Cohen.
"I didn't know her," he continued. He explained that like so many others, be showed very little interest in her day-to-day activities. Currently at the age of 73, Bernie is promoting "Scattershot: Life, Music, Elton And Me," a new biography.
Apart from his enduring partnership with Sir Elton, he has also contributed tunes to the careers of Alice Cooper and Emmylou Harris, among other musicians.
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