| Candle In The Wind 1997 |
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"Candle in the Wind 1997" is a specially released single from Elton John released as a tribute to the late Diana, Princess Of Wales . Released in 1997 , the song peaked at number one in the UK becoming John's fourth number one single. It also peaked at number one in the USA, Australia, and Canada. Besides being known for being a tribute to Diana, the single is also known for being the world's best-selling single of all time. As a result, the song is also John's most successful single. SONG INFORMATION The song was written by John and Bernie Taupin , and was produced by George Martin . As its title implies, the song is a Remake of his 1973 single " Candle In The Wind ". The song was originally written in 1973 to sympathize with the life and times of Marilyn Monroe . However, other circumstances would cause John to revisit the song to dedicate to another person. On 31 August 1997 , Diana, Princess of Wales, was killed in a car crash. The news immediately shocked John as he and the Princess had been very good friends. He had also lost another good friend, the fashion designer Gianni Versace , just weeks before. As a result of these deaths, John sank into a deep depression, and considered not going to the funeral due to the emotional trauma. In the end, he decided to attend after receiving support from other friends. Following the recovery, John decided he wanted to pay a tribute to Diana. With that in mind, he contacted his veteran writing partner, Bernie Taupin and they helped re-write lyrics for the new version of the song. George Martin was contacted to help produce the song, and added a string quartet and woodwinds to help balance the song. In this memorial anthem John express the grief felt not only by him, but from those around the world who admired Diana. With the new lyrics, John draws parallels between her life and that of the aforementioned Marilyn Monroe (the opening line of the song is changed from "Goodbye Norma Jean" to "Goodbye England's Rose"). More comparisons between the two can also be seen as both Monroe and Diana had very difficult lives filled with many problems causing them both of them to suffer from depression. John sums up his feelings about Diana being like a candle in the wind, as he states "And it seems to me you lived your life, Like a candle in the wind...never fading with the sunset, when the rain set in. And your footsteps will always fall here..along England's greenest hills...your candle's burned out long before...your legend ever will...." John sang "Candle in the Wind 1997" in public, for the first and only time in history, at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, in Westminster Abbey on 6 September 1997 . Due to the nature of the lyrics John has repeatedly turned down requests to perform the song live. The song has also never been released on any of his albums. (John released an album ''The Big Picture'' shortly after her death, but did not include it there either.) However, he has made an exception to this rule, and has stated that he will only play the song again if requested by Diana's sons. To date, this request has not been made. At concerts, he performs the original 1973 version. In 2005, ''Q'' Magazine included the 1997 version in a list of "Ten Terrible Records by Great Artists". CHART PERFORMANCE As the song was a tribute to the popular Diana and because pre-order numbers had been high, it was expected by chart analysts for the song to top the charts, but its results were record breaking. In its first week on sale, it became the fastest-selling single in the UK, selling 658,000 copies in the UK on that day alone, and over 1.5 million copies in its first week. The single would remain at number one for 5 weeks. All in all, it eventually sold 4.86 million copies in the UK, overtaking " Do They Know It's Christmas? " to become the Best-selling Single of all time in the UK. The response in the USA was quite similar. It became the 7th song in history to debut at number one, and sold over 1 million copies in its first week. As a result, the single held on to the number one position for several weeks, with 14 weeks at the top in all, the record for a male solo artist. All in all, it sold over 11 million copies in the USA to become the all-time Best-selling Single , after receiving advance orders of nearly 9 million. Besides being the best-selling single in the USA, it also the most shipped single in the USA with a certification of 11x Platinum . This makes "Candle in the Wind 1997" the only song in the USA ever to be certified for more than 4 million copies sold, and the first and only diamond single ever. Its success was also seen in most countries around the world. In Canada, it spent three years in the top 20, with 45 weeks at the top spot. (However, the song's unusual chart performance in Canada has also been explained as a structural factor -- due to the relative lack of CD singles available for sale in Canadian stores, in some weeks the song was able to chart on sales of less than 100 copies across the entire country.) From a worldwide perspective, over 33 million copies were sold around the globe, making it the best-selling single of all time worldwide, although it should be noted that this sales figure takes into account only CD singles and was released after the era of the traditional single had effectively ended; Bing Crosby 's " White Christmas " remains the biggest-selling traditional vinyl single. It is estimated that at the peak of sales, almost six copies of the single were sold across the world ''per second''. All artist and composer Royalties and record company profits were donated to the Diana, Princess Of Wales Memorial Fund . COMPREHENSIVE CHARTS U.K. International |
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