1973 Timeless Ballad Became the Longest-Running No. 1 Hit in Classic Rock History
In the spring of 1973, Elton John sat at a piano in the dining room of the Château d'Hérouville in Paris, composing music for his Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album while others ate breakfast. One of the songs he was writing - a quieter, more sincere and introspective departure from his signature theatrical rock hits - would later become one of his biggest songs ever.
"Candle in the Wind," a hidden gem on the rocker's epic double album, was originally written as a tribute to legendary starlet Marilyn Monroe. Once described as "quite magical" by album engineer and musician David Hentschel, the classic rock ballad features Bernie Taupin's lyrics elevated by John's simple piano melody. But even though the song has Monroe in mind, Taupin has since explained that the song is really about any doomed icon.
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"It's not that I didn't have a respect for her; it's just that the song could just as easily have been about James Dean or Jim Morrison … Kurt Cobain. It's a beauty frozen in time," Taupin said, per the Elton John official website.
Released as a single in the U.K. in 1974, the track peaked at No. 11. But in 1997, "Candle in the Wind" became another kind of juggernaut entirely.
When Diana, Princess of Wales, was killed in a car wreck on August 31, 1997, the public were plunged into arguably the darkest time in British royal history. Paying tribute to his longtime friend, John reworked the lyrics of "Candle in the Wind" and performed his lament at the funeral for the People's Princess. "Candle in the Wind 1997," also known as, "Goodbye England's Rose," became a national anthem of mourning.
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In the U.S., "Candle in the Wind 1997" kicked off its record-breaking chart run, spending 14 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the longest-running song of the 20th century, according to Far Out magazine. Nearly three decades later, it remains the U.K.'s best-selling single of all time.
"It's interesting because I very much did that remake literally in about five or ten minutes - no time at all," Taupin shared, per American Songwriter. "And if you asked me to this day to recite the lyrics, I wouldn't be able to remember a word of it. I did it very much as a favor to Elton because he was very close with Diana."
Sales for "Candle in the Wind 1997" soared, with more than 33 million copies sold worldwide, making the single the second highest-selling physical single of all time behind Bing Crosby's "White Christmas," according to Guinness World Records. Still, despite the track's massive success, John refuses to play the Princess Diana version live, out of respect.
"The only way I'll ever sing it again is if the children [Princes William and Harry] ask me," he told The Los Angeles Times. "Otherwise, it would be totally inappropriate." He added, "To me, that's a totally different song, but it may be that the [feelings] will be too closely connected. I think I'm just going to put it to one side now."
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This story was originally published May 12, 2026 at 3:38 PM.