It’s an achievement to send a song to the Billboard Hot 100‘s top 10 once. Elton John has become particularly adept at having his compositions reach the region twice.
John’s “Cold Heart (Pnau Remix),” with Dua Lipa, jumps to No. 7 on the latest Hot 100 (dated Jan. 15). While it’s the legend’s first top 10 on the chart in nearly 24 years, it’s also a return to the tier for “Rocket Man,” whose chorus Lipa updates in the mash-up.
In honor of John’s latest such double-up, here’s a look at John’s classics, co-penned with Bernie Taupin, that have hit the Hot 100’s top 10 twice, in various forms.
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“Your Song”
John’s first Hot 100 top 10, of now 28 in his career, rose to No. 8 in January 1971.
In 2014, Aloe Blacc’s “The Man,” which revives the original’s “you can tell everybody” lyrical hook, also hit No. 8. John and Taupin both receive writing credit on “The Man,” whose official video calls back the era in which “Your Song” was first a hit, referencing Martin Luther King Jr. and others who fought for social justice.
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“Rocket Man”
As of this week, both of John’s first two Hot 100 top 10s have been reworked and returned to the bracket.
“Rocket Man” hit No. 6 in July 1972. Nearly 50 years later, “Cold Heart” is within a notch of the original’s peak.
In addition to “Rocket Man,” “Cold Heart” incorporates two other of John’s hits that now contribute to a Hot 100 top 10 for the first time: “Sacrifice,” which reached No. 18 in March 1990, and “Kiss the Bride,” a No. 25 entry in October 1983.
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“Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me”
The original climbed to No. 2 on the Hot 100 in July 1974.
As a live duet with George Michael, recorded at London’s Wembley Arena in March 1991 and released as a single benefiting multiple charities, it shone at No. 1 for a week in February 1992.
Seemingly the live take’s signature moment? Michael’s introduction, as the crowd realizes the surprise, “Ladies and gentlemen … Mr. Elton John!”
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“Candle in the Wind”
After “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” became John’s eighth Hot 100 No. 1, another remake of a prior top 10 of his launched as his ninth, and most recent, leader.
John first released “Candle in the Wind,” his ode to Marilyn Monroe, as an album cut in 1973. It was released as a single via its live version that hit No. 6 in January 1988.
The song added renewed prominence in a third decade. His tribute to the late Diana, Princess of Wales, “Candle in the Wind 1997,” paired with “Something About the Way You Look Tonight,” reigned for 14 weeks from October 1997 to January 1998.
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John and Taupin were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992. John was voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 and received a Grammy Legend Award in 2000.
“I’ve always tried to be relevant,” John recently told Billboard about his longevity. Of “Cold Heart,” specifically, he mused, “A lot of it is, of course, due to Dua Lipa’s popularity and the brilliant Pnau remix, but I feel very, very content and happy that I’m relevant.”
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Tagged: Chart Beat, entertainment blog, music, music blog