50 years after first striking gold with “Your Song,” Sir Elton John has now tallied his 58th Top 40 hit. His Dua Lipa-assisted “Cold Heart (PNAU Remix)” rose to No. 32 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week, allowing him to pass Michael Jackson’s previous record of Top 40 appearances (excluding holiday songs) spanning 46 years, eight months, and three weeks.
“Your Song” climbed to No. 38 on the chart dated December 19th, 1970, marking a span of 50 years and 10 months between The Rocket Man’s very first Top 40 hit and his latest. Prior to “Cold Heart (PNAU Remix),” John last scored a Top 40 hit in 1999 with his LeAnn Rimes collaboration “Written in the Stars.”
“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,” John recently told Billboard about “Cold Heart”‘s popularity. “I think a lot of that is due to my [Apple Music] show [‘Rocket Hour’]. My object when I do that is to play new music by new artists. I’ve come into contact with them, promote[d] them, and become friends.”
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When including holiday songs, late rock pioneer Chuck Berry holds the record with an incredible span of 62 years and five months of Top 40 hits. “Johnny B. Goode” and “Beautiful Delilah” appeared on the inaugural chart on August 4th, 1958, and his most recent appearance was with “Run Rudolph Run” (January 9th, 2021).
“Cold Heart (PNAU Remix)” appears on John’s upcoming collaborative album The Lockdown Sessions, which also features Rina Sawayama (“Chosen Family”), Miley Cyrus (“Nothing Else Matters”), Stevie Wonder (“Finish Line”), and more.
Recently, John was forced to postpone his ongoing “Farewell Yellow Brick Road: The Final Tour” after sustaining a hip injury. However, he is set to resume touring in 2022, and you can find tickets to the upcoming dates here.
