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Candle in the Wind

"Candle in the Wind" is a threnody written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, and performed by John. It was originally written in 1973, in honour of Marilyn Monroe, who had died 11 years earlier.[1]

This article is about the original tribute to Marilyn Monroe. For the later tribute to Princess Diana, see Candle in the Wind 1997. For other uses, see Candle in the Wind (disambiguation).

"Candle in the Wind"

22 February 1974 (1974-02-22)

May 1973

3:50

In 1997, John performed a rewritten version of the song, "Candle in the Wind 1997", as a tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales. In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine listed the original version of the song at No. 347 of its 500 greatest songs of all time.[2]

– piano, lead vocals

Elton John

– electric guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals

Davey Johnstone

– bass guitar, backing vocals

Dee Murray

– drums, backing vocals

Nigel Olsson

: Lead vocals, Piano

Elton John

: Keyboards[13]

Fred Mandel

2003 acoustic remix[edit]

Using the same vocal take as the original 1973 recording, engineer Greg Penny stripped away all instrumentation except Davey Johnstone's acoustic guitar. Even the double-tracking of the lead vocal was removed, leaving Elton and the original backing vocal arrangement of Dee Murray, Nigel Olsson and Davey Johnstone. The remix first appeared as a bonus track on the 30th Anniversary edition of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and subsequently on the 2003 EP Remixed.

Live performances[edit]

From its release until in 1984, John heavily performed this song with his band.[23] From 1985 onwards, John played it solo mostly at the encore of his concerts and he rarely played this song with the band since then.[23]