Photo: Eva Rinaldi, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
It may be hard to believe, especially for long time Elton John fans, but the legendary artist has not had a single break into the Billboard Hot 100 for the past 20 years. The great Elton John who had released single after single and album after album in the 1970s and was constantly in the Billboard top 10, has had a rather long dry spell as far as hit pop singles go. And you know what, so what! Unlike another piano man who has not released any new music in over 30 years, Elton John has continued to release albums on a pretty steady basis over the past couple of decades. Some really good, especially the Songs From The West Coast album. Nonetheless, after a twenty year dry period of not breaking into the Billboard top 100, that has all changed as of this week.
In anticipation of the new Elton John album that was just announced, Elton John released the single “Cold Heart,” this past week. The song debuted at number eighty one on the US Billboard Hot 100 breaking Elton John’s long run of not being able to get back into the top 100. The song features the young very successful singer Dua Lipa in a vocal duet with Elton John. While “Cold Heart,” is recorded as a new single, the melody and lyrics are taken from two previous Elton John sings including wonderful song “Sacrifice.” The song was originally released in 1989 on the album Sleeping with the Past. “Sacrifice,” was a number one single in the United Kingdom as well as across Europe on the Eurochart Hot 100 charts. It was a top 20 hit in the United States.
The song “Cold Heart,” not only borrows from the song “Sacrifice,” is also utilizes the chorus form Elton John’s very famous song “Rocket Man. “A song that was sadly used recently on a television commercial for Rakuten. Good Grief! why would you do that Elton? It was worse than the Sassoon commercial from the 80s. At least this time Elton John did not appear in it.
“Rocket Man,” was originally released as a single in 1972 off the Honky Chateau album. The song “Rocket Man,” was a top 10 hit in both the United States and the United Kingdom and would become one of Elton John’s signature songs.
“Cold Heart,” takes the hooks, lyrics and melodies from “Sacrifice ,”and “Rocket Man,” and adds a 1970s style disco beat to the arrangement along with a modern electro pop dance groove. The result was Elton John’s first entry onto the US Billboard Hot 100 singles charts in 20 years. Additionally, with the presence of Dual Lipa on the track, it may mean that a younger audience will discover the music of Elton John.
Elton John’s new album is dues to be released on October 22 2021. The album is titled The Lockdown Sessions. An apparent ode to the series of recordings Elton John has done during the Coronavirus Pandemic. The album will feature ten new Elton John songs that have never been released before. The album opens with the single “Cold Heart,” done with Dua Lipa. The album’s second track entitled “Always Love You,” features a duet between Elton John, Young Thug and Nicki Minaj. The third track features the band Surface with Elton John. Charlie Puth joins Elton John on the album’s fourth track entitled “After All.” The rest of the album also features appearances and duets with major musical stars such as Chad Smith, Miley Cyrus, Gorillas, Yo-Yo-Ma, Brandi Carlile, and the big hitters Stevie Wonder, Stevie Nicks and Eddie Vedder. The late Glen Campbell also makes an appearance on the album. We can’t wait for this one.
Top 10 article published on Classic RockHistory.com© 2021
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