Candle in the Wind 1997
song by Elton John
"Candle in the Wind 1997", also known as "Goodbye England's Rose" and "Candle in the Wind '97", is a song by British musician Elton John and lyricist Bernie Taupin, performed by John. A new version of John's 1973 song "Candle in the Wind", it was produced by George Martin and released on 13 September 1997 as a tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales, who died in a car crash two weeks prior. Global proceeds went towards Diana's charities. In many countries, it was pressed as a double A-side with "Something About the Way You Look Tonight".
The original "Candle in the Wind", also written by Taupin, was a tribute to Marilyn Monroe. John and Taupin adapted the lyrics to suit the circumstances of Diana's life and death at 36 like Monroe. The opening lines, "Goodbye Norma Jean / though I never knew you at all", were adapted to "Goodbye England's rose / May you ever grow in our hearts".
"Candle in the Wind 1997" entered at number one on the UK singles chart after only one day of sales, giving John his fourth UK number-one single, and became the best-selling single in UK chart history. In October it became John's ninth US number-one single; it topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 14 weeks and is the best-selling single in Billboard history. It was the first single certified Diamond in the US. The song also topped the German Singles Chart for seven weeks, the Australian Singles Chart for six weeks, and many other music charts around the world.
“Candle in the Wind 1997” enters the record as song by Elton John. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Candle, Wind and song can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2449307. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1997 and 1973.
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This entry incorporates text from “Candle in the Wind 1997” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.