Song · Elton John
“Candle in the Wind” by Elton John
From the album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973)
“Candle in the Wind” by Elton John appears on 14 radio countdowns from 10 stations between 1991 and 2025. It was first released in 1973 on the album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Its best result is #94 on the Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (1997). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #7,284 alternative song of all time.
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Bernie Taupin wrote the words, Elton John wrote the tune, and "Candle in the Wind" found its home on Goodbye Yellow Brick Road in 1973: a hushed, aching tribute to Marilyn Monroe, eleven years gone by then. Gus Dudgeon produced, and the band plays it with rare restraint, Davey Johnstone's electric guitar, Dee Murray's bass and Nigel Olsson's drums circling Elton's piano and lead vocal while all three stack soft harmonies behind him.
Britain got it as a single in 1974 and sent it to No. 11; America got "Bennie and the Jets" instead. Elton kept coming back to it, alone at the piano in Sydney in 1986, and again in 1997 with the rewritten "Candle in the Wind 1997" for Diana, Princess of Wales. In 2004 Rolling Stone placed the original at No. 347 among its 500 greatest songs.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
Classic Rock
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 205 | WNEW-FM | WNEW Firecracker 500 (1991) | 500 |
| 1997 | 122 | 100.7 WZLX | WZLX Memorial 500 (1997) | 499 |
| 1997 | 94 | Studio Brussel | Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (1997) | 100 |
| 2001 | 1888 | WFPK | WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2000 |
| 2014 | 186 | Big 100 | BIG 1000 New Year's Countdown (2014) | 1000 |
| 2019 | 189 | 102.5 KZOK | KZOK Top 1025 of 2019 | 1025 |
| 2021 | 738 | Q104.3 | Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2021) | 1043 |
| 2022 | 575 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '70s | 908 |
| 2022 | 207 | WMGK | WMGK Philly 500 (2022) | 500 |
| 2022 | 635 | Q104.3 | Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2022) | 1043 |
| 2023 | 397 | 102.5 WDVE | DVE Memorial Day 500 (2023) | 500 |
| 2023 | 567 | Q104.3 | Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2023) | 1043 |
| 2024 | 413 | Q104.3 | Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2024) | 1043 |
| 2025 | 302 | Q104.3 | Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2025) | 1043 |
Also listed as: Candle In the Wind; Candle In The Wind.
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