Song · Elton John
“Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)” by Elton John
From the album Jump Up! (1982)
“Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)” by Elton John appears on 7 radio countdowns from 3 stations between 2019 and 2025. It was first released in 1982 on the album Jump Up!. Its best result is #366 on the Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2023). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #6,448 indie & aaa song of all time.
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Elton John and Bernie Taupin wrote "Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)" as a tribute to John Lennon, and it arrived on Jump Up!, Elton's 16th album, in 1982, 15 months after Lennon was murdered. It was the album's lead single in the US and its second in the UK. Chris Thomas produced, with Elton at the piano over James Newton Howard's synthesizer and electric piano, Dee Murray's bass, Jeff Porcaro's drums and Richie Zito's guitar.
The friendship behind it was real. In 1974 Lennon turned up on Elton's cover of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", the two made "Whatever Gets You thru the Night" together, and Lennon vowed to join Elton on stage if it hit number one. It did, and on Thanksgiving Day 1974 they played Madison Square Garden: the empty garden of the title.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
Classic Rock
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 726 | 102.5 KZOK | KZOK Top 1025 of 2019 | 1025 |
| 2020 | 1406 | WXPN | WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2020 |
| 2021 | 893 | Q104.3 | Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2021) | 1043 |
| 2022 | 814 | Q104.3 | Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2022) | 1043 |
| 2023 | 366 | Q104.3 | Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2023) | 1043 |
| 2024 | 615 | Q104.3 | Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2024) | 1043 |
| 2025 | 941 | Q104.3 | Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2025) | 1043 |
Also listed as: Empty Garden.
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