Elton John

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Lore & Background

The collaboration represents more than just a duet; it is an act of musical preservation and reinvention. By weaving together melodies from John's songs "Rocket Man" (1972), "Kiss the Bride" (1983), "Sacrifice" (1989) and "Where's the Shoorah?" (1976) with modern synth textures, the project honored the past while firmly planting its feet in the future. It showcased Dua Lipa's ability to adapt her vocal style to complement a seasoned performer known for his piano-driven ballads. Within the universe of pop culture, this track signaled a new era where legacy acts and current stars could coexist on equal footing. The production team, the dance music group Pnau, crafted a seamless blend that made familiar tunes feel fresh again. The friendship between the artists was established through John's participation in Lipa's Studio 2054 livestream in November 2020 and further strengthened by Lipa's performance at the Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party in August 2021. John stated, "[Lipa has] given me so much energy. She's a truly wonderful artist, and person, absolutely bursting with creativity and ideas. The energy she brought to ['the song'] just blew my mind." Lipa added, "It has been an absolute honour and privilege to collaborate on this track with him. It's so very special [...] I loved being part of such a creative and joyous experience."

In Their Own Story

The studio lights hummed low as the old tapes spun, feeding digital waves into the mixing board. She adjusted her mic stand, eyes closed, listening to the piano chords that had defined generations before she was born. He sat at the keys, a smile playing on his lips, ready to let the rhythm take them both somewhere new. The beat dropped, and for a moment, time folded in on itself, past and present dancing as one under the neon glow of the city outside. The song was recorded over an 18-month period during the COVID-19 pandemic, either remotely through Zoom or in compliance with strict health and safety regulations. Leading up to its release, John and Lipa previewed their collaborative effort by publishing cartoon representations of themselves, while dancing to a disco melody on their respective social media accounts on 10 August 2021.

Reader's Guide

This partnership emerged during a period when global audiences sought comfort and connection through music. The track was constructed by stitching together fragments of Elton John's greatest hits into a cohesive dance floor banger. Stylistically, it blended his classic piano-driven songwriting with Dua Lipa's vocal delivery on the hook and Pnau's atmospheric house sound and signature chants. The result was a sound that felt both nostalgic and immediately modern, appealing to multiple generations simultaneously. The song is an upbeat contemporary synth-pop, dance, dance-pop and pop song, with club, disco and house beats, describing the decline of a relationship. Commercially, the single achieved massive success worldwide, reaching number one in the United Kingdom and 12 other countries including Australia, Canada and New Zealand. It also entered the top 10 in an additional 22 countries, including Ireland, South Africa and the United States. It peaked atop the Canadian AC, CHR/Top 40 and Hot AC as well as the US Adult Contemporary, Adult Top 40 and Hot Dance/Electronic Songs rankings. The song received two gold and multiple platinum certifications as well as two diamond awards from the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP) in France and the Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry (ZPAV) in Poland, respectively. In 2022, it won an award in the category for the Collaboration of the Year at the American Music Awards and the Top Dance/Electronic Song at the Billboard Music Awards. It was nominated for the Song of the Year at the Brit Awards, the Most Performed Work at the Ivor Novello Awards and the Best Collaboration and Song of the Year at the MTV Video Music Awards. In 2023, the song received nominations for the Best Collaboration and Dance Song of the Year at the iHeartRadio Music Awards. Fans embraced the track for its energy and emotional resonance. The animated music video premiered on John's YouTube channel on 13 August 2021, tracing the adventure of John and Lipa together with four other animated characters as they explore colorful and nature-filled psychedelic landscapes. An acoustic version and three additional remixes accompanied the song: renditions by Claptone, PS1 and The Blessed Madonna. The song was further promoted with a live performance in Los Angeles on 20 November as part of John's Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, which was streamed on Disney+.

Did You Know?

• The song interpolates four of Elton John's songs: "Rocket Man" (1972), "Kiss the Bride" (1983), "Sacrifice" (1989) and "Where's the Shoorah?" (1976).
• The sample of "Where's the Shoorah?" appears at the 3:19 mark, with a tempo shift from 116 BPM to 130 BPM and a key shift from E-flat major to B-flat minor.
• The song was the most 'shazamed' song of the year on Shazam worldwide in 2022.
• During the summer of 2022, the song was ranked as the 19th most-streamed song on Spotify worldwide.
• John and Lipa were recognized as the 'Hitmakers of the Year' by Variety magazine in 2022 for the charting success of their collaboration.