Evening Standard from London, Greater London, England • 20

4 nhuattPimii 1 EVENING STANDARD 20 WEDNESDAY 10 SEPTEMBER 1997 Sfi'Jmiit ip ftf-PSP Aft- SjKns SW-sg 4 J9 IT started with a personal request from sister Lady Sarah McCorquodale to Elton John a week ago By this Sunday rewritten tribute to the Princess is almost certain to be a number one hit raising millions of pounds for her memorial fund TIM COOPER charts the unique story behind Candle In The Wind vS Producer George Martin: Immediately agreed to produce the new single The Wind had the advantage of a familiar melody as well as its new association with Diana thanks to the radio Elton asked Taupin to modify the lyric rededicating the song to Diana and replacing what some might have seen as the most relevant lines: when you died the press still hounded with something less controversial That night Taupin began work on the new lyric Thursday: In the morning Taupin faxed a draft of the new lyric to Elton at his New York hotel before catching a flight to the East Coast to attend the MTV awards and meet Elton to talk about the song Meanwhile Elton had contacted Beatles producer Sir George Martin to ask if he would produce a recorded version to raise funds for memorial fund He accepted without hesitation even though it would mean starting work straight after the funeral Elton was also formally invited to perform at the funeral and news of his acceptance was finally passed to the Press Elton faxed the new lyric to the Spencer family for approval and almost immediately a news conference was called in London to release details of the fUneral service That night in New York Elton made a guest appearance at the MTV Awards which turned into an extended tribute to Diana and announced that $100000 of the proceeds would be donated to memorial fund Afterwards he and Taupin discussed minor changes to their song Friday: Elton flew back to London on Concorde for rehearsals and a sound-check at Westminster Abbey where he gave his first private performance of file rewritten Candle In The Wind Saturday: Watched by the world Elton seemed close to tears as he performed the song at the service Certainly many of the funeral guests and thousands more outside as well as the millions watching on TV wept at his moving rendition There was only one moment at the start of the last verse WAS Tuesday last week two days after the shattering news flashed around the globe that Diana Princess of Wales was dead The world was in mourning and radio stations were playing sombre music to reflect the mood of overwhelming grief One of the songs that had already emerged as a favourite was Elton Candle In The Wind written in 1973 as a poignant tribute to Marilyn Monroe Like Diana she endured the hill glare of Press attention from the moment she became a public figure like Diana she died in the prime of life candle burned out long Elton sang legend ever Elton was at his Windsor home when the telephone interrupted his grieving for the second famous friend to die within weeks Elton and Diana had been reunited in grief only a month earlier at Gianni funeral It was a call that would summon the 50-year-old pop star to give the most important performance of his life to sing at funeral on the following Saturday The request came from her sister Lady Sarah McCorquodale However daunting the prospect how could Elton refuse? He accepted at once That evening as soon as the sun was up in California Elton telephoned his lyricist Bernie Taupin at home in Santa Ynez north of Los Angeles to discuss the details Should they write a new song? Or should they rewrite an old favourite in her memory? The media unaware that Elton had been contacted privately were already speculating that he might perform at the funeral but were as divided as the singer himself over what he might perform Some said it would be Your Song but that had a lyric about a young infatuation Others predicted Sacrifice but that was about a relationship breaking down Yet Candle In The Wind was inextricably linked to the Monroe legend None of the lyrics seemed appropriate as they stood Elton and Taupin decided to sleep on it AX I SvSsr Lady Sarah McCorquodale: Her request led to new version of song TOW Wednesday: Elton was flying out to New York to appear at the MTV Video Music Awards the following night and spoke again to Taupin by telephone Elton explained that Candle In The Wind was being played constantly on the radio in Britain and that he felt it had captured the mood of national mourning Taupin would have liked to write a new song but both agreed there was not enough time And after all Candle In Songwriter aged 9 7 by TOM SYKES v' y- Vs yi? t- 'v 1 fc ft 4 1 1 i 1 ''sv 1 -w 'v ') V'---'V t-'-- -r 1 A NINE-YEAR-OLD musician who wrote one of Princess Diana's favourite songs has secured a contract with Polygram UK for a tribute album to raise cash for her memorial fund Christian Morrell wrote the words to a song called I Am In Love With The World which the Princess and her boys used to sing along to on car journeys The song is performed by youngsters from the Chicken Shed Theatre Company and will appear on an album alongside contributions from a variety of artists rumoured to include Meatloaf and Gary Glitter Actor Bob Hoskins whose children are members of the theatre company will help promote the album The organisation won a place in Diana's affections For more information call 0345 554554 or contact your travel agent Christian Morrell: Wrote one off Diana's favourite songs.