Elton John performed a reworked version of his song “Candle in the Wind” at the funeral for England’s Princess Diana on September 6, 1997. The track first appeared on Elton’s 1973 album “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” and the original lyric was written about Marilyn Monroe. After the Princess was killed on August 31, 1997, Elton received a call from business tycoon Richard Branson explaining that Diana’s sister wanted him to sing at the funeral. Elton immediately contacted his longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin requesting a new lyric akin to “Candle in the Wind.” Taupin misunderstood Elton a created a new version of the lyric. Pressed for time, the pair decided to keep it. “I tried to write it from a nation’s standpoint and not as a single person paying tribute. I felt it was very important that it sounded like it was coming from the people,” Taupin explains in “His Song: The Musical Journey of Elton John” by Elizabeth J. Rosenthal.