In 2021, “Cold Heart (PNAU Remix)” — Elton John with Dua Lipa — went to number one in the UK and became a top-ten hit in the United States. He was 74. The song made him the first solo artist with UK Top 10 singles in six different decades. It looked like a novelty from the outside. It was actually the logical end point of a strategy he had been running for half a century.
Built from His Own Catalogue
“Cold Heart” is a mosaic: the Australian production duo PNAU stitched together elements drawn from several existing Elton John recordings — most recognisably “Rocket Man” and “Sacrifice” — into a new dance track, with Dua Lipa sharing vocals. It required an artist willing to let outsiders dismantle his most famous work and reassemble it for rooms he would never play. Very few legacy acts allow that. He had already done it once before, decades earlier: the 1990s club remixes and the general permission he gave younger producers to treat the catalogue as raw material.
A Habit, Not a Stunt
| Year | Collaboration | Why it mattered |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” with Kiki Dee | His first UK number one single — a duet, characteristically. |
| 1985 | “That’s What Friends Are For” (Dionne Warwick & Friends) | A charity single for AIDS research, years before most of the industry would touch the cause. |
| 1991 | “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” live with George Michael | A number one on both sides of the Atlantic, and a passing of mutual respect between generations. |
| 2010 | The Union with Leon Russell | The reverse move: lifting up the older artist who had influenced him. |
| 2021 | The Lockdown Sessions | A full album of remote collaborations, from Lil Nas X to Stevie Nicks — and “Cold Heart.” |
| 2025 | Who Believes in Angels? with Brandi Carlile | A complete co-billed studio album, with Taupin still writing lyrics. |
Most legacy artists protect the catalogue. He kept lending it out — and it kept coming back bigger.
Rocket Man Archive — editorial
There is also the unglamorous infrastructure behind it: his long-running Apple Music radio show and his very public habit of championing new artists by name — a list that has included Ed Sheeran, Lady Gaga, Sam Smith and dozens of less famous names — meant that when he called, younger artists answered. The lesson for any long career is simple and hard to copy: he never stopped being a fan. See the late-period albums in context.