15. “Can You Feel the Love Tonight? ” (1994)

Starting off This List of Elton John Greatest Hits Is “Can You Feel the Love Tonight”. Elton Wrote the Music to Tim Rice‘s Lyrics for This Charming Tune from Disney’s the Lion King and He Felt the Song Could “Express the Lions’ Feelings for Each Other Far Better Than Dialogue Could. ”

14. “Crocodile Rock” (1972): Elton John Greatest Hits

“The Last Time I Have to Sing ‘Crocodile Rock’ I Will Probably Throw a Party. It Was Written as a Kind of a Joke, Like a Pastiche, ” John Told the Deeney Talks Podcast of This No. 1 Tune. “It Became a Big Hit, ” He Admitted, Though, “And People Love to Sing Along with It. So Who Am I to Say, ‘I Am Not Going to Play It’, Because I Play to Amuse and Entertain People. ”

13. “I’m Still Standing” (1983)

This Is Just Pure Fun from the Piano Man, as Illustrated by Its Playful and Energetic Video (Keep Your Eye out for Dancing with the Stars’ Bruno Tonioli as One of the Young, Scantily Clad Dancers!). the Kiss-off-to-an-Ex Lyrics, Penned by Longtime Collaborator Bernie Taupin, Took on a Double Meaning, Which We Loved.

12. “Daniel” (1973): Elton John Greatest Hits

Thwarted Only by Paul Mccartney and Wings’ “My Love” from Hitting No. 1 Here in the U. S. , This Hit Has a Deep, Melancholy Vibe Throughout Its Music and Lyrics That Evokes a Lot of Emotion. the Song, Taupin Has Said, Is About a Vietnam War Veteran Coming Home After Service but Longing for Just Peace and Quiet, Rather Than Fanfare.

11. “Levon” (1971)

The Artist Has Noted That This Song, While Not About Anybody Specific, Got Its Name from the Band’s Levon Helm, of Whom Elton and Bernie Taupin Were Big Fans. “He Was the Greatest Drummer and a Wonderful Singer and Just a Part of My Life That Was Magical, ” Elton Told Entertainment Weekly Upon Helm’s Death in 2012, Sweetly Noting How “My Son [Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John] Has His Name, ” as Well as the Memorable Song’s.

10. “I Want Love” (2001): Elton John Greatest Hits

Robert Downey Jr. Stars in the Video for This Later Hit from Elton, Delivering a Powerful Yet Simple Lip-Synch of the Song That Magically Conveys the Loneliness and Introspection of the Lyrics. “[It’s] a Song Bernie Wrote, I Think, About Himself: a Middle-Aged Man with a Few Divorces, Wondering If He’s Ever Going to Fall in Love Again, ” Elton Wrote in the Observer, Noting How He Related It to His Parents’ Relationship. “I Suppose My Mum and Dad Must Have Been in Love Once, but There Wasn’t Much Sign They Ever Had Been by the Time I Came Along, ” He Said And, Knowing That, His Delivery of the Song Takes on a Whole New Life.

9. “Benny and the Jets” (1974)

“It’s a Story About a Girl Band, ” Elton Explains of This, One of the Funkiest, Most Eclectic Elton John Greatest Hits, Which Features an Oddly Effective Repetitive Banging of the Piano Keys. “It’s Androgynous, It’s Sexy, It’s Fantasy, ” Lyricist Bernie Taupin Adds, and the Tune Boasts Kooky Lyrics That, Again, Are a Whole Lot of Fun to Sing Along To, Most Notably, “She’s Got Electric Boots, a Mohair Suit. You Know I Read It in a Magazine, Oh, Yeah. ” Especially When You Mimic Elton Stretching “Magazine” out by an Extra Syllable or Two.

8. “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting” (1973): Elton John Greatest Hits

This High-Energy, Rollicking Rock ’N’ Roll Number Is a Bit “Crocodile Rock, ” a Bit Jerry Lee Lewis’s “Great Balls of Fire. ” the Song — Based on Bernie Taupin’s Wild, Bar-Fighting Days of His Youth — Was “The First Time I’d Ever Recorded Standing Up, Singing and Leaping Around the Studio, Going Crazy, ” Elton Has Said, and He Used to Bring That Same Kind of Fervor to the Stage When He’d Perform This Favorite to Enthusiastic Audiences.

7. “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” (1975)

This Heartfelt — and at Times Brutally Honest — Ballad Is an Autobiographical Song About a Time Elton Once Considered Suicide. It’s “A Song Bernie and I Had Written About Our Pre-Fame Year's, Living in a Flat in North London with a Woman I’d Foolishly Got Engaged to When I Was Still Very Confused About My Sexuality, ” Elton Wrote for the Guardian. “I Really Had Staged a Completely Ridiculous Suicide Bid That Involved Sticking My Head in a Gas Oven. Rather Than Tell My Fiancée I’d Made a Mistake, That Was My Brilliant Plan to Try and Get out of the Wedding. ” at the Time, Cash Box Magazine Raved That “Tchaikovsky Would Feel Proud About Elton’s Punctuated Chords, ” While Praising Its Beautiful High Harmonies.

6. “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word” (1976): Elton John Greatest Hits

Elton Was Tinkering on a Piano When a Heavy-Hearted Lyric Presented Itself. “I Was Sitting There and out It Came, ‘What Have I Got to Do to Make You Love Me, ’” He’s Shared of the Ballad’s Opening Line, Which Bernie Taupin Then Fleshed Out.

5. “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” (1973)

Another No. 2 Hit, This Tune Is “A Wistful, Sublimely Melancholy Ballad [That] Showcases Elton’s Effortless Vocal Versatility as He Soars into an Aching Falsetto One Moment and Dips into a Bluesy Croon the Next, ” According to Billboard. “It Was the Height of Our Powers, ” Elton Has Said of the Time Period This Song and the 1973 Album of the Same Name Was Written with His Team of Musical Collaborators, and This Song Is Irrefutable Proof of That.

4. “Tiny Dancer” (1972): Elton John Greatest Hits

Bernie Taupin Penned This Song for His Then-Wife Maxine Feibelman, Who Was the “Seamstress for the Band” Mentioned in the Lyrics. Add in “John’s Skyrocketing Melody, ” as Rolling Stone Put It, and This Awesome Tune Spins Its Way onto Our List of Elton John Greatest Hits.

3. “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” (1974)

This, Too, Hit No. 2 on the Billboard Charts, and the Original Track Features Background Vocals from Toni Tennille and Two Beach Boys, Carl Wilson and Bruce Johnston. “Not Only Is It One of Taupin’s Finest Set of Lyrics, [But] Elton’s Vocal and [Its] Production Work Convey Brilliantly the Desperation and Urgency of the Words, ” the Los Angeles Times Said of This Stunning Track, Which Finally —and Deservedly — Hit No. 1 in 1991 When Elton Duetted on It with George Michael.

2. “Rocket Man” (1972): Elton John Greatest Hits

Elton’s Website Acknowledges This Gem as “His First Global Smash Hit, ” and It Still Transfixes Listeners Five Decades After Its Release. a Short Story by Science-Fiction Writer Ray Bradbury Inspired Bernie Taupin’s Oddly Beautiful Lyrics “About the Drudgery of Being an Astronaut, ” He’s Said.

1. “Your Song” (1970)

The Musician Has Performed This Song More Than Any Other in His Career, and Fans Like Us Never Grow Tired of It. in 2017, in Fact, It Was Voted “The Nation’s Favourite Song” in the U. K. and Even the Late Great John Lennon Was Enamored with It Back in the Day. “It Was a Step Forward. There Was Something About His Vocals That Was an Improvement on All of the English Vocals Until Then, ” the Beatle Told Rolling Stone in 1975. “Your Song” Has Gone on to Be Inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998, and We Can’t Think of a Better, More Defining Tune to Top This List of Elton John Greatest Hits. “What Can I Say, It’s a Perfect Song. It Gets Better Every Time I Sing It, ” the Artist Himself Noted in 2013.

Elton John Greatest Hits: 15 Top Tracks, Ranked!

By Chloe Bennett

• Oct 8, 2026 • 11 min read

Elton John Greatest Hits: 15 Top Tracks, Ranked!

Direct Answer • Key Takeaway

For an Artist Who’s Reinvented His Look and Persona at a Rate That Rivals Madonna — He’s Sported Everything Onstage from a Dodgers Uniform to a Donald Duck Costume Designed by Bob Mackie — the One Thing That’s Remained Constant Is the Elton John Greatest Hits — a Steady String of Stellar Tracks That Have Come Throughout the Past Half Century.

Chloe Bennett

Culture, Media & Entertainment Columnist

Chloe Bennett explores the intersection of pop culture, streaming entertainment, digital trends, and contemporary lifestyle. Her weekly commentary reaches thousands of culture enthusiasts.

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