"Sacrifice" is a ballad performed by musician Elton John. The song was written by John and his collaborator Bernie Taupin. The song appears on the 1989 album Sleeping with the Past. It was first released in October 1989, then in 1990, and was the second single from the album. It achieved success, particularly in France and the United Kingdom, becoming his first solo chart-topper in both nations.
Overview
Background and writing
"Sacrifice" is inspired both by the Aretha Franklin song "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" and described as a Percy Sledge song by Elton John. The song is beloved by both John and Bernie Taupin and deemed a bookend of sorts to their first hit "Your Song". Taupin has said he is surprised he wrote it, and said in an interview, "I think 'Sacrifice' is one of the best songs we've written." The song is not a typical love song, but rather a song about a breakup of a marriage where the loss of the relationship is "no sacrifice". Although the single was successful, John did not tour Europe in both 1989–1990 to support the Sleeping with the Past album touring only in the US and Australia. The 1989 European tour was, instead, in support of the Reg Strikes Back album, with no material representing Sleeping with the Past. In all shows that were done to support Sleeping with the Past in 1989–1990, Elton played this song solo on his Roland RD-1000 Digital Piano.
Music video
The video, which follows the song's lyrics, portrays a man and woman having problems in their relationship after being married. After the woman goes her separate way, and the man raises his daughter alone. The video was directed by Alek Keshishian, and starred Chris Isaak and Yasmeen Ghauri. The version used in the promo video is slightly sped up compared to the album version. The result is a higher pitched vocal and shorter length time. The video was filmed in Los Angeles in 1989, and was the second video made after Elton rejected a version from Ken Russell.
Chart performance
Sacrifice was initially released as a single in 1989, but stalled at number 55 in the UK and at number 18 in the US in March 1990. In mid-1990 English DJ Steve Wright began playing the song on BBC Radio 1, soon followed by many more radio DJs. The song was then re-released as a double A-side single, along with "Healing Hands", and reached number one in the UK in June 1990. Thus, it became John's first solo number-one single in the UK Singles Chart, remaining on the top spot for five weeks. With this re-release, Elton John also got his first number one in France and stayed on the chart for 26 weeks.
