Elton John Charts A New Top 10 Hit In America — With A Decades-Old Song

Elton John Debuts “The Bitch Is Back” Inside the Top 10

“The Bitch Is Back” debuts on this week’s Rock Digital Song Sales chart, Billboard‘s rundown of the top-selling tracks that can be classified using the genre label rock on platforms like iTunes, Amazon and others in the United States alone. “The Bitch Is Back” launches at No. 5, scoring the piano player something of a surprise win.

Elton John Scores His Tenth Chart Appearance

John has now sent 10 tracks to the Rock Digital Song Sales chart, a milestone he reaches as “The Bitch Is Back” arrives. Six of those tunes have broken into the top 10. Only “Ordinary Man,” a collaboration with Ozzy Osbourne, has ruled, and for just two weeks.

Here are all of Elton John’s top 10 hits on the Rock Digital Song Sales chart.

• No. 1 – “Ordinary Man” with Ozzy Osbourne
• No. 2 – “Nothing Else Matters” with Miley Cyrus, Watt, Yo-Yo Ma, Chad Smith and Robert Trujillo
• No. 3 – “Rocket Man”
• No. 4 – “Tiny Dancer”
• No. 5 – “The Bitch Is Back”
• No. 9 – “Bennie and the Jets”

Elton John Has Seen Several Songs Miss the Top 10

These days, the Rock Digital Song Sales roster features 15 spaces. Like many of Billboard‘s tallies that focus on purchases, it was shortened not long ago as sales continue to dwindle and streams grow dramatically. Two of John’s career placements, “Step Into Christmas” and “Save Rock and Roll” with Fall Out Boy, would not make the cut if pushed today. Those songs stalled at Nos. 25 and 27, respectively.

“Who Believes in Angels?,” a team-up with Brandi Carlile, and “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” are the only other two tracks by John to land on the Rock Digital Song Sales chart and miss the top 10. They peaked at Nos. 13 and 14, respectively. Before this week, “Who Believes in Angels?,” which spent one turn on the tally last April, marked John’s most recent debut.

Elton John Follows A Perfect Circle’s New Hit

Only two singles appear on the Rock Digital Song Sales chart for the first time this week, and John’s “The Bitch Is Back” is the lower-ranking of the pair. One spot ahead of that classic comes “Starless” by A Perfect Circle, which enters at No. 4.

Several other bestsellers return to the roster at the same time. Sombr’s “Homewrecker,” “Not Broken” by CortexUS and the ’90s staple “Iris” from the Goo Goo Dolls reenter the list, once again ranking as some of the bestselling rock tunes in the nation.

Elton John’s Diamonds Rises Everywhere

An uptick in purchases connected to “The Bitch Is Back” may explain why John’s greatest hits compilation, Diamonds, is on the rise. The set improves on all four tallies where it makes a home this week.

Diamonds settles at No. 4 on both the Top Rock & Alternative Albums and Top Rock Albums charts, improving from No. 6 on the two lists. The compilation has spent the same length of time, an incredible 446 weeks, on those genre-specific registers. Diamonds also steps up on the Top Streaming Albums chart, lifting from No. 37 to No. 31. On the all-important Billboard 200, John’s longest-running title leaps from No. 37 to No. 35.

ForbesElton John Reaches A New Career Peak On An Unlikely ChartBy Hugh McIntyre