Elton John and Dua Lipa have today unveiled their new collaboration “Cold Heart (PNAU Remix).” The track is available now HERE.
A joyous and blissful dance cut, “Cold Heart” sees two of the world’s most celebrated artists come together on record for the first time. The seed of the collaboration was planted after Dua invited Elton for an Instagram live discussing his experiences with Studio 54 ahead of her remix album Club Future Nostalgia. A shared respect and subsequent friendship blossomed which saw Elton appear as a guest on Dua’s record breaking Studio 2054 live stream. Dua subsequently performed at The Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party, which raised over $3 million for the Foundation. Driven by the restrictions of lockdown and a renewed passion for collaboration, Elton reached out to Dua to work on new music together remotely.
The results of those sessions certainly live up to the billing. “Cold Heart” is at once instantly recognizable and yet thoroughly contemporary—a modern dance floor filler based on four of Elton’s classic tracks expertly spliced together by Australian electronic band and producers PNAU—“Kiss The Bride” (originally from 1983 album Too Low For Zero), “Rocketman” (from 1972’s Honky Chateau), “Where’s the Shoorah?” (from 1976 double album Blue Moves) and “Sacrifice” (from 1989’s Healing Hands). PNAU previously achieved an acclaimed UK number 1 in 2012 with the Elton Versus PNAU album Good Morning to the Night.
Elton John says: “The last 18 months have been hard, but being off the road has meant that I’ve actually had time to get back to my roots as a session player and collaborate with some wonderful artists. And having the opportunity to spend time with Dua, albeit remotely has been incredible. She’s given me so much energy. She’s a truly wonderful artist and person, absolutely bursting with creativity and ideas. The energy she brought to ‘Cold Heart’ just blew my mind.”
Dua Lipa says: “Ever since we first ‘met’ online, we totally clicked. Elton is such an inspirational artist and also has the naughtiest sense of humor—a perfect combination. It has been an absolute honor and privilege to collaborate on this track with him. It’s so very special, with some of my very favorite Elton John classic songs combined—I loved being part of such a creative and joyous experience. Can’t wait to hear it everywhere this summer.”
PNAU say: “Setting a stage for the two greatest performers in the world today Sir Elton John and Dua Lipa, we knew we had to go in deep, take them into our world, the psychedelic laser black lit club. Where all of us can meet on the dance floor, forget the outside and lose ourselves in the healing waters of music and love eternal.”
The single is accompanied by a stunning video created by Hamburg based animator and director Raman Djafari. Watch the video HERE. The video sees animated versions of Elton and Dua stepping into a dynamic and euphoric world before separating as their planets drift apart. A beautifully drawn, wistful and, at times, trippy parallel to the last year and a half in lockdown, the video reaches its moving and joyous climax as the characters are reunited.
After 18 months when many artists have battened down the hatches and waited for the covid clouds to lift, Elton and Dua have continued to push boundaries and defy any expectations. And with the release of ‘Cold Heart (PNAU Remix)’ the world has the perfect optimistic and joyous summer anthem to usher back the good times.
ABOUT ELTON JOHN:
Elton’s career achievements to date are unsurpassed in their breadth and longevity. Elton is one of the top-selling solo artists of all time, with 1 diamond, 40 platinum or multi-platinum, and 23 gold albums, over 50 Top 40 hits, and he has sold more than 300 million records worldwide. He holds the record for the biggest-selling single of all time, “Candle in the Wind 1997,” which sold over 33 million copies. Diamonds, the Ultimate Greatest Hits album, reached the Top 5 of the UK album charts on its release in November 2017, becoming Elton’s 40th UK Top 40 album in the process. This release celebrated 50 years of his songwriting partnership with Bernie Taupin. August 2018 saw Elton named as the most successful male solo artist in Billboard Hot 100 chart history, having logged 67 entries, including nine No. 1s and 27 Top 10s. Elton announced the ‘Farewell Yellow Brick Road’ tour at New York’s Gotham Hall in January 2018.
Encompassing 5 continents, and over 350 dates, this 3-year-long tour started in September 2018 and marks his retirement from touring after more than 50 years on the road. In 2019 it was named Billboard’s Top Rock Tour and Pollstar’s Major Tour Of The Year. To date, Elton has delivered more than 4,000 performances in more than 80 countries since launching his first tour in 1970. 2019 also saw the release of Rocketman and global bestselling autobiography, ME. An epic fantasy musical motion picture of Elton’s life, Rocketman, has been a commercial and critical hit, taking close to $200m at the box office. It has won an Oscar, two Golden Globe Awards and a Critics’ Choice Award and garnered BAFTA nominations. Its soundtrack was also nominated for a GRAMMY Award.
ABOUT DUA LIPA:
Since the release of her first single in 2015, Dua Lipa has become one of the music world’s hottest young artists. Her eponymous debut album has eclipsed 6 million sales worldwide, with overall global single sales reaching 80 million and with over 8 billion streams on Spotify alone. She made BRIT Award history in 2018 as the first female artist to pick up five nominations, with two wins for British Breakthrough Act and British Female Solo Artist. She then went on to receive two Grammy awards for Best New Artist and Best Dance Recording for “Electricity,” her collaboration with Silk City the following year.
Her sophomore album Future Nostalgia was released in March 2020. It has now exceeded 4 million sales worldwide, has been certified platinum in the UK, US, Brazil, France and many more territories and includes the massive worldwide hits “Don’t Start Now,” “Physical,” “Levitating” and “Break My Heart.” Dua currently tops Spotify’s artist chart as the most streamed female artist on the platform and is the fourth biggest artist overall with over 66 million monthly listeners. Future Nostalgia now has 7 billion streams across all platforms worldwide. Dua received 6 nominations at the 2021 Grammy Awards, winning the award for Best Pop Vocal Album. She also scooped ‘Best Solo Female’ & ‘Album of the Year’ at the 2021 BRIT Awards, making her a 5-time BRIT Award winner. Future Nostalgia has spent 50 weeks in the UK Top 10 since release.
ABOUT PNAU:
PNAU is the multi-platinum-selling, ARIA award-winning electronic act of Nick Littlemore (Empire of the Sun, Vlossom, Teenager), Peter Mayes and Sam Littlemore, famed for their extensive career born out of the underground clubs and festival dancefloors of Australia. PNAU also hold the acclaimed title of giving Elton John his first UK No.1 album in 22 years when they collaborated with the legendary Rocketman on the 2012 album Good Morning To The Night. With a catalogue of their own hits and multiple albums behind them, PNAU have enjoyed a powerful renaissance over the past few years, with multi-platinum hits “Go Bang” and “Chameleon” becoming inescapable on the airwaves in their home country of Australia and climbing the Billboard Dance charts in the U.S. 2019 singles “Solid Gold” and “All Of Us,” embedded PNAU as the most cutting edge electronic act to watch on a global scale, finding a loyal fan base amongst the most influential decision makers at BBC Radio 1, triple j and streaming services across the globe.
