Though it was among new releases arriving on shelves Tuesday, the “Candle in the Wind” ’97 remake Elton John rewrote to honor his friend, Diana, princess of Wales, wasn’t available long.
The song sold out everywhere that stocked it. Pam Domico, singles sales buyer for Polygram Midwest, said she shipped 4.5 million copies of the song and another 5 million were on back order. Orders were so intense, the depot’s service phones broke down, she said. They had expected to ship 1 million copies.
“It’s just really touching,” said Donna Lee 36, of the South Loop, who bought a cassette-single at Tower Records and, later, two CDs of the song at Coconuts downtown. “It hit the spot. Her legacy will go on when you listen to it.”
“He described her perfectly,” Michael Brady, 25, of the South Side, said of John as he left with the last cassette Tower Records had, and plans to return for the CD. “I feel that Diana represented what was special in all of us. She sent a message to all of us that we need to do more.”