"Written in the Stars" is a song by English musician

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

and American singer

LeAnn Rimes Margaret LeAnn Rimes Cibrian (born August 28, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She originally rose to success as a country music artist at age 13 with 1996's "Blue". She has since crossed over into pop, contemporary Chris ...

. The song came from the musical ''

Aida ''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 December ...

'', written by Elton John and

Tim Rice Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English lyricist and author. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ' ...

. There are two different recordings of the song, one with Rimes performing the first verse, the other with John. The song was later featured on Rimes' 2002 album '' I Need You'' and the concept album for the musical. The song was performed live at '' VH1 Divas Live '99''.

Background

In this scene in the musical, Radames informs Aida that he's calling off the wedding. Aida knows that this would ruin her father's escape and tells him he must go through with it. Radames agrees, on condition that she escapes to freedom on a boat he will provide. The two lovers lament the complication of the circumstances of their love together before parting.

Chart performance

For John, "Written in the Stars" was his 57th top-40 single on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' charts as a performer. It would be his last US top-40 for over two decades, until he reached the region again with "

Cold Heart (Pnau remix) "Cold Heart (Pnau remix)" is a song by English singer Elton John and English-Albanian singer Dua Lipa, produced by Australian trio Pnau, and released through EMI and Mercury Records on 13 August 2021 as the lead single from John's collaborati ...

", featuring

Dua Lipa Dua Lipa ( , ; born ) is an English and Albanian singer and songwriter. Possessing a mezzo-soprano vocal range, she is known for her signature disco- pop sound. Lipa has received numerous accolades, including six Brit Awards, three Gramm ...

. John achieved at least one top-40 single on the US charts every year from 1970 to 1999, with this song being the last in the run. "Written in the Stars" was certified gold in the US for shipments exceeding 500,000. In Canada, "Written in the Stars" topped the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' Adult Contemporary chart and reached number 22 on the ''RPM'' Top Singles chart. Due to Rimes' previous

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

success, it also peaked at number 74 on the ''RPM'' Country Tracks chart due to unsolicited airplay as an album cut. Elsewhere, the single reached number 10 in the United Kingdom and the top 40 in Austria, Iceland, Italy, and Switzerland.

Music video

According to an episode of VH1's ''

Pop-Up Video ''Pop Up Video'' is a VH1 television show that shows music videos annotated via "pop-up" bubbles — officially called "info nuggets" — containing trivia and witticisms relating to the video in question. The show was created by Woody T ...

'', the music video for this song was meant to evoke forbidden loves, as well as the separation between the two singers. Rimes was shown in colder, more heavenly backdrops; John was given warmer backgrounds, as in a milder depiction of hell.

Track listing

CD single # "Written in the Stars" – 4:17 # "Written in the Stars" (Alternate Version) – 4:24 # "Various Snippets" (My Strongest Suit/Not Me/A Step Too Far) – 2:27

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1999 singles 1999 songs Curb Records singles Elton John songs Island Records singles LeAnn Rimes songs Male–female vocal duets Mercury Records singles The Rocket Record Company singles Song recordings produced by Peter Collins (record producer) Songs from musicals Songs with lyrics by Tim Rice Songs with music by Elton John