''Greatest Hits 1970–2002'' is a career-spanning compilation album of popular songs by English musician Elton John, released on

UTV Records Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, Dutch law. UMG's cor ...

in 2002. It debuted on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart at number 12 on 30 November 2002, for a total run of 67 weeks. It was certified gold and platinum in December 2002, double platinum in March 2003, triple platinum in August 2004, four- and five-times platinum simultaneously in February 2011, and 6× platinum in April 2016 by the RIAA.RIAA Gold and Platinum web page retrieved 28 August 2020
/ref> It was the first Elton John compilation released since PolyGram, which had controlled the pre-1976 Elton John catalog, was sold to

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

, which controlled the post-1976 recordings. Before 1992, rights to John's music had been complicated as they shifted between various companies. UMG now owns worldwide distribution rights to all of John's music, while sharing overall ownership with John himself. It was configured differently for the American and European markets, and also available in a three-

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Oc ...

version in addition to the standard two-disc version. It contains every song released on the first two greatest hits packages released respectively in 1974 and 1977, with the exceptions of "

Border Song "Border Song" is a song by Elton John with music by John and lyrics by Bernie Taupin. The song initially appeared on the 1970 album ''Elton John'', and was released in the spring of 1970 as the LP's first single. After failing to chart in the U ...

" on ''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

''; " Grow Some Funk of Your Own", "

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1967 album ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''. It was written primarily by John Lennon and credited to the Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnersh ...

", and " Pinball Wizard" from '' Greatest Hits Vol. II'', as well as " Levon" on the European version. All of those excepting for "Grow Some Funk of Your Own" are available on the bonus disc to the European edition. In 2004, the album was reissued with the 2003 UK number 1 hit "

Are You Ready for Love "Are You Ready for Love" is a song recorded by English musician Elton John in 1977 and first released in the UK in 1979 as the first single from the EP '' The Thom Bell Sessions''. It was written by Leroy Bell, Thom Bell and Casey James, a ...

" as the final track on the second disc, replacing "

Song for Guy "Song for Guy" is a mainly instrumental piece of music by English musician Elton John. It is the closing track of his 1978 album, ''A Single Man''. Musical structure The song opens with an octaved solo piano, which is then accompanied by a l ...

". " Kiss the Bride" was also omitted to make room for the remake of "

Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin. It was recorded by Elton John and released in 1976, both as a single and as part of the '' Blue Moves'' album. It was John's sec ...

" featuring the boy band

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...

. The two newer hits are appended at the end of the third disc for the expanded editions, leaving the second disc tracklisting intact.

Track listing

''All songs written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin unless otherwise noted.''

European release

North American release

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greatest Hits 1970-2002 2002 greatest hits albums Elton John compilation albums UTV Records compilation albums