Elton John — Sacrifice

A ballad about the quiet erosion of a marriage is back across the global charts today, present on 90 country and platform rankings after a six-week dip from broad rotation. Written by John and Bernie Taupin for 1989's Sleeping with the Past, Sacrifice became John's first solo UK number one in 1990 and found its largest early audience in France, per Wikipedia. The song argues against the worn-down mantra that marriage demands sacrifice — its hook insists it's "no sacrifice at all" — a thesis Songfacts traces through its measured, organ-led arrangement. Its melody was later folded into the Cold Heart Pnau remix of 2021, which introduced the phrase to a streaming-era audience, according to Wikipedia. The Alek Keshishian-directed video, starring Chris Isaak, remains in catalog circulation.