Duets (Elton John album)

Duets is the first collaboration studio album by English musician Elton John, released in 1993. The album debuted at No. 7 in the UK. In the US, it peaked at number 25 on the Billboard 200 chart and was certified platinum in January 1994 by the RIAA.

Duets
Studio album by Elton John and various artists
Released	23 November 1993
Recorded	March 1991 – October 1993
Studio	Ocean Way (Hollywood) Conway (Hollywood) Capitol (Hollywood) A&M (Los Angeles) Wonderland (Los Angeles) Tarpan (San Rafael, California) Soundtrack (New York City) Bosstown (Atlanta) Woodland (Nashville) Sol (Cookham, Berkshire, UK) The Town House (London, UK) Olympic (Barnes, West London) Wembley Arena (Wembley Park, London)
Genre	Rock pop
Length	74:32
Label	MCA (US) Rocket (UK)
Producer	Various (see below)
Elton John chronology
Rare Masters (1992) Duets (1993) The Lion King (soundtrack) (1994)
Singles from Duets
"Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" Released: 25 November 1991 "True Love" Released: 8 November 1993 "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" Released: 14 February 1994 "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" Released: 2 May 1994

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]
Calgary Herald	C+^[2]
Music Week	^[3]
Philadelphia Inquirer	^[4]

Duets was released on a single CD, a single cassette and also as a double vinyl LP in the UK, with a slightly different running order. It was initially a Christmas project of John's, but that soon grew into an album of its own (Elton John's Christmas Party). The live version of "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" with George Michael, track number 15 on the album, had already become a UK/US No. 1 hit in 1991. This is one of only 3 albums released between 1983 and 2016 without John's regular guitar player, Davey Johnstone.

Three singles were released from the album in Britain: "True Love" (with Kiki Dee, reached No. 2), "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" (with RuPaul, reached No. 7), and "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" (with Marcella Detroit, reached No. 24).

Track listing

CD edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Teardrops" (with k.d. lang)	Cecil Womack, Linda Womack	Greg Penny	4:55
2.	"When I Think About Love (I Think About You)" (with P.M. Dawn)	Attrell Cordes	P.M. Dawn	4:34
3.	"The Power" (with Little Richard)	Elton John, Bernie Taupin	Penny, Elton John	6:25
4.	"Shakey Ground" (with Don Henley)	Jeffrey Bowen, Al Boyd, Eddie Hazel	Don Henley	3:52
5.	"True Love" (with Kiki Dee)	Cole Porter	Narada Michael Walden	3:35
6.	"If You Were Me" (with Chris Rea)	Chris Rea	Chris Rea	4:26
7.	"A Woman's Needs" (with Tammy Wynette)	John, Taupin	Barry Beckett	5:19
8.	"Old Friend" (with Nik Kershaw)	Nik Kershaw	Nik Kershaw	4:17
9.	"Go On and On" (with Gladys Knight)	Stevie Wonder	Stevie Wonder	5:50
10.	"Don't Go Breaking My Heart" (with RuPaul)	John, Taupin	Giorgio Moroder	5:00
11.	"Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" (with Marcella Detroit)	Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson	Chris Thomas	3:36
12.	"I'm Your Puppet" (with Paul Young)	Spooner Oldham, Dan Penn	Steve Lindsey	3:36
13.	"Love Letters" (with Bonnie Raitt)	Edward Heyman, Victor Young	Don Was	4:01
14.	"Born to Lose" (with Leonard Cohen)	Ted Daffan	Steve Lindsey	4:33
15.	"Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" (live, with George Michael)	John, Taupin	George Michael	5:48
16.	"Duets for One"	John, Chris Difford	John, Stuart Epps, Penny	4:52
Total length:				74:41

LP edition

Side one

No.	Title	With	Length
1.	"Teardrops"	k.d. lang	4:55
2.	"When I Think About Love (I Think About You)"	P.M. Dawn	4:34
3.	"The Power"	Little Richard	6:25
4.	"Shakey Ground"	Don Henley	3:51
Total length:			19:45

Side two

No.	Title	With	Length
1.	"True Love"	Kiki Dee	3:34
2.	"If You Were Me"	Chris Rea	4:26
3.	"A Woman's Needs"	Tammy Wynette	5:18
4.	"Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" (Live)	George Michael	5:46
Total length:			19:04

Side three

No.	Title	With	Length
1.	"Old Friend"	Nik Kershaw	4:15
2.	"Go On and On"	Gladys Knight	5:50
3.	"Don't Go Breaking My Heart"	RuPaul	5:00
4.	"Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing"	Marcella Detroit	3:36
Total length:			18:41

Side four

No.	Title	With	Length
1.	"I'm Your Puppet"	Paul Young	3:36
2.	"Love Letters"	Bonnie Raitt	4:01
3.	"Born to Lose"	Leonard Cohen	4:33
4.	"Duets for One"		4:52
Total length:			17:02

Personnel

• Elton John – piano, keyboards, Roland RD-1000 digital piano, vocals
• Robert Ahwai – guitar (6)
• Guy Babylon – keyboards (3)
• Eddie Bayers – drums (7)
• Louis Biancaniello – keyboards, synthesizer, programming (5)
• Curt Bisquera – drums (1, 3)
• Martin Bliss – guitar (15)
• Kimberly Brewer – backing vocals (9)
• Johnny Britt – backing vocals (12)
• Ray Brown – bass guitar (14)
• Kelli Bruce – backing vocals (7)
• Robbie Buchanan – keyboards, programming (13)
• Kathy Burdick – backing vocals (7)
• Chris Cameron – keyboards (15)
• Linda Campbell McCrary – backing vocals (10)
• Bill Churchfield – horn (12)
• David Clayton – keyboards (15)
• Leonard Cohen – vocals (14)
• Luis Conte – congas (12)
• Jim Cox – Hammond organ (12, 14), piano (14)
• Andraé Crouch - backing vocals (3)
• Andraé Crouch Choir - backing vocals (3)
• Sandra Crouch - backing vocals (3)
• Danny Cummings – percussion (15)
• P.M. Dawn – vocals (2)
• Kiki Dee – vocals (5)
• Marcella Detroit – vocals, guitar, harmonica (11)
• Martin Ditcham – drums (6), percussion (6, 16)
• Nathan East – bass guitar (1, 3)
• Alan Estes – bells, tambourine, vibraphone (12)
• Deon Estus – bass guitar (15)
• Ricky Fataar – drums (13)
• Lynne Fiddmont-Linsay – backing vocals (9)
• Brandon Fields – tenor saxophone (13)
• Connye Florence – backing vocals (7)
• Malcolm Foster – bass guitar (16)
• Paul Franklin – steel guitar (7)
• Jim Gilstrap – backing vocals (12)
• Mark Goldenberg – guitar (13)
• Gary Grant – trumpet (3)
• Ed Greene – drums (12)
• Sandy Griffith – backing vocals (5)
• Steve Grove – saxophone (12)
• John Guerin – drums (14)
• Andy Hamilton – saxophone (15)
• Don Henley – vocals (4)
• Jay Henry – backing vocals (15)
• Jerry Hey – trumpet (3)
• Dan Higgins – baritone saxophone (3)
• Yvonne Hodges – backing vocals (7)
• Dann Huff – electric guitar (7)
• James "Hutch" Hutchinson – bass guitar (13)
• Paul Jackson Jr. – guitar (12)
• Danny Jacob – guitar (15)
• Michelle Johnson – backing vocals (2)
• Plas Johnson – saxophone (14)
• Nik Kershaw – vocals (8)
• Herold Klosser – keyboards, programming (10)
• Mike Knapp – Roland TB-303 bassline (10)
• Gladys Knight – vocals (9)
• Stephen Kupka – baritone saxophone (13)
• k.d. lang – vocals (1)
• Shirley Lewis – backing vocals (15)
• Etyenne Lytel – keyboards (2)
• Lynn Mabry – backing vocals (15)
• Sylvan Marc – bass guitar (6)
• Candi McKenzie – backing vocals (16)
• George Michael – vocals (15)
• Max Middleton – piano, keyboards (6)
• Jonathan Moffett – drums (15)
• Giorgio Moroder – programming (10)
• Phil Naish – synthesizer (7)
• Dean Parks – guitar (1, 3, 14, 16), lap steel guitar (14)
• Derrick Perkins – programming (9)
• Jamie Perkins – keyboards (16)
• Phil Perry – backing vocals (12)
• Joel Peskin – tenor saxophone (3)
• Greg Phillinganes – piano (12)
• Scott Plunkett – keyboards (4)
• Don Potter – acoustic guitar (7)
• Billy Preston – Hammond organ B3 (13)
• Lon Price – saxophone (12)
• Bonnie Raitt – vocals, slide guitar (13)
• Chris Rea – vocals (6), steel guitar (6), guitar (6, 16)
• Bill Reichenbach Jr. – trombone (3)
• Michael Rhodes – bass guitar (7)
• Little Richard – vocals, piano (3)
• Claytoven Richardson – backing vocals (5)
• John Robinson – drums (4)
• Portia Neeley-Rolle – backing vocals (2)
• RuPaul – vocals (10)
• Corrado Rustici – mandolin (5)
• Chuck Sabo – drums (11, 16)
• Thomas Schobel – sequencer (10)
• Beverley Skeete – backing vocals (16)
• Greg Smith – saxophone (12)
• Phil Spalding – bass guitar (11)
• Neil Stubenhaus – bass guitar (4)
• Mark Taylor – keyboards (16)
• Michael Thompson – guitar (4)
• Lee Thornburg – trombone, trumpet (12, 13)
• Matthew Vaughan – programming (11)
• Narada Michael Walden – arrangements and vocal arrangement (5)
• Freddie Washington – bass guitar (12)
• Marietta Waters – backing vocals (10)
• Greg Wells – Hammond organ (3)
• Precious Wilson – backing vocals (16)
• Stevie Wonder – arrangements, backing vocals and all instruments (9)
• Tammy Wynette – vocals (7)
• Paul Young – vocals (12)

Technical personnel

• Producers – Barry Beckett, P.M. Dawn, Stuart Epps, Don Henley, Elton John, Nik Kershaw, Steve Lindsey, George Michael, Giorgio Moroder, Greg Penny, Chris Rea, Chris Thomas, Don Was, Narada Michael Walden and Stevie Wonder.
• Associate Producer on "True Love" – Louis Biancaniello
• Executive Producers – Steve Brown, Ray Cooper and Elton John.
• Production Supervision – Greg Penny
• Production Coordination – Stephanie Andrews, Debra Johnson, Julie Larson, Janice Lee, Lisa Louie, Connie Pappas-Hillman, Cynthia Shiloh, Toby Taibi, Sam Stell and Kevin Walden.
• Engineers – Jim Champagne, Ed Cherney, Mark Evans, Mike Fossenkemper, David Frazer, Ron Jacobs, Jon Ingoldsby, Paul McKenna, David Nicholas, Csaba Petucz, Brian Reeves, Marc Reyburn, Matt Still, Gabe Veltri, Frank Wolf and Enrico De Paoli.
• Assistant Engineers – Van Arden, Dominick Barbera, Dan Bosworth, Jim Champagne, Todd Childress, Shaun de Ego, Jim DeMain, Billy Gabor, John Hendricksen, Amy Hughes, Steve Holroyd, Pete Lewis, Charles Paakkari, Thomas Rickert, Rail Jon Rogut, Brian Scheuble, Matt Still and Ben Wallach.
• Mixed by Van Arden, Ed Cherney, Mike Fossenkemper, David Frazer, Jon Ingoldsby and Bill Schnee.
• Mix Assistants – Dominick Barbera, Todd Childress, Steve Holroyd and Matt Still.
• Mix Consultant – Chris Lang
• Recorded at Ocean Way Recording, Conway Recording Studios and Capitol Studios (Hollywood, CA); A&M Studios and Wonderland Studios (Los Angeles, CA); Tarpan Studios (San Rafael, CA); Soundtrack Studios (New York City, NY); Bosstown Recording Studio (Atlanta, GA); Woodland Studio (Nashville, TN); Sol Studios (Cookham, Berkshire, UK), The Town House (London, UK), Olympic Studios (Barnes, West London) and Wembley Arena (Wembley Park, London).
• Mixed at Ocean Way Recording, Soundtrack Studios, A&M Studios, Tarpan Studios, Wonderland Studios, The Townhouse; Schnee Studio (North Hollywood, CA); Skip Saylor Recording (Los Angeles, CA); Record One (Sherman Oaks, CA); Metropolis Studios (Chiswick, West London).
• Digital Editing – Pete Fausone and R.R. Harlan
• Mastered by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering (Hollywood, CA).
• Photography – Brian Aris, Brad Branson, Mark Contratto, Paul Cox, Robert Goldstein, Stephen Harvey, Dominique Issermann, Harry Langdon, Sophie Muller, Hideo Odia, Albert Sanchez, Randee St. Nicholas, Allan Titmuss, Albert Watson and Firooz Zahedi.

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for Duets Chart (1993–1994) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)^[5] 12 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)^[6] 1 Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)^[7] 14 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)^[8] 32 Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)^[9] 35 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[10] 10 Italian Albums (Musica e Dischi)^[11] 3 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)^[12] 16 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)^[13] 3 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)^[14] 20 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)^[15] 3 UK Albums (OCC)^[16] 5 US Billboard 200^[17] 25

Year-end charts 1993 year-end chart performance for Duets Chart (1993) Position UK Albums (OCC)^[18] 15 1994 year-end chart performance for Duets Chart (1994) Position Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria )^[19] 29 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[20] 82 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)^[21] 22

Certifications

Certifications for Duets

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)^[22]	Gold	35,000^^
Austria (IFPI Austria)^[23]	Platinum	50,000^*
Canada (Music Canada)^[24]	Platinum	100,000^^
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)^[25]	Platinum	80,000^^
France (SNEP)^[26]	2× Gold	200,000^*
Japan	—	30,000^[27]
New Zealand (RMNZ)^[28]	Platinum	15,000^^
Norway (IFPI Norway)^[29]	Platinum	50,000^*
Spain (PROMUSICAE)^[30]	Platinum	100,000^^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)^[31]	Platinum	50,000^^
United Kingdom (BPI)^[32]	Platinum	300,000^^
United States (RIAA)^[33]	Platinum	1,000,000^^
^* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Stephen Thomas Erlewine (23 November 1993). "Duets - Elton John | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
2. Obee, Dave (28 November 1993). "Recent Releases". Calgary Herald.
3. Jones, Alan (27 November 1993). "Market Preview: Mainstream - Albums — Pick of the Week" (PDF). Music Week. p. 19. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
4. Wood, Sam (23 November 1993). "Elton John and Friends; Classic Jazz; Pop for Films". Philadelphia Inquirer.
5. "Australiancharts.com – Elton John – Duets". Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
6. "Austriancharts.at – Elton John – Duets" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
7. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 2346". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
8. "Dutchcharts.nl – Elton John – Duets" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
9. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
10. "Offiziellecharts.de – Elton John – Duets" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
11. "Classifiche". Musica e Dischi (in Italian). Retrieved 12 March 2022. Set "Tipo" on "Album". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Elton John".
12. "Charts.nz – Elton John – Duets". Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
13. "Norwegiancharts.com – Elton John – Duets". Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
14. "Swedishcharts.com – Elton John – Duets". Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
15. "Swisscharts.com – Elton John – Duets". Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
16. "Elton John | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
17. "Elton John Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
18. "Top 100 Albums 1993" (PDF). Music Week. 15 January 1994. p. 25. Retrieved 21 May 2022 – via World Radio History.
19. "Jahreshitparade Alben 1994". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
20. "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts". GfK Entertainment (in German). offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
21. "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1994". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
22. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1993 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
23. "Austrian album certifications – Elton John – Duets" (in German). IFPI Austria. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
24. "Canadian album certifications – Elton John – Duets". Music Canada. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
25. . Archived from the original on 20 April 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
26. "French album certifications – Elton John – Duets" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
27. Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
28. Scapolo, Dean (2007). The Complete New Zealand Music Charts: 1966–2006. Maurienne House. ISBN 978-1-877443-00-8.
29. (in Norwegian). IFPI Norway. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
30. at the Wayback Machine (archived 23 August 2020)
31. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('Duets')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
32. "British album certifications – Elton John/Various – Duets". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
33. "American album certifications – Elton John – Duets". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 23 August 2020.

External links

• Duets at Discogs (list of releases)