1982 Elton John released his sixteenth album Jump Up! In a 2010 Sirius radio special, John's lyricist, Bernie Taupin, talking about Jump Up!, said it was "one of our worst albums". He added, "It's a terrible, awful, disposable album, but it had 'Empty Garden' on it, so it's worth it for that one song." Amazing tribute song if you haven’t listened to it in a while, give it a listen.
First single released in America was "Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)" (#13 #18 Adult Contemporary), and was about friend John Lennon. After Lennon's death, John was concerned that a tribute song to the late Beatle would be "clumsy" – until he saw Taupin's lyrics.
"Blue Eyes" (#12 and #1 AC) was next in the US..these two songs were in different release order in the UK.
"Ball and Chain" didn't chart, notable because Pete Townshend of The Who is on acoustic guitar.
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