Guy" February 1991 UK 12" vinyl and CD single "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" "Song for Guy" "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" Personnel Elton John – piano, organ, vocals Davey Johnstone – electric guitar, acoustic guitar Dee Murray – bass Nigel Olsson – drums Ray Cooper – tambourine, bells David Hentschel – mellotron Carl Wilson – backing vocals Bruce Johnston – backing vocals Billy Hinsche – backing vocals Toni Tennille – backing vocals Vocals arranged by Bruce Johnston with help from The Captain Horns arranged by Del Newman Accolades Grammy Awards |- | style="width:35px; text-align:center;" rowspan="2"|1975 || rowspan="2"| "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" || Record of the Year || |- | Best Pop Vocal Performance – Male || |- Charts and certifications Weekly charts Year-end charts Certifications 1986–1987 live version Elton John recorded a live version on 14 December 1986 that appears on the Live in Australia with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra album. In his 2019 autobiography, Me, Elton claims that this performance is special because he thought it was the last time he was ever going to sing. The singer was going in to dangerous throat surgery a few days later. An edited version of this same recording was released as a single in 1987 and also appears in the To Be Continued... box set. 1990 MTV Unplugged On 17 May 1990, Elton John recorded a performance on MTV Unplugged at the Chelsea Studios in New York City. An acoustic version of the song was included as a track on The Unplugged Collection, Volume One. George Michael and Elton John version Background In 1991, "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" was covered in a live version as a duet by George Michael and Elton John. The pair had first performed the song at the Live Aid concert in 1985 (with Michael singing and John playing, featuring backup vocals by Wham! partner Andrew Ridgeley and Kiki Dee). Six years later, George Michael's Cover to Cover tour regularly included the song, and for the final show at Wembley Arena, London on 23 March 1991, Michael brought out John as a surprise guest to sing it with him. Reception Released as a single later that year, the song reached number one on both sides of the Atlantic, spending two weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart in December 1991 and