Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word

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"Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" is a song written by Elton John and 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 his second single on Rocket Records. The song is a mournful ballad about unrequited love. It was also one of the rare instances where Elton John himself wrote much of the lyric. Whereas most of the John-Taupin songs began with Taupin's lyrics, this one began with John's melody, with some lyrics included. Taupin simply finished them.

The song was a UK/US Top 20 hit, reaching #11 in the UK and #6 in the US.

The song also appeared the following year on Greatest Hits Volume II, though for copyright reasons it no longer appears on the current version of that album. It now appears on Greatest Hits 1976-1986, The Very Best of Elton John and in Greatest Hits 1970-2002, as well as a number of other compilations.

Other versions

"Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word" has been covered by a wide variety of artists from country to R&B. It has been recorded as a duet, in Spanish, and has even featured Elton John himself on a couple of versions.

In 2008, American Pianist and Singer Eli Mattson sang this as part of the top 10 in the widely known talent show America's Got Talent

In 1994, country singers Suzy Bogguss and Chet Atkins covered the song on their 1994 Simpatico. It was released as a single but failed to chart. A year later, Argentine singer/songwriter, Pedro Aznar, covered the song in Spanish with the translated title, "Ya no hay forma de pedir perdón", for the album David y Goliath.

In 1997, the song was featured on Steven Houghton's self titled album.

In 2002, the boy band, Blue, recorded the song with Elton John (who received a featured artist credit). This version was produced by multi-platinum producer Ray Ruffin and was a hit throughout Europe and went to number one in the UK, where it received a Silver sales certification and sold 315,000 copies.

Joe Cocker covered the song on his collection of love songs, Greatest Love Songs, in 2003. In 2004, there more versions were released. First, Ray Charles and Elton John recorded this song as a 'duet' in Charles's 2004 posthumous release Genius Loves Company. Then, Mary J. Blige covered the song for the soundtrack to the film, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. Finally, Kenny G recorded it with Richard Marx for his covers/duets album, At Last...The Duets Album.

In 2006, former American Idol contestant Clay Aiken covered the song on his album, A Thousand Different Ways, and X Factor winner, Leona Lewis's recording of the song was a B-side to her number-one debut single, "A Moment Like This".

Marty and Kim Wilde version

"Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word"
Single by Marty Wilde and Kim Wilde
from the album Born to Rock and Roll - The Greatest Hits
Released	2007
Format	CD single
Genre	Pop
Label	Universal
Writer(s)	Elton John, Bernie Taupin
Kim Wilde singles chronology
"Perfect Girl" (2006) "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" (2007)

The song was covered in 2007 by Marty Wilde, a rock and roll star who made his name as a singer in the 1950s and 1960s, and during the 1980s co-wrote several hit singles for his daughter, Kim Wilde. For his 2007 Greatest Hits compilation album, he recorded some new tracks including this one as a duet with his daughter. The two had previously performed the song together twenty years prior to this at an AIDS benefit concert. The Wildes chose to record this song for the new compilation in honour of Elton John's 60th birthday. It was released as a promotional-only single in the UK.