This week at The Archive we are delighted to welcome Blackpool title the West Lancashire Evening Gazette to our collection of newspapers, as we have added 289,279 brand new pages in total over the last seven days. Meanwhile, from Belper to Bexhill, from Harrogate to Hucknall, from Melton Mowbray to Morecambe, we’ve updated 20 of our existing titles.

So read on to discover more from our new and updated titles of the week, as we mark 27 years this week since the release of Elton John’s single ‘Candle in the Wind,‘ which was a tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales. Released on 13 September 1997, weeks after the Princess’s tragic death, the record would become the second best-selling song of all time.

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First of all, we’re off to Blackpool to welcome new title the West Lancashire Evening Gazette to our collection. This evening newspaper was founded in 1929 to serve the towns and communities on the Fylde coast, in east Lancashire.

Over the years, the newspaper title changed to become simply the Evening Gazette. Appearing every day, apart from Sundays, the West Lancashire Evening Gazette was neutral in its politics. By the 1980s, the title cost 15p and covered an array of national and local news. An inherently lively paper, the Blackpool-based title featured many photographs of local personalities and societies, alongside horoscopes and a TV guide.

The title is now known as the Blackpool Gazette, and it is still the town of Blackpool’s local evening newspaper, with locals fondly calling it the Gazette.

That’s it from our new title of the week, but there’s thousands more new newspaper pages for you to enjoy, through the updates we have made to our existing papers. We’ve go something of a Derbyshire theme this week, with over 18,000 brand new pages being added to the Buxton Advertiser, and over 12,000 brand new pages joining the Ripley and Heanor News and Ilkeston Division Free Press. Elsewhere, we’ve added over 13,000 brand new pages to the Bexhill-on-Sea Advertiser, whilst a new year joins specialist sporting title Cycling.

13 September 1997 – The Release of ‘Candle in the Wind’

On 31 August 1997 Diana, Princess of Wales, lost her life, alongside two others, in a tragic car accident which stunned the world. At her funeral service, which was held on 6 September 1997, legendary singer Elton John sung ‘Candle in the Wind,’ which he had originally penned for Marilyn Monroe, but had updated to remember Princess Diana. The song would become a potent expression of global grief, and would go on to become the second best-selling song of all time.

Like many newspapers at the time, Blackpool’s West Lancashire Evening Gazette extensively covered Princess Diana’s death and funeral. On 6 September 1997, the day of the funeral, it reprinted the ‘new version of Candle in the Wind, which was sung by Elton John at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales.’ Meanwhile, a few days later, the paper reported on Elton John’s ‘fight to hold back tears’ as he performed the song at the funeral, which was held at Westminster Abbey.

He told reporters at a match between Watford and Wycombe Wonderers on 7 September 1997:

‘Towards the last verse I cracked on one note… But I thought to myself ‘You’ve got to get through this because she would have got through it if the roles had been reversed. I wanted to sing it well for her. I just had to grit my teeth.’‘

He also divulged to reporters at the Watford match (Elton John being a huge fan of the team), how ‘after the service he went straight to a studio to record the song, for release within days as a charity single.’ The West Lancashire Evening Gazette reported how the song was ‘set to become the biggest-selling single ever.’

A few weeks later, on 16 September 1997, the same newspaper reported how ‘the chart-topping, record-breaking tribute version of Candle in the Wind will no doubt bring a boost to veteran rock star Elton John’s all-ready glittering career as it raises millions for charity.’ Lancashire locals, meanwhile, had the chance to see the singer in concert, with tickets to his Birmingham gig (with travel included) being made available to West Lancashire Evening Gazette readers for £43.

However, concert attendees would not be treated to a rendition of the moving memorial song. On 22 September 1997, whilst reporting on television programme An Audience With, which starred Elton John, the West Lancashire Evening Gazette divulged how the singer would ‘never again perform the Diana tribute Candle in the Wind.’ Elton John stated:

‘It would be too upsetting for me, it would stir up too many memories. I think to milk it any more would be bad taste.’

Meanwhile, the track was breaking records. On 30 September 1997 the West Lancashire Evening Gazette reported how ‘Candle in the Wind ’97 is now the most successful global hit single by a British artist with 21 million copies pressed worldwide.’ The piece detailed how the song:

…also became the second-biggest British hit ever, overtaking Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody and only trailing Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas. In the US, where it went on sale last week, Elton John’s tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales, is a sure-fire No 1 single and could stay there until Christmas, according to industry experts.

The song’s stay at the Number One spot in the United Kingdom came to the end when the Spice Girls released their track ‘Spice Up Your Life,’ as reported by the West Lancashire Evening Gazette on 20 October 1997. By this point in time, Candle in the Wind had raised ‘an estimated £10m for Diana’s Memorial Fund,’ and had sold more than 30 million copies.

Candle in the Wind, the 1997 version, ultimately sold 33 million copies and is the world’s second biggest-selling single, only second to ‘White Christmas’ by Bing Crosby, which has sold an estimated 50 million copies. It represents the massive outpouring of grief on the death of Princess Diana, measuring the global impact of her passing.

Discover more about Elton John, the links between royalty and music, and much more besides, through the pages of our Archive today.

New Titles

Updated Titles

This week we have updated 20 of our existing titles.

You can learn more about each of the titles we add to every week by clicking on their names. On each paper’s title page, you can read a free sample issue, learn more about our current holdings, and our plans for digitisation.

You can keep up to date with all the latest additions by visiting the recently added page.  You can even look ahead to see what we’re going to add tomorrow.