Sleeping with the Past is the twenty-second studio album by English musician Elton John, released on 4 September 1989.

[9] John and Taupin intended for the songs to reflect the style of 1960s R&B singers such as Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding and Sam Cooke, whom they admired.

[10] With renewed creativity after 1988's Reg Strikes Back, Elton John and Bernie Taupin sought to create a cohesive album that had maintained a consistent theme.

John would then use Taupin's lyrics as a guide to write a soul-influenced song based on the original source of inspiration.

… So, I started dragging out all these old records and listening to them to get a feel, and we decided to basically make a white-soul album for the late ‘80s, and I think that’s what we’ve done.”[12] Sleeping with the Past is the second of John's albums where he plays a Roland RD-1000 digital piano, which he used on all the songs except "Blue Avenue," on which he played the Bösendorfer acoustic piano at Puk Studios.

Davey Johnstone is the only member of the "classic" Elton John Band who appeared on the album—Dee Murray and Nigel Olsson being notable absences.

Keyboardist Guy Babylon made his first appearance on an Elton John album, and also joined his touring band at the same time.

Months after the album's completion, John attributed its creative success to the certainty that some unpleasant chapters in his life, such as his battle with The Sun, were drawing to a close.

"Love Is Worth Waiting For" had been demoed during the Reg Strikes Back sessions the year before and was further worked on at Puk but has never been released.

[18] Wynonna Judd recorded a contemporary country music cover version of "Stone's Throw from Hurtin" which was featured in the 1992 film Leap of Faith starring Steve Martin.