With lyrics written by Bernie Taupin, the song was first featured as the opening track to John's 1971 album, Madman Across the Water.

The song's lyrics were inspired by Taupin's first visit to the US in 1970, and were intended to capture the spirit of California, where he found the women he met highly contrasted with those whom he had known in his home country of England.

I had been into ballet as a little girl and sewed patches on Elton's jackets and jeans",[8] referring to the song's description of a "seamstress for the band".

The arrangement start features pedal steel guitar played by British guitarist B. J. Cole, light percussion, Paul Buckmaster's strings and a quiet choir.

[9] Due to the song's lengthy run time of 6 minutes, 12 seconds,[3] "Tiny Dancer" was initially a non-starter as a single in the US, reaching only No.

The video was filmed in Los Angeles, and features scenes of various residents driving around the city,[15][16] including performer Marilyn Manson and Iris Karina.

[35] A version featuring Mary Black, Paddy Casey and Declan O'Rourke was recorded in Galway, Ireland in 2012 as a charity single.

[36][37] In season 3 episode 1 of Friends "The One with the Princess Leia Fantasy", when discussing the most romantic songs, Lisa Kudrow's character Phoebe says that her favourite, the song Tiny Dancer, was in fact written for Tony Danza which she tries to prove by singing the line "Hold me close, young Tony Danza".

After a Friends: The Reunion episode, Courteney Cox invited Elton John, Ed Sheeran and Brandi Carlile to pay a short tribute to Lisa's character once famously misquoting the song.