The Editors of LIFE - LIFE Elton John

Elton John

THE SONGS THE JOURNEY THE LIFE

On The Muppet Show, 1977.

THE ENDURING STAR

Five decades after Elton John first rocketed to fame, the showmans life inspires a Hollywood musical

The Rocket Man himself in his dressing room circa 2000.

FOR NEARLY 50 YEARS, ELTON JOHN HAS BEEN A near-constant presence in popular culturein pop music (where to begin?), on the big screen ( Tommy, The Lion King ), in theaters ( Billy Elliot: The Musical ), and in sold-out concerts throughout the world. His enormous and enduring popularity stems of course from his prolific output of soul-stirring songs. And that output is a manifestation of an extraordinary life led through often extraordinary timesthe basis of the 2019 Paramount Pictures biopic Rocketman.

Johns journey is something of a fairy tale come truenot least because he is arguably the worlds unlikeliest pop superstar. Born Reginald Kenneth Dwight in a working-class enclave in Middlesex, England, he was pudgy, plain, and prematurely bald. But he more than compensated for his physical ordinariness with a musical talent that first became apparent when he started playing piano at age four. Eventually, the young mans search for fame and fortune led to gigging in local pubs, touring with a backing band, writing songs for more successful singersand becoming a solo artist who gave notoriously mediocre live performances. How does a fat boy from nowhere get to be a song man? John asks a colleague in Rocketman. The answer? You gotta kill the person you were born to be in order to become the person you wanna be. In 1970, that finally happened when the singer made his American debut in Los Angeles at the Troubadour cluba galvanizing concert during which Reginald Dwight died forever... and a superstar named Elton John was born.

In the first five years of the 1970s, it seemed that Johns success would never end. Working with astonishing facility and speed, he and his lyricist, Bernie Taupin, produced a seemingly inexhaustible series of Top 10 singles (Philadelphia Freedom, Crocodile Rock), record-shattering albums (four made the Billboard charts in 1972 alone), and a few stone-cold classics ( Madman Across the Water , Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy ). Though John lost altitude after punk and new wave music muscled out mainstream pop at the end of the 1970s, he played oneven in the face of bulimia, depression, controversy, drug and alcohol abuse, and his fair share of flops. Eventually, as in the best of fairy tales, our restless hero found true loveand some measure of contentment, at least. This is no ordinary fairy tale to be sure. But a rock n roll fairy tale? Yes, indeed.

ROCKETMAN TURNS Elton Johns storied life into a musical-fantasy starring Taron Egerton.

Elton John

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e-ISBN: 978-1-54784-695-5

Copyright 2019 Meredith Corporation

Published by LIFE Books, an imprint of Meredith Corporation 225 Liberty Street New York, NY 10281

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Vol. 19, No. 13 May 17, 2019

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FRONT COVER: Elton John circa 1973.

Photo Credits

Front Cover: Terry ONeill/Iconic Images/Getty Back Cover: Ed Caraeff/Iconic Images Terry ONeill/Iconic Images/Premium/Getty

INTRODUCTION

Terry ONeill/Iconic Images/Getty

THE PIANO PLAYER

Bob Gruen

THE UNEXPECTED STAR

Ed Caraeff/Iconic Images

THE ROCKET MAN

Michael Ochs Archives/Getty

A VIEW FROM THE TOP

Terry ONeill/Iconic Images/Premium/Getty

ELTON PLAYS ON

Ed Caraeff/Iconic Images Inside Back Cover: cinoby/E+/Getty

THE LION KING IN WINTER: Having deftly navigated the ups and downs of a decades-long career and overcome life-threatening addictions, a triumphant John performed songs from 2016s Wonderful Crazy Night, his 32nd studio album, in Los Angeles that same year.