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“Rocketman,” about the life and music of Elton John , is a formulaic, paint-by-numbers biopic. It actually begins at a moment of crucial emotion and flux in the singer’s life, then backtracks to show us how he ended up there—a narrative device that already was a cliché when the brilliant “ Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story ” parodied it back in 2007.

It is a tried-and-true jukebox musical fantasia, seemingly prepackaged for the Broadway stage, packed with toe-tapping sing-alongs you’ve known and loved for decades. Songs spring from significant moments in John’s life, or so we’re led to believe. And of course, there are plenty of montages: the obligatory depiction of John’s hits rising up the charts and racking up gold records; the concerts, headlines and adoring fans; the shopping sprees to spend his insane riches; the trying-on of various ornate hats, glasses and spangled get-ups; and all the sex and drugs that go along with the rock ‘n’ roll.

It’s all very safe in terms of its structure and the ultimately uplifting story it’s trying to tell – ironically so, given that it’s presenting the life of a man who took risks with his larger-than-life, wildly flamboyant stage persona. But Elton John himself is very much alive and a part of the production, serving as an executive producer on the film and an adviser to Taron Egerton , the young actor who plays him with great gusto. (The two even gave a duet performance together after the rapturous “Rocketman” premiere at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this month.) This is not exactly a warts-and-all portrayal; even moments of John’s selfish and self-destructive behavior eventually are fodder for a greater redemption tale.

And yet … and yet. Egerton gives a performance with such thrills and vulnerability, such charisma and pathos, that it’s hard not to be wowed. Previously best known for his starring role in the action-comedy “Kingsman” movies, Egerton truly gives it his all – you can see the effort on display here in what was clearly a physically and emotionally arduous role. That includes doing all his own singing, which adds an element of accessibility that, say, “ Bohemian Rhapsody ” lacks (and we’ll get to all the inevitable comparisons in a moment). He doesn’t look or sound exactly like John, and that’s probably preferable to doing a straight-up impression. He gets the vibe right and he has a genuine, appealing screen presence. It is almost enough in itself – but it’s also enough to make you wish the film surrounding him were as brash and gutsy.

And at times, it is. Director Dexter Fletcher and writer Lee Hall frequently arrange and stage the musical numbers in such inventive ways, they achieve a new level of meaning in the lyrics and almost make you feel as if you’re hearing them for the first time. And that’s tough, given that John’s songs have been standards on the radio, in movies and in tourist-trap, sing-along piano bars since the 1970s. This is especially true of “ Rocket Man ,” which flows so beautifully and covers such substantial ground, it’s like a mini-movie unto itself. The quiet and intimacy of seeing John find his way through “Your Song” at a piano in the living room is also surprisingly effective. And in an especially inspired move, John’s longtime collaborator and close friend, songwriter Bernie Taupin (a lovely Jamie Bell ), performs “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” at a breaking point between the two men. Again, these sporadic glimmers of greatness are welcome, but they also make you wish that the filmmakers had applied such daring throughout.

When we first see John, he’s storming into an AA meeting in full regalia, a whirlwind of feathers and crystals, fresh from the stage. He does not want to be there. But while he has your attention, he may as well tell you a little story. Cut to John’s youth (when he was still Reginald Dwight), a piano prodigy with a judgmental, emotionally withholding father (Steven Mackintosh) and a distant, promiscuous mother (a distractingly miscast Bryce Dallas Howard ). “Rocketman” suggests that John’s creative life—nay, his entire eye-catching persona – has been an elaborate attempt to gain his parents’ love and approval, and that his substance abuse has been a method of numbing the pain of their rejection. That may be true, but it also seems rather simplistic.

“Rocketman” hits all the key notes: his connection with Taupin in the late 1960s and the early seeds of their enduring collaboration; the development of his stage name and trademark style; and his star-making performance at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. Tate Donovan is such a hoot as legendary nightclub owner Doug Weston, he makes you want to see an entire movie about him and all the acts that made their names there in the ‘60s and ‘70s. L.A. is also where John hooks up with manager John Reid (a menacingly sexy Richard Madden ) and truly launches into a life of debauchery. (Did John really come up with “Tiny Dancer” while surveying the late-night party scene at Mama Cass’ house? Probably not, but it’s evocative of a specific place and time.)

Which brings us back to “Bohemian Rhapsody,” while we’re on the subject of rock-star wretched excess. It is impossible not to think of Freddie Mercury—and of Rami Malek ’s Oscar-winning portrayal of him – while watching “Rocketman.” Both were flashy, gay, British musical icons, producing insanely catchy tunes around the same era. Both reinvented themselves to escape the truth of their mundane upbringings. “Bohemian Rhapsody” only came out last fall and it was a massive hit, so it’s still fresh in our minds. And Fletcher also happened to direct both films, having stepped in to finish the Queen biopic after Bryan Singer ’s firing. “Rocketman” is superior in a lot of ways, but both films adhere to such a predictable narrative that they’re similarly frustrating.

“Rocketman” has the benefit of an R-rating, which allows it to be sexier, raunchier and more profane. It’s more open about John’s sexuality, which gives it a degree of authenticity. But both films make the mistake of spelling things out and wrapping things up in cringey, on-the-nose ways. There’s a moment that I could see coming during one of the AA meeting scenes that I almost had to watch through splayed fingers, it was so painfully obvious. But you may be too busy singing “Crocodile Rock”—or “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting,” or “I’m Still Standing”—to care as you leave the theater.

Christy Lemire

Christy Lemire is a longtime film critic who has written for RogerEbert.com since 2013. Before that, she was the film critic for The Associated Press for nearly 15 years and co-hosted the public television series "Ebert Presents At the Movies" opposite Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, with Roger Ebert serving as managing editor. Read her answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

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Rocketman (2019)

Rated R for language throughout, some drug use and sexual content.

121 minutes

Taron Egerton as Elton John

Jamie Bell as Bernie Taupin

Richard Madden as John Reid

Bryce Dallas Howard as Sheila Eileen

Gemma Jones as Ivy

Steven MacKintosh as Stanley

Charlie Rowe as Ray Williams

Stephen Graham as Dick James

Tate Donovan as Doug Weston

Dexter Fletcher

Cinematographer

George Richmond
Chris Dickens
Matthew Margeson

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‘Rocketman’ Review: The Fantastical Tale of Elton John, Survivor, Rock God, Camp Icon

Taron Egerton brings understated flamboyance and flamboyant understatement to his portrayal of the former Reginald Dwight.

By A.O. Scott

The first album I ever bought with my own allowance was “Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy,” one of two studio LPs Elton John released in 1975. Nestled inside the sleeve was a graphic-novel-style booklet about the singer’s life, a source of great fascination to me at the time. I spent many hours that summer on the beanbag chair in the green-carpeted den, listening to “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” and poring over the tale of how a shy, bespectacled piano prodigy named Reginald Dwight blossomed into the internationally renowned song stylist dominating my turntable and millions of others.

“Rocketman,” directed by Dexter Fletcher from a screenplay by Lee Hall, recounts a slightly updated, substantially more candid version of the same story. Back in the ’70s, the fact that John was gay counted as an official secret, as did the extent of his devotion to alcohol, cocaine and other substances. But like that booklet, the movie — a testament to self-realization and a chronicle of recovery — is very much an authorized life. John, now 72, married and many years sober, serves as an executive producer and the author (with his lyricist Bernie Taupin, of course) of most of the soundtrack. (The instrumental score, threaded with echoes and allusions to his hits, with special attention to “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” is by Matthew Margeson.)

But the point of “Rocketman” isn’t self-aggrandizement. It’s fan service of an especially and characteristically generous kind. It’s certain that Elton John has nothing left to prove, but it’s also possible that he’s underappreciated. He has been part of the pop-music mainstream for so long — more than 50 years! — that the scope of his genius and the scale of his accomplishments risk being taken for granted. Nearly all the dozen or so songs you hear in this movie were originally recorded within the span of about seven years, and they represent the tip of a musical iceberg with few rivals.

Still, I doubt I’m the only listener of my generation who has at times succumbed to the lure of rock-snob dogmatism and worshiped false idols of authenticity, as if Sir Elton’s splendid artifice were something to be outgrown or outsmarted. And I’m sure I’m not the only one who will be grateful to be reminded of how much I loved him, and why.

As “Rocketman” tells it, that affection — mine and everyone else’s — stands in painful contrast to the absence of love in Reg Dwight’s childhood. (He’s played as a boy by Matthew Illesley and in adolescence by Kit Connor; the adult Elton is Taron Egerton). Dad (Steven Mackintosh) withholds all affection and approval from his firstborn son, in spite of a shared interest in music. Mum (Bryce Dallas Howard) runs hot and cold, her warmth always contingent on her own needs. After they split up, there’s a harmless, useless stepfather (Tom Bennett).

Luckily, there is also a grandmother around — the wonderful Gemma Jones — to notice the lad’s talents and to make sure he cultivates them, with lessons at the Royal Academy of Music. It’s also lucky that Fletcher and Hall, rather than making a standard biopic, infuse this one with anti-literalist elements of jukebox-musical spectacle. Grown-up Elton sings duets with his younger self. Young Reg dances his way to adulthood to the sounds of “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting.”

As a result, the chronology is almost as baroque as the melodies. Sometimes the songs are embedded in the plot, as when Elton, early in his partnership with Taupin (Jamie Bell), unfurls “Your Song,” apparently off the top of his head, on the piano in his mother’s parlor. Or, a bit later, when he takes the stage at the Troubadour in Los Angeles and levitates the crowd with “Crocodile Rock.” Other songs — “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” and the title track, among others — function more as musical numbers, giving theatrical vividness and metaphorical voice to Elton’s emotions. Those are heard when they suit the mood, rather than the historical record.

The film shrewdly resists the biographical cliché of supposing that the songs originate in or refer to specific moments of feeling. That isn’t really how art works, especially an art as collaborative as Elton and Bernie’s. Their creative alliance is the film’s core, the quiet, non-dysfunctional love story woven through the glitter, excess and heartbreak. “Your Song” becomes the emblem of this relationship. Bernie writes it for Elton, who sings it for Bernie, and thanks to the flexible magic of the second-person pronoun, it becomes a message that each one is sending to the other, and then to everyone else in the world.

It’s hard to think of a portrayal of artists at work less invested in the myth of creative struggle. Bernie produces lyrics by the bushel, Elton has tunes by the bucketful, and the resulting hits make both men insanely rich before either turns 30. The trouble, for Elton, is what follows from that success, as his fame exacerbates the unhealed wounds of childhood.

The main plot of “Rocketman” follows a familiar therapeutic loop. We start in rehab, where Elton has arrived in full stage regalia, a bright orange jumpsuit adorned with angel wings and devil horns. ( Most of the clothes Egerton is shown wearing are replicas of costumes Elton John actually wore, a feat of costume design by Julian Day that is ostentatious and humble at the same time.) We cycle through early striving and midcareer misery.

Some of that is brought about by John Reid (Richard Madden), a sharp-dressed music-industry sharpie who notices Elton’s talent, appraises his sexual insecurity and finds a way to take advantage of both. His ruthlessness and Elton’s appetites combine to push the singer to the brink of self-destruction, a precondition for the redemption that follows.

Egerton, with what can only be called flamboyant understatement — and also, I suppose, understated flamboyance — in effect plays both the Lady Gaga and the Bradley Cooper parts in a fresh iteration of “A Star Is Born.” His Elton is the hard-living road warrior and the preternaturally gifted ingénue, the sacrificial hero and the plucky survivor, the rock god and the camp icon. The actor delivers a tour de force of self-effacement, a bravura demonstration of borrowed charisma.

Fletcher sometimes overreaches, with respect to both spectacle and storytelling — the choreography can be as confusing as the timeline — but when it’s working “Rocketman” has the earnest, extravagant energy of a Baz Luhrmann movie. That description is, in this context, very much a compliment, since Luhrmann-esque showmanship is just what you want in a movie about Elton John.

The other thing you want is Elton John’s music , a desire that “Rocketman” by turns satisfies, sharpens and frustrates. The songs aren’t quite the way you remember them, and in most cases the new versions are put to effective dramatic use. But they don’t quite stand alone, and they’re unlikely to displace the originals on anyone’s streaming playlist. That’s just fine of course: The point is to spark renewed fondness for those old records, and for the incandescent meteor of a man who made them.

Rated R. Sex, drugs, you know the drill. Running time: 2 hours 1 minute.

A.O. Scott is the co-chief film critic. He joined The Times in 2000 and has written for the Book Review and The New York Times Magazine. He is also the author of “Better Living Through Criticism.” More about A.O. Scott

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Rocketman is an epic musical fantasy about the incredible human story of Elton John’s breakthrough years. The film follows the fantastical journey of transformation from shy piano prodigy Reginald Dwight into international superstar Elton John.

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‘rocketman’: film review | cannes 2019.

Taron Egerton retraces Elton John's early rise to stardom and his flirtation with self-destruction in Dexter Fletcher's glittery bio-musical fantasy, 'Rocketman.'

By David Rooney

David Rooney

Chief Film Critic

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The title of Rocketman is appropriate in that this boldly unconventional portrait of Elton John — charting the parallel tracks of his meteoric rise to superstardom and his simultaneous descent into an abyss of loneliness and addiction — has a spectacular launch, all engines blazing. It’s mid-flight that narrative shortcomings start to kick in, with a succession of surreally stylized musical fantasy sequences that are fabulously entertaining but too seldom allow for the kind of substantial dramatic connective tissue that would invite real emotional involvement with the protagonist. It’s largely to the credit of star Taron Egerton , who leans fearlessly into the role’s wild excesses, that the movie remains airborne.

The big test for any biopic of a music legend now will be how it measures up to the massive global success of Bohemian Rhapsody , and certainly the hits of John are no less enduring and beloved than those of Freddie Mercury and Queen — in fact arguably more so. On that score alone, Paramount should be able to count on a ready-made audience of longtime fans. Younger audiences raised on the Baz Luhrmann school of montage-driven spectacle should also get a kick out of the movie’s orgy of glitter, glory and grit, not to mention costumer Julian Day’s dazzling parade of flamboyant glam-rock stage couture.

Release date: May 31, 2019

There’s a neat symmetry in the fact that director Dexter Fletcher, who stepped in to rescue Bohemian Rhapsody after Bryan Singer’s erratic behavior risked derailing it, is at the helm of Rocketman , his full ownership here unleashing a far more impressionistic vision of rock ‘n’ roll myth-making.

The screenplay is by Lee Hall, who wrote Billy Elliot and previously collaborated with composer John on the stage musical adaptation of that 2000 film, about another Brit lad escaping from the reality of an unhappy home life through the discovery of performance, in that case dance. And Jamie Bell , who played that title character, provides lovely support here as John’s canonical songwriting partner Bernie Taupin, whose friendship is depicted as the star’s most sustaining relationship in those turbulent years.

But the driving force of the film is Egerton in a fully committed performance that ranges from exuberant stage showmanship through maudlin seediness and private misery, then back up again with the raw vulnerability and hard self-examination of someone stepping away from the precipice to take responsibility for his near flameout. The fact that Egerton does his own singing with such confidence adds a whole other layer to the characterization, appropriating the style of John without ever veering into impersonation. And in this age of flawlessly gym-toned young movie stars, the slight hint of chubbiness he’s acquired for the role is adorable.

Hall’s framing device works surprisingly well. The movie begins with a gorgeous slow instrumental version of the title song, as Elton bursts through a doorway haloed in celestial light and decked out in sequins and feathers as a fiery red-winged devil. He takes his seat in that incongruous getup among a therapy group at a posh rehab facility, where he proceeds to list his many addictions, from drugs and alcohol to sex and shopping, also dropping in issues with bulimia and anger management.

Taron Egerton Talks Favorite Elton John Song, Stealing Props From 'Rocketman' and More | Finish This Sentence

Reggie gets a taste of American soul when he’s hired to play backup for a touring act, and also gets his first gay kiss, courtesy of a black singer. Soon after his fortuitous meeting with Taupin and his adoption of a new name, Elton is casually outed, and the heterosexual Bernie’s nonchalant acceptance of the news helps make that exposure more of a liberation than a trauma. Though it doesn’t go over so well with Elton’s girlfriend. Only later, when he comes out to Sheila over the phone, does he feel a sting as she predicts a lonely life of never knowing what it’s like to be loved “properly.”

One of the movie’s most enjoyable chapters is the singer’s legendary 1970 American debut at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, where the 23-year-old Elton overcomes stage-fright fed by an audience of music luminaries — Neil Diamond, Leon Russell, half of The Beach Boys — to lift the crowd quite literally off their feet with “Crocodile Rock,” his own platform boots leaving the ground while his fingers continue to hammer the piano keys.

At a party afterward at the home of Mama Cass, he croons a delicate “Tiny Dancer” as Bernie wanders off through clouds of reefer smoke to make out in the backyard teepee (ah, the ’70s…) with a new acquaintance. But that night Elton meets John Reid (Richard Madden), a dashing and unapologetically self-serving music manager who sums up the Troubadour show with a mini-review that doubles as a killer seduction line: “There are moments in a rock star’s life that define who he is and how people perceive him as he ascends into the heavens.”

'Rocketman' Star Taron Egerton Moved to Tears During Standing Ovation at Cannes

Reid remains elusive for a while thereafter, but resurfaces amusingly in the middle of Elton’s recording session with Kiki Dee on “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.” He quickly displaces Elton’s early management, Dick James (Stephen Graham) and Ray Williams (Charlie Rowe). They move into a swanky Los Angeles home together as Elton’s fame and record sales soar, though Reid insists that they keep their sexual relationship under wraps for fear of killing Elton’s career.

Hall and Fletcher treat Elton’s stratospheric success almost as a fantasy that’s separate from his personal life, which means Rocketman lacks many of the traditional trappings of a rise-to-fame story, for better or worse. Elton’s way of coping with real life is to keep retreating further away from it, as reflected in his increasingly outrageous stage persona. This is illustrated in a dynamic sequence in which he performs “Pinball Wizard” at a grand piano as cinematographer George Richmond’s camera whirls around him in a dizzying series of Day’s most extravagant wardrobe creations. But the unfulfilled emotional needs that prevent Elton from enjoying his success are not met by Reid, who makes no effort to hide his dalliances with other men.

It’s characteristic of a film that almost invariably chooses a big stylized showpiece over a moment of intimate revelation that Elton’s booze- and drug-fueled suicide attempt during a party at their home takes the form of a plunge to the bottom of the swimming pool, where young Reggie is in astronaut gear singing “Rocket Man” at a toy piano. Even the emergency hospital trip to have his stomach pumped continues as a trippy fantasy, seguing into the barely recovered Elton taking the stage at Dodger Stadium in his iconic spangly baseball uniform. Visually, it’s quite a feast, but on a dramatic level, it too often feels all a bit remote.

'Rocketman' Blazes Trail as First Major Studio Film to Depict Gay Male Sex

That imbalance becomes more problematic as Elton’s isolation is compounded and his addictions grow worse. Some plot points are so perfunctorily touched upon they might as well have been dropped, like his brief marriage to German recording engineer Renate Blauel (Celinde Schoenmaker), woven around “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me.” There’s more feeling in the bumps in his friendship with Bernie, who takes his leave from one of Elton’s pity parties by singing “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” in a lush orchestral arrangement.

Musically, the movie sticks pretty much to the greatest hits, with some terrific oldies like “Border Song” and “Take Me to the Pilot” the closest thing to deep cuts here. It’s a blast to hear so many indelible songs, even if it would have been nice to have a few more of them sung at length, rather than in truncated excerpts. And Hall’s screenplay spends too little time on the actual making of the music. One notable exception — when Elton sits down at the piano in his mother’s house plonking out the first melodic ideas for the lyrics Bernie has just handed him to “Your Song,” before it bursts into fully formed life — is stirring because the creative process generally is observed here only in passing.

If the final reckoning of Elton’s rehab therapy session could have used more dramatic muscle, it was a shrewd touch to have Bernie be the one whose visit allows him to express his fears while finally summoning the strength to stay clean. And whether Fletcher had a Cannes premiere in mind or not, closing with a recreation of the sublimely cheesy 1983 music video for “I’m Still Standing,” a riot of mullets, Lycra and bad dance moves shot on a Riviera beachfront, was a surefire way to get the festival crowd on their feet in an extended standing ovation.

Audiences when the movie opens May 31 will likely be more mixed, but as a fantasia on the making of Elton John, Rocketman at the very least commits wholeheartedly to its flashy eccentricity, and for many, that will be more than fun enough.

Production companies: Marv Films, Rocket Pictures, Paramount Pictures, New Republic Pictures Distributor: Paramount Cast: Taron Egerton, Jamie Bell, Richard Madden, Gemma Jones, Bryce Dallas Howard, Stephen Graham, Steven Mackintosh, Tate Donovan, Charlie Rowe, Matthew Illesley, Kit Connor Director: Dexter Fletcher Screenwriter: Lee Hall Producers: Matthew Vaughn, David Furnish, Adam Bohling, David Reid Executive producers: Elton John, Claudia Vaughn, Brian Oliver, Steve Hamilton Shaw, Michael Gracey Director of photography: George Richmond Production designer: Marcus Rowland Costume designer: Julian Day Music: Matthew Margeson Music producer: Giles Martin Editor: Chris Dickens Choreography: Adam Murray Casting: Reg Poerscout-Edgerton Venue: Cannes Film Festival (Out of Competition)

Rated R, 121 minutes

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Review: A Glitter-Fueled <i>Rocketman</i> Blasts Off

Review: A Glitter-Fueled Rocketman Blasts Off

Taron Egerton as Elton John in Rocketman

When you think about it, the rock’n’roll biopic is about as un-rock’n’roll as you can get, the ultimate in dancing about architecture. You have to sit still, mostly, through the whole thing. And watching a rock star’s life unfold before you hardly matches the livewire thrill of standing in a sweaty pit with dozens, possibly hundreds, of others in the presence of a magnificent human being who calls out to us, one by one and all together, inspiring joy and lust and a zillion other feelings that we haven’t yet invented words for. Who wants to sit down and watch a movie about an art form that makes you wanna shout?

But rock biopics, done right, can jump the synapse between how movies work on us and how music moves us, and Rocketman —the story of shy Reginald Dwight from North London, who would become showman and songman extraordinaire Elton John—sparks that duotone euphoria. Directed by Dexter Fletcher and starring Taron Egerton as the spangled one himself, Rocketman is magnificent and ridiculous, a feathered melanage of clichés and originality, of respectful homage and unrepentant nostalgia. Sometimes it’s comfortingly conventional; other times it’s gloriously off the charts. Even when it doesn’t quite work, it’s just so damn alive, meeting right at the intersection of the human heartbeat and the also-human love for shiny things.

Even people who profess not to love Elton John find they can’t resist him, and they certainly can’t avoid him: Among a string of hits spread throughout a career of nearly 50 years, John’s 1970 “Your Song” is a universal anthem of intimacy, a song that just about everybody knows. “I hope you don’t mind that I put down in words/How wonderful life is while you’re in the world.” Who among us wouldn’t want to be thought of that way by another human being? Or who hasn’t felt that way about someone else, a person whose presence is as precious as the gift of daylight? Rocketman is essentially a movie version of “Your Song,” dedicated to the man who brought the song to the world, a jukebox musical with so much ardent affection poured into it—by the filmmakers and by the actors—that it feels like a love ballad. The picture was, it should be noted, executive-produced by John, so there’s some vanity involved here—but if Elton John can’t be allowed to love himself, what hope is left for this monstrous world? As for moviegoers, I’m sure it’s possible to dislike Rocketman : There’s no avoiding the “I never cared for Elton John” or the “I don’t much like musicals” or the “Rainbows are overrated, don’t you think?” brigade. But I’d argue that resisting Rocketman would expend more energy than it’s worth. If you’re certain you’re going to hate it, just don’t go, and leave the pleasure to the rest of us.

Our first vision of Egerton as John is a blast of glory: Dressed in a winged red devil costume lush with plumage, a pair of curly rams’ horns sprouting from the red satin caplet that hugs his head, he pushes through a set of doors that presumably lead to a stage. But he’s actually headed to a group therapy session, where he plunks himself down, costume and all, and begins the story of his life, accompanied by a litany of his problems. This is Elton John circa the late 1980s, and here’s what he’s up against: He may be one of the world’s richest and most successful rock stars, but he’s also an alcoholic, a cocaine addict and a bulimic. He’s addicted to sex and he has an anger-management problem. He loves prescription painkillers and he can’t stop shopping. He’s alternately agitated and demonically animated as he rattles off his list of flaws and vexations. The ordinary people seated around him in a circle—his costume may be real or imaginary, but even if it’s the former, they’re too polite to acknowledge it—want to help, and they begin asking questions, beginning with the big one: What was his childhood like?

From there, Rocketman takes off like a shot, illustrating each major episode in John’s life with lavish production number. Fletcher prefers the operatic approach over restraint, and his instincts pay off. The real Elton John is now in his 70s, married and semi-retired from touring as he raises his young family; he has been sober for nearly 30 years. The Elton John of Rocketman is both a fantasy and a rendering of a real human being who has seen his share of suffering: Though the movie is largely celebratory, there’s a forceful strain of melancholy running through it. The opening number, a vibrant song-and-dance that takes place in a semi-hallucinatory version of mid-50s London—set to the proclamatory “The Bitch Is Back” —shows a young, willful Elton (played at this point by Matthew Illesley) punching the air, a piano prodigy ready to conquer the world. Later, though, we see him buckling under the disapproval and indifference of his parents (Steven Mackintosh and Bryce Dallas Howard). Their lack of affection for him sets the jagged course of his life. At one point his mother bestows a wicked-witch curse upon him, telling him that he’ll never find anyone who’ll truly love him.

That may be a super-simplistic reduction of real human problems, but in the context of the movie’s vivid stylization, it’s perfectly effective. Rocketman shows us an Elton John searching for love and rarely finding it: The movie outlines an early, unrequited love for Bernie Taupin (played, wonderfully, by Jamie Bell), John’s longtime lyricist. And it plumbs the depths of John’s passionate fixation on his onetime manager John Reid (a deviously sexy Richard Madden), who basically used him as a cash cow.

Through it all, Egerton’s Elton prevails, almost like the heroine of a ’50s Douglas Sirk melodrama: He falls desperately in and out of love; he buys rhinestone-bedazzled sunglasses and out-of-this-world suits; he flounces around his lavish digs in Versace kimonos. As a young shooting star, he plays the Troubadour in Los Angeles—he levitates at the piano, and the audience levitates with him, their platform shoes hovering above the floor like shiny magic horses’ hooves. But success hurts, too: He’ll later attempt suicide by getting messed up on pills and booze and diving into his pool. Fletcher turns the suicide attempt into an underwater fantasia, complete with a hallucination of tiny Elton the child prodigy, seated at a mini-grand piano at the pool’s bottom. This little Elton and his adult counterpart spin out a version of “Rocketman” that gets to the heart of why, when it comes down to it, we all want to keep breathing: “I miss the earth so much, I miss my wife/it’s lonely out in space.” Egerton does his own singing in Rocketman , and he’s affecting and effective: The performance is impersonation as tribute, and it’s filled with tenderness.

The rapturous reception to Rocketman at Cannes, where the film premiered, coupled with the surprise worldwide embrace of last year’s Bohemian Rhapsody , suggests that rock biopics might be satisfying some secret desire that our hypercurated Spotify lists can’t reach. ( Bohemian Rhapsody was partially directed by Fletcher, who stepped in after Bryan Singer was fired from the production.) Both Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman are set largely in the 1970s, which, to people who weren’t alive at the time, may seem like some lost, dazzling world. The dirty truth is that they’re right: It was dazzling, a time of freedom and exploration that began with the advent of the sexual revolution and ended when AIDS descended. Even if you were too young to have sex during the ‘70s, just listening to the radio was awesome: If you couldn’t afford to buy records or LPs, with a twist of the dial you could find much of what your heart desired, chosen and introduced by disc jockeys with personalities and actual souls. The artists they brought to us were often dazzling and flamboyant, blurring the line between masculine and feminine, and leading us to wonder how much the line mattered in the first place. By the early 1970s, young people were already tired of their hippie predecessors, jawing on about how much acid they dropped or how much no-strings-attached sex they had or what a genius Dylan was before he went electric. In the ’70s, electricity of all kinds was welcome, in the form of satin bomber jackets, or bell-bottoms with glitter stars on them, or makeup on the faces of girls and boys.

No wonder the Freddie Mercury of Bohemian Rhapsody and the Elton John of Rocketman are the men of the moment, the very people we seem to want to hear from now. Both were masters of self-invention who celebrated love and pleasure even when masking their own heartbreak. The question asked, and answered, by Rocketman isn’t Why should we care about Elton John? but Why wouldn’t we want just a bit of his lightning right now? Technology has made our lives easier, but the tradeoff is that it now rules our lives. Work and play are merged in unholy ways. The man in the gray flannel suit, working hard for the life he wants, hasn’t disappeared; he’s now the man—or woman—in the gray felt Allbirds, putting in long hours just to pay off student loans. And here comes a movie with Elton John in a feathered suit, a fabulous and rare songbird at the piano, presenting us with a vision of romance and vitality and wild, polychrome beauty. This, too, can be your song. And you can tell everybody.

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‘Rocketman’: Watch Taron Egerton as Elton John in First Biopic Trailer

By Emily Zemler

Emily Zemler

The first trailer for the upcoming Elton John biopic Rocketman , portrays the singer’s early days at Royal Academy of Music to his rise to pop stardom. Taron Egerton, best known for the Kingsman movies, stars as John and does his own singing in the film. He sings “Rocket Man” in the trailer.

The teaser trailer, which follows the release of the film’s first images last week, opens with a montage. In voiceover, Richard Madden, who co-stars as John’s manager and partner John Reid, says, “There are moments in a rock star’s life that define who he is. Where there was darkness there is now you, and it’s going to be a wild ride.” The one-minute clip offers a good look at many of the film’s colorful, flamboyant costumes, as well as Egerton performing as the singer. It closes with a title card that notes the film is “based on a true fantasy.”

The film, which is set for release next May, also stars Jamie Bell as lyricist Bernie Taupin and Bryce Dallas Howard as the singer’s mother Sheila Eileen. It’s directed by Dexter Fletcher, who recently stepped in to take over for Bryan Singer on Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody . John is producing the movie.

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Music Interviews

The 'nuanced, complex journey' of becoming elton john.

Lulu Garcia-Navarro

Denise Guerra

Sidney Madden

Taron Egerton stars as Elton John in Rocketman. David Appleby/Paramount Pictures hide caption

Taron Egerton stars as Elton John in Rocketman.

The glitter. The piano-playing. That voice. Based on a true fantasy, the story of Sir Elton John is being encapsulated with Rocketman , the larger-than-life biopic in theaters now. The film stars Taron Egerton in the lead role and was directed by Dexter Fletcher, the same director who finished the Oscar-winning Bohemian Rhapsody after its original director, Bryan Singer, was fired.

When the feature first premiered at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival in May, it got a four-minute standing ovation and made Elton John, who was in the audience, cry.

Movie Reviews

Elton john biopic 'rocketman' is a surprising song-and-dance spectacular.

A More Reflective Leap On Elton John's 'Diving Board'

"He was watching some pretty turbulent bits of his life," Egerton says, "The movie doesn't pull its punches in that respect. But I think it was tears of joy. That was the overriding feeling. I think he really loves the movie. He went as far as to say that he wouldn't change a thing out it."

Egerton admits he welled up in the audience, too.

"I was very moved. I found it an overwhelming experience," he says. "I really felt like I was able to stretch myself, and frankly reveal something of myself — reveal something of who I feel I am through the prism of Elton."

"Taron was asked to dig extraordinarily deep from his own personal experience in order to convey the huge breadth of emotion that we're endeavoring to tackle over 35 years of Elton's life," Fletcher says. "It's not kind of 'Oh, he was happy and then he was sad.' There's a lot more nuanced, complex journey that needed to be charted."

John and his husband, David Furnish, were producers on the film and Fletcher says having them there to consult was helpful in order to strike balance in the film's story line. But although Rocketman is an authorized biography, it's not hagiography.

"They were very clear with us from the offset that they were going to let Dex go and realize his vision for the movie," Egerton says. "They knew that it was a kind of no-holds-barred iteration of this story, but they weren't breathing down our necks the whole time, or vetting us or censoring us in any way."

Egerton and Fletcher say having John around to consult and to see the finished product was a joy to be able to do "while he's here and alive and well and kicking."

The film also doesn't shy away from John's low points in life. In one of the opening scenes of Rocketman John lists all his vices while in rehab — from "weed and prescription drugs to anger management."

Taron Egerton as Elton John (right) and Dexter Fletcher on the set of Rocketman David Appleby/Paramount Pictures hide caption

Taron Egerton as Elton John (right) and Dexter Fletcher on the set of Rocketman

"Elton is here to defend himself if the film strays into territory that people might want to really take issue with," Fletcher says. "Whereas other films don't necessarily have that advantage. There's a real strength to that. Elton is very clear in his mind about who he is, and very at peace with that."

The movie is rated R, one of the reasons being the portrayal of homosexuality on-screen. Fletcher says compared to Bohemian Rhapsody, which drew criticism for not showing the full picture of Freddie Mercury's sexuality, Rocketman is more self-effacing.

"Bohemian Rhapsody is a very different animal. Freddie isn't around to defend himself. The only people who can defend Freddie are the people who are involved in that film," Fletcher says. "Our film tackles it because Elton has no qualms about who he is. Elton John wears glasses and plays the piano. These are two facts that we can't omit from the film. He happens to be gay as well. We can't omit and neither do we want to omit those facts from the film, because it helps make him who he is."

One of the other facts about John is, of course, his fantastic, opulent sense of style. Egerton says getting to try on so many different costumes was one of the highlights of the production for him. John even gifted Egerton one of his own treasured jewelry pieces for the film.

"I love the sort of signature costume of the movie, which is the orange neoprene outfit," Egerton remembers. "With that costume, I also wear a very beautiful diamond earring, which was the first one that Elton bought in 1972, and he made a gift of it to me about a year ago. ... So as that costume gradually falls away over the course of the movie, and the sort of headpiece comes off, you will catch a glimpse of Elton's first-ever diamond earring."

Rocketman is in theaters now. Listen to Egerton and Fletcher's full interview with NPR's Lulu-Garcia Navarro at the audio link.

Film Review: Taron Egerton as Elton John in ‘Rocketman’

Dexter Fletcher has fashioned an ebullient monument to pop superstar Elton John — featuring a committed turn from Taron Egerton in the lead role — that’s clichéd in the telling, but gets by on the strength of his early catalog.

By Peter Debruge

Peter Debruge

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Taron Egerton in Rocketman from Paramount Pictures.

What is it that we love about Elton John ? If “ Rocketman ” director Dexter Fletcher ever stopped to ask himself that question, the response was apparently so simple as to be almost vulgar: The sunglasses. And the sequins. And the songs, of course. Elton fans will find more of those three elements than they can count in this relentlessly ebullient, razzle-dazzle homage to Reginald Dwight, the fool-lucky London piano prodigy (played here by “Kingsman” star Taron Egerton ) who stumbled into a partnership with brilliantly inscrutable lyricist Bernie Taupin (Jamie Bell), sparking the chance for a desperately music-obsessed rock ’n’ roll wannabe to transform into one of the 20th century’s top-selling pop musicians.

So, while it affords Fletcher the chance to envision “Rocketman” as a kind of Baz Luhrmann by way of David LaChapelle disco-ball fantasy — in which Elton and his circle are constantly breaking out into his most recognizable songs — is the bling really the thing that endears him to so many? Wouldn’t it be safe to conclude that Elton’s extravagant persona is somehow overcompensating for the actual person, and that any film about the early years of his career really ought to explore what made Reg tick?

Well, yes and no. The obsequious-minded “Rocketman” arrives while the industry is still processing the bewildering success of last year’s simple-minded Freddie Mercury biopic, “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which Fletcher was brought on to salvage after Bryan Singer ankled the picture. And if that hagiographic hogswallop’s commercial and awards-season performance has taught us anything, it’s that audiences aren’t looking for a fresh, unauthorized take on their favorite rock stars; they’d just as soon line up for a massive fiberglass monument commissioned in honor of those legends, so long as it comes with wall-to-wall hits — because seeing music performed generally makes for a great time at the movies. (To wit, Todd Haynes’ ultra-conceptual Bob Dylan portrait “I’m Not There” earned not quite $12 million worldwide, whereas “Bohemian Rhapsody” raked in a staggering $903 million.)

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Now, this is Elton we’re talking about, a musical genius whose early period (on which “Rocketman” mostly focuses) reflects a savant-like ability to sponge up inspiration across a wide range of genres — from classical to country, the Beatles to the Band. Meanwhile, his insatiable vinyl-collecting appetite led him down less-trod paths — back to the plough of gospel and folk, rhythm and blues, soul and so on — all of which he synthesized into what he was writing. Elton did with music what Quentin Tarantino has accomplished in the realm of cinema, cherry-picking the best ideas from the billions he’s seen and spinning them into the kind of pastiche that transcends its sources.

That is what we love about Elton John — or so argues a critic who owns every one of his records, and would have preferred to see a portrait that understands what was so special about his talent. Instead, “Rocketman” seems mostly preoccupied with the surface idea of Elton: the outrageous wardrobe, the spectacular showmanship, and his relatively unusual status as an openly gay megastar (something “Bohemian Rhapsody” was lambasted for soft-pedaling in its depiction of Mercury). In each of those categories, a mix of archival materials and Elton’s own memories fuel the film’s sense of history, although nearly every one of costume designer Julian Day’s outfits looks as if the characters is wearing it for the first time — plus, it’s doubtful that Elton donned the same iconic looks featured in photo ops for more personal meetings with his parents.

Here, the first image Fletcher offers of Elton reads as pure camp. We see an agitated Egerton striding down a backlit rehab clinic hallway in red-feathered wings and sequined devil horns: an on-the-nose costume for a man coming to terms with his demons. Bursting into an Alcoholics Anonymous-style meeting, he readily admits his addictions — alcohol, cocaine, sex, weed, prescription drugs, and bulimia — and proceeds to narrate and/or sing his way through flashbacks of his struggles with fame and family.

For a project willed into existence by stage husband David Furnish, and approved by exec producer Elton John himself, this framing device represents a calculated attempt at candor. It’s “Billy Elliot” screenwriter Lee Hall’s way of signaling that this carefully vetted, fully authorized biography wants to be seen as a warts-and-all portrait. Though the film makes jokes about Elton’s sausage fingers and thinning hair — further cues that “Rocketman” isn’t meant to be seen as a vanity project — Egerton effectively plays the pop star as that rarest of movie archetypes: a gay sex symbol. As such, can its much-touted love scene truly be considered gratuitous when an entire community has been so underrepresented in the arena of studio-sanctioned snogging?

Frankly, all white men fortunate enough to commission big-screen versions of their own life stories should be so lucky as to have someone as casually adorable as Egerton play them on screen — not because he’s an especially strong actor but because even with various unflattering wigs and a gap-toothed bridge (infinitely more convincing than the horsey dentures Rami Malek wore in “Bohemian Rhapsody”), Egerton has a hard time looking dumpy. But let’s be honest: Whatever compelled Reginald Dwight to become Elton John was probably a lot more complicated than simply not getting enough hugs from his father (Steven Mackintosh), as the film implies. He was short, unconventionally attractive, and closeted, though screenwriter Lee presents him as a version of Billy Elliot: an artistic kid whose gruffly homophobic dad gave him a complex that no number of arena-filled ovations could ever quite cure.

On Broadway — where touchdown could easily bring us ’round again to find “Rocketman” — most musicals have an “I want” song in which the protagonist tells the audience what he or she is searching for. Here, the Taupin-penned Elton single “I Want Love,” from his 2001 “Songs From the West Coast” album, does the job, as Fletcher divvies the lyrics up among family members (including can’t-be-bothered mother Bryce Dallas Howard and super-supportive granny Gemma Jones). It’s the most recent song featured in the film’s jukebox musical format, where classic hits have been strategically placed to fit various situations in his life — even if, say, it would have made more sense to drop “Crocodile Rock” during his 1972 Royal Variety performance than during his career-making Troubadour debut. Watching the wonderful moment in which his legs float off the stage as the song takes flight is clue enough that Fletcher isn’t playing by any realistic standards.

While the Troubador performance — Elton’s first in Los Angeles — takes a certain surreal artistic license, it does illustrate how the singer’s stage persona was as much inspired by his idols as the music itself was: Ever the showman, Elton stands, knocks over the piano bench, and slams his foot down on the keyboard, à la Jerry Lee Lewis. When Fletcher shows close-ups of the musician’s hands, they aren’t Egerton’s but those of someone with thick, stubby fingers — something that may have once embarrassed Elton but hasn’t stopped him from outplaying every other pop pianist on Earth. The scene also hints at his gift for spontaneously embellishing his own hits.

But “Rocketman” isn’t really about Elton as a musician. Nearly everything it has to say on that subject has been better expressed in the countless rock ’n’ roll biopics that have come before. (Even last Christmas’ career-spanning John Lewis & Partners TV spot outshines “Rocketman” in that department, using “Your Song” to segue between iconic moments from his discography.) “Your Song” features nicely here, illustrating the way Elton could almost instantly find the notes to bring Taupin’s lyrics to life — although this magical scene has the unfortunate effect of making it look too easy. If songwriting has always been second nature (a complete myth that overlooks the duo’s failed first album, or the many songs that flopped en route to Elton John’s smash self-titled follow-up), then that insatiable desire to be loved becomes the film’s facile dramatic core.

That in turn leads to a failed affair with the handsome Brit who would become his manager, John Reid (Richard Madden); a heavily clichéd descent into drinking and drug abuse (slamming screwdrivers for breakfast, swallowing fistfuls of pills at all hours); and the short-lived marriage to Renate Blauel (Celinde Schoenmaker) that preceded Rocket Man’s rock bottom. In real life, Elton insisted for years that he was bisexual, but unlike “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which was criticized for overplaying the hetero half of Mercury’s amorous pursuits, Fletcher’s film treats Elton’s dalliances with women as elaborate denials of his own identity. (Weirdly, in a world where the Kinsey scale is widely accepted, Hollywood still struggles to understand the “B” in the LGBT spectrum.)

While Lee’s script steers Elton’s life from the “Billy Elliot”-like tropes of his daddy issues to the equally trite “Walk the Line”-esque cautionary tale of what happens when fame causes talented musicians to forget who they once were, Fletcher at least has Elton’s music to fall back on. Much of it is remixed with full-blown instrumentation — accompanied by strings, drums, etc. — along the lines of the 1986 live album he did with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Still, it’s Egerton’s voice doing most of the singing here. He’s solid, but he’s no match for Elton’s pipes. In fact, it’s startling to hear Jamie Bell outdo him during a tender reprise of “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” late in the film — especially to anyone who’s heard how Taupin actually sounds via his disappointing solo album, “He Who Rides the Tiger.”

Still, in that moment, “Rocketman” makes clear that the dynamic between Dwight and Taupin — which has fueled their nearly half-century collaboration — offers Elton a platonic alternative to the kind of love he’s been seeking. It’s a poignant choice, giving Taupin a chance to sing. And yet, when you consider all the wonderful ways that Elton John’s music has elevated movies over the years — from his original soundtracks for “Friends” and “The Lion King” to the way Cameron Crowe repurposed “Tiny Dancer” in “Almost Famous” — Fletcher’s inventive numbers face stiff competition. Truth be told, Egerton set the bar high playing a cartoon gorilla who covers Elton’s “I’m Still Standing” in 2016’s animated “Sing.” The same song, released nearly a decade before Elton got sober, supplies this film’s “happily ever after” ending, complete with a reenactment of its Cannes-set music video — a fitting finale for “Rocketman’s” glitzy premiere at the French festival.

Reviewed at Cannes Film Festival (out of competition), May 16, 2019. MPAA Rating: R. Running time: 121 MIN.

Production: A Paramount Pictures release and presentation, in association with New Republic Pictures, of a Marv Films, Rocket Pictures production. Producers: Matthew Vaughn, David Furnish, Adam Bohling, David Reid. Executive producers: Elton John, Steve Hamilton Shaw, Michael Gracey, Claudia Vaughn, Brian Oliver.
Crew: Director: Dexter Fletcher. Screenplay: Lee Hall. Camera (color, widescreen): George Richmond. Editor: Chris Dickens. Music: Matthew Margeson.
With: Taron Egerton, Jamie Bell, Richard Madden, Gemma Jones, Bryce Dallas Howard , Steven Mackintosh.

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Rocket Club

A multiple Grammy-winning legend and flamboyant superstar, Elton is the most enduringly successful singer/songwriter of his generation.

Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, is one of the most highly acclaimed and successful solo artists of all time.

Elton has achieved two diamond, 43 platinum or multi-platinum, and 26 gold albums, over 70 Top 40 hits, and he has sold more than 300 million records worldwide. He holds the record for the biggest-selling physical single of all time, Candle In The Wind 1997 , which sold over 33 million copies. Since launching his first tour in 1970, Elton has over 4,600 performances in more than 80 countries to his credit.

Elton is the most successful solo male in the history of the American charts and the third most successful artist overall, behind only Madonna and the Beatles. He has logged 67 Hot 100 entries between 1970 and 2000, including nine No. 1s and 29 top 10s. He achieved seven #1 albums in the three-and-a-half-year period from 1972 to 1975 — a period of concentrated success surpassed only by the Beatles.

Elton was born on March 25, 1947, in Pinner, Middlesex, England, and given the name Reginald Kenneth Dwight. At the age of three he astonished his family by sitting at the piano and playing The Skater’s Waltz by ear. At the age of 11 he was awarded a scholarship as a Junior Exhibitor at the Royal Academy of Music and he attended the Academy on Saturday mornings for the next four years.

Besides his knighthood, Elton’s landmark awards include Best British Male Artist BRIT Award, 1991; Songwriters Hall of Fame (with Bernie Taupin), 1992; Officer of Arts & Letters (France) 1993; induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 1994; Polar Music Prize, 1995; MusiCares Person of the Year, 2000; Kennedy Center Honor, 2004; Billboard Magazine Legend of Live Award, 2006; Songwriters Hall of Fame Johnny Mercer Award (with Bernie Taupin), 2013; BRITs Icon Award, 2013; Rockefeller Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, 2013 and the Harvard School of Public Health AIDS Initiative Leadership Award, 2013. In 2002, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Royal Academy of Music and in 2004 he became a Fellow of the British Academy of Songwriters and Composers.

Elton has won 13 Ivor Novello Awards between 1973 and 2001, been nominated for a Grammy Award 11 times (winning in 1986, 1991, 1994, 1997 and 2000), and received the Grammy Legend Award in 2001. Three of his albums have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, including his 1970 eponymous album. Elton has 4 Oscar Award nominations (winning in 1995 and 2020), and a Tony Award (with 4 nominations) for Best Original Score for Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida in 2000.

In January 2024, Elton joined Hollywood’s elite group of “EGOT” (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony) winners after securing his first Emmy Award, for his Disney+ live concert special “Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodger Stadium.”

Top left: April 1969 - Elton with his new Hillman Husky Estate auto.

Bottom left: Elton in a smart winter coat.

Right: Elton playing piano at age 6 in Pinner, England.

Musical Theatre

Elton has composed songs, in collaboration with lyricists Sir Tim Rice, Lee Hall, and Bernie Taupin, for:

★ The Lion King (1998) – Six Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and named the highest-grossing stage show or film release in the world.

★ Elton John & Tim Rice’s Aida (2000) – Tony Award for Best Original Score; Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album.

★ Billy Elliot the Musical (2005) – Olivier Award for Best Musical; 10 Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

★ Lestat (2006)

The Lion King on stage.

Music may be Elton John’s first passion, but another abiding interest runs it a close second: sport.

In some ways, it’s an unsurprising second love, as the parallels are numerous. A devotion to high-level performance, the adrenaline rush of playing in front of big crowds — and the ever-present knowledge that you’re only as good as your last performance. To rise to — and stay — at the top in both disciplines also requires similar qualities: stamina, endless practice and an unstinting professional approach. Oh yes, and a rich seam of natural talent.

Elton’s most publicised involvement with the sporting world is his enduring connection with Watford Football Club. It was the club he supported as a boy and of which he later became Chairman, guiding it to the highest echelon of the professional game in England.

In 2012, he founded Rocket Sports Management, with the aim of guiding emergent sporting stars through their careers, whatever the highs and lows.

Elton John’s historic sold-out concerts at Dodger Stadium. (Photo: Terry O'Neill @ Iconic Images)

When Elton is not recording or touring he devotes his efforts to a variety of charities, including his own Elton John AIDS Foundation, which has raised over $450 million and funded programs across four continents in the 24 years it has existed. He has also been a regular performer at fundraisers for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, the Rainforest Foundation, and the Robin Hood Foundation. Elton is Patron or Ambassador to 23 charities and is a Member of Executive Advisory Board to four charities and endows scholarship funds at The Royal Academy of Music and the Juilliard School of Music.

Discover more

Rocket Entertainment

Rocket Entertainment Group incorporates Rocket Music, Rocket Pictures, Rocket Stage and Rocket Sports. Each has been co-founded by Elton John and focuses on the development and management of artists, athletes and projects across the entertainment industry as a whole.

The Changes Rocketman Made to Elton John's Real Life Actually Work

This is a musical that's intended to capture the emotion, not the facts, director Dexter Fletcher explains.

As you've probably gathered, Elton John did not literally levitate along with the audience during his August 25, 1970 show at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. Neither did he turn into an actual "rocket man" during his Dodgers Stadium shows in October 1975. But that's how events are depicted in Rocketman , the film about Elton John, because this is not a biography—it's a musical intended to capture the emotion of John's life, as the movie's director, Dexter Fletcher, tells me.

"There could be a factual, chronological documentary that would tell you absolutely everything about what Elton did, where he was, and when he did it, but the film just absolutely explores his inner, emotional life," Fletcher says. "We know he was at the Troubadour, but it's really trying to communicate what that felt like, not just the fact that he was there."

The script was developed by Lee Hall, who spent many hours with John, hearing stories and anecdotes, according to Fletcher. And, for the most part, the movie fairly accurately recreates John's life as a young boy through the '70s. There are some differences though.

Rocketman depicts John getting married to Blauel sometime in the late '70s. However, the two met during the 1983 sessions for John's album, Victim of Love , and got married on Valentine's Day 1984. They divorced four years later.

The framing of Rocketman shows John storming out of his Madison Square Garden gig and going directly to rehab, where he tells his story. In reality, though, John didn't go to rehab until 1990 after his Sleeping With the Past tour. As John told Larry King in 2008 about his decision to go to rehab:

I was an alcoholic and a drug addict for 16 years. And during that time, the AIDS epidemic started, in the early '80s. I never felt really that, during that time, I did enough for AIDS, people with AIDS, being a gay man. I became very friendly with the Ryan White family, with Ryan and his mother Jeanie. And that helped me a lot to see how out of whack my life was, you know, how impossible my life had become, how self- obsessed I had become. And shortly after Ryan died, which I was at the funeral for in Indianapolis—and I played at the funeral—I decided six months later, that my life was, you know, pretty horrible. And someone guided me into saying that I need help. And I went into rehab and I, you know, I've been—this year, hopefully, in July, I'll be 18 years sober and clean. And as soon as I got sober and clean, I thought, you know what, I've been so fortunate to have, you know, been a drunk and been a drug addict and not become HIV-positive, and I've got to do something to help people like Ryan White and the people that I've kind of betrayed when I was doing those kind of things.

As Fletcher explains, it would have been impossible to create a strict biography of John's life. So he set out to do something different.

"My approach is always, it's a memory, not a biography. And a memory is absolutely linked and connected to feelings," Fletcher says. "Memories are not 'I went down to the shop and bought a pint of milk.' You know, that is a particularly dry story. If you say, 'I went down to the shop and I bought a milk bottle, but I was actually freezing and starving because I had no money, and it was the most important pint of milk I ever drank at that particular time in my life,' it's now about the emotional content of that. That makes it interesting."

As many John fans will likely notice, the songs in the film don't appear chronologically with John's life. That was intentional, according to Fletcher, because of this emotional story he was seeking to tell. In fact, the movie is similar to a musical, with songs that have already been written. "It's like Mamma Mia in one respect," Fletcher says.

"It's completely irrelevant, when the song was written," he adds. "Does it fit? What will you need to achieve at this moment? We didn't write the film around the songs ."

"We got this great moment where we're sitting around the dining room table and they sing, 'I Want Love," Fletcher continues, referencing an early scene in Rocketman . "That captures these emotional inner voices that the audience completely understands, and gets us a lot of empathy for people's sort of behavior. But 'I Want Love' wasn't written until the 80s, but for me it's a musical. It doesn't matter, you know."

As a result, Rocketman is more fun, imaginative, and heartfelt than something like the mega-hit Bohemian Rhapsody , which struggled to accurately capture the life and times of Freddie Mercury . If we want a strict re-telling of Elton John's life, we might just have to wait for the musician to write a biography of his own.

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Rocketman (Film)

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"Based on a True Fantasy."

" Taron Egerton plays Elton John ." - Rocketman's Taglines

Rocketman is a R rated musical biopic based upon the life-story of Elton John released in 2019. Rocketman was released on DVD on August 27th 2019.

1.1 Main Cast
1.2 Supporting Cast
2 Soundtrack
5 Box Office
7 Promotional Clips
9 References
Taron Egerton -- Elton John
Richard Madden -- John Reid
Jamie Bell -- Bernie Taupin
Bryce Dallas Howard -- Sheila Eileen Dwight
Kit Connor -- Reginald Dwight (Teenager)
Matthew Illesley -- Reginald Dwight (Youngest)

Supporting Cast

Charlie Rowe -- Ray Williams
Gemma Jones -- Ivy Sewell
Steven Mackintosh -- Stanley Dwight
Rachel Muldoon -- Kiki Dee
Ophelia Lovibond -- Arabella
Celinde Schoenmaker -- Renate Blauel
Stephen Graham -- Dick James
Tom Bennett -- Fred Farebrother

See full song list at Rocketman Soundtrack .

Rocketman follows Elton John throughout his youth and rise to fame, as well as his darkest moments as he struggles to balance life as a rock star and as a human being yearning for love. Rocketman is a story is one of heartache, loneliness, love, and triumph as Elton John battles to overcome his own inner demons.

Rocketman begins with Elton John walking into rehabilitation in a flamboyant orange devil costume and listing his addictions to a group of patients --- he is an alcoholic, cocaine addict, sex addict, bulimic, shopaholic, has problems with weed, prescription drugs, and anger management. The woman at the rehabilitation center asks what his childhood was like and the audience is thrust into a flashback, set to soundtrack of Elton John 's "The Bitch is Back" . We see current Elton walking through the streets of his childhood neighbourhood as he watches a younger version of himself, full of life and happiness, sing the song. The performance ends abruptly when his mother demands he return inside.

Taron Egerton as Elton John during "The Bitch is Back" musical sequence.

It is revealed that Elton --- then Reginald --- grew up in 1950's London, with an unaffectionate mother and absent father. His grandmother, Ivy , was supportive in his passion for music. When Reggie learns that he can play piano by ear, he is excited and wants to show his father . However, his father has no interest in him. The family shares a brief performance of "I Want Love" , illustrating the obvious void present in all of their lives. Reggie begins formal training and eventually enrolls in The Royal Academy of Music .

After Reggie witnesses his mother kissing another man , Stanley leaves Sheila . Reggie develops a new interest for rock music, under the support of his mother 's new boyfriend, Fred Farebrother . He has a keen sense of admiration for Elvis Presley, and begins performing in local pubs, where "Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)" is showcased. As he matures, Reginald joins a band called Bluesology , where he plays keyboard.

Taron Egerton as Elton John in the "Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)" musical sequence.

One night, Bluesology is hire+d as backup for an American band. Reggie has a conversation with the singer, who tells him that if he wants to be successful, he has to kill off his former self. Reggie is inspired and changes his name to Elton John --- after fellow bandmate Elton Dean and John Lennon of the Beatles. During this period, Elton is also kissed by another male bandmate.

Elton attempts to write his own music and seeks the management of Ray Williams under Dick Jame's DJM Records. He plays an instrumental version of "Candle in the Wind" for Ray , insisting that he wrote it on the spot. Impressed, Ray hands Elton an envelope of songs written by Bernie Taupin . Elton meets Bernie for lunch at a local cafe and they instantly hit it off. A montage set to "Border Song" follows, highlighting Elton and Bernie 's blossoming friendship. Elton 's former bandmates out him as gay in front of Bernie but Bernie insists it does not matter to him, suggesting he should break up with his current girlfriend, Arabella . Elton and Bernie stumble home, clearly drunk, and end up on the rooftop of the building. Elton leans in and tries to kiss Bernie, but Bernie pulls away, insisting, "I love you, man. Just not in that way". He breaks up with Arabella and is forced to move --- with Bernie --- back in with his mother. He composes "Your Song" , which impresses Dick James and secures them a concert at the Troubadour, an American concert venue. "Rock and Roll Madonna" plays as they arrive in America.

Bernie Taupin ( Jamie Bell ) and Elton John ( Taron Egerton ) arrive in America.

Although visibly nervous for his performance, Elton wins over the audience --- including a man named John Reid --- with "Crocodile Rock". Afterwards, Bernie congratulates Elton on his performance and introduces him to a woman named Heather, who he has taken interest in. Doug enters the room and suggests that they should all attend an after party. Elton and Bernie agree and continue their celebration at the party in a cabin until Bernie tells him that he is going to go spend some time alone with Heather. Elton watches them dance and disappear into a nearby tent, singing "Tiny Dancer" to emphasize his longing for love.

Soarinflyintheresnotastarinheaventhatwecantreach

Elton ( Taron Egerton ) soars to stardom while performing "Crocodile Rock" .

Elton ( Taron Egerton ) meets John Reid ( Richard Madden ).

Afterwards, John Reid introduces himself as a manager and proceeds to flirt with Elton . Elton reciprocates his advances and "Take Me To The Pilot" plays as Elton loses his virginity to John . They reunite later and it is evident that Elton is completely smitten with Reid , suggesting he follow him back to London. John Reid insists he must stay in America but promises to visit him in the future.

A montage of Elton 's growing fame follows, set to the tune of "Hercules" . During the recording of "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" , Elton and Kiki Dee are interrupted by John Reid , who enters the studio and demands he speak with Elton. Elton places the recording on hold and follows John into a closet, where they proceed to kiss as John asks Elton what he wants in life. Elton requests a dinner date with John , which is followed by an extravagant "Honky Cat" sequence, highlighting Elton 's rise to fame and fortune. The scene transitions into John Reid negotiating Elton 's current contract with Dick and Ray , evidently shifting Elton to his management. Afterwards, Reid suggests Elton should reconnect and come out as gay to his parents so they can hire him a girlfriend to keep their relationship from the press. Elton visits his father , who is remarried and happily living with two sons. Visibly hurt, Elton storms away from Reid in order to call his mother . He tells her he is gay and she replies that she knows but does not care, ending the call by informing her son that he is choosing a life of loneliness and will never be loved properly. Elton turns to Reid for comfort, but Reid hits him and tells him to focus on his tour.

Elton ( Taron Egerton ) comes out to his mother .

Elton 's begins to fall down a path of excess and drug consumption, often lashing out at his friends as a result of being in an unhappy relationship and neglected by his parents. After a performance of "Pinball Wizard" , Elton wakes up to discover John Reid cheating on him in their backyard. He attempts to break it off with Reid , but it interrupted by his family, who he had invited over for a party but completely forgot about. Later that day, Elton consumes copious amounts of alcohol and overdoses on prescription drugs. He marches to his pool and throws himself in, announcing that he is committing suicide. As he sinks to the bottom of the pool, he sees a younger version of himself performing "Rocketman" . Elton is dragged out of the pool and taken to the hospital, where the musical number continues as doctors pump his stomach. Then, he is dressed in a dodgers uniform and ushered on stage to perform at Dodgers Stadium. Elton continues his lifestyle of drugs and isolation as he marches on stage, dressed as Queen Elizabeth, promptly forgetting the name of the city he is in, and performs "Bennie and the Jets" .

Elton ( Taron Egerton ) takes a swan dive.

Elton has another argument with John Reid , who makes it clear that he does not care what happens to him anymore. He takes to the studio to record "Victim of Love" under the guidance of sound engineer, Renate Blauel . Elton shares an intimate moment with her, which transitions into a tender duet of "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" . They get married and promptly divorced, clearly unhappy together as Elton continues to struggle with his sexuality. At a dinner with his mother and stepfather , he distances himself from Sheila , who blames him for the divorce, both his and her own, and claims that he is a disappointment to her. Elton then joins Bernie in a restaurant after an impromptu performance of "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word" , who insists he needs help. Bernie performs part of "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" when he discovers he cannot get through to Elton . Frustrated and alone, Elton returns home and has a heart attack. Reid insists he is fine, despite being rushed to the hospital, and forces Elton back on stage.

Elton John ( Taron Egerton ) and Bernie Taupin ( Jamie Bell ) have a heated conversation about Elton 's destructive habits.

As he is being suited in a flamboyant orange devil costume in Madison Square Garden, Elton realizes he needs help and orders a taxi to take him to a rehabilitation centre as he performs the rest of "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" . The film comes full circle as Elton marches into the building, jewels and feathers falling off of his costume as he does. He realizes that he does not need the approval of his parents or John Reid to be happy. Instead, he must learn to love himself and accept the love offered to him by others in his life, such as Bernie . He hugs his former self, symbolic of Elton overcoming his insecurities and embraces himself for who he is.

Bernie visits Elton in rehab and hands him new song lyrics, insisting that he should start playing piano again. Elton worries that his life of drugs and excess was what made him successful but Bernie reassures him that he is wrong. Bernie leaves and Elton sits down at a piano in the rehabilitation centre. He plays the opening chords of "I'm Still Standing", which evolves into a musical sequence of him finally leaving rehab and celebrating himself for who he is rather than what others expect him to be.

Taron Egerton behind the scenes of "I'm Still Standing " with director Dexter Fletcher .

The credits announce that Elton has remained sober since entering into rehab, although he still has an obsession with shopping. Elton remains friends with Bernie , and they still haven't had an argument. He also set up an AIDs charity, later met his husband, David Furnish , and has adopted two sons, with whom he spends most of his time.

Rocketman Soundtrack
Deleted/Extended Scenes

Elton John ( Taron Egerton ) showing off his thighs in hot pants.

Rocketman grossed $25,725,722 on opening weekend and continues to rise, got a Certified Fresh rating of 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, 7.6/10 from IMDb and, 69% Metacritic.

Rocketman (2019) - Official Trailer - Paramount Pictures-0

Promotional Clips

Rocketman Movie Clip - Crocodile Rock (2019) - Movieclips Coming Soon

The films name derives from the Elton John song of the same name.
Taron Egerton had to gain weight, shave and dye his head and, undergo lots of makeup to become artist Elton John .
The film received a 4 minute standing ovation after its premiere at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, bringing star Taron Egerton to tears.
During late July of 2019, Dexter Fletcher surprised fans by releasing the extended version of Honky Cat which features Taron Egerton and Richard Madden — as Elton John and John Reid — dancing along to a big band version of the song.
Although most believe that Rocketman was created due to the success of 2018's Bohemian Rhapsody following the band Queen through their years of popularity and struggles as a group, this is not true. The film was in the works prior to the release of Bohemian Rhapsody in 2018.
The film faced heavy controversy before its release while studios debated on the inclusion of the sex scene between Elton John and John Reid . Despite the insistence that it is too inappropriate for the big screen, the creators pushed for it and were ultimately successful.
The romantic scene between Elton and Reid featured in the film is the first time a gay sex scene has been featured in a big budget, mainstream film.
Elton John distanced himself from the project, aside from lending his support to star Taron Egerton when needed on things like research and vocal work. He was, however, impressed and incredibly moved by the finished result.
The I'm Still Standing music video is the same as the original, however, Taron Egerton was digitally imposed over Elton John.

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rocketman_2019

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2066051/

https://www.metacritic.com/movie/rocketman

1 Stanley Dwight
2 Ivy Sewell
3 Sheila Eileen Dwight

Legendary British musician Elton John has sold more than 300 million records and won five Grammy Awards on his way to becoming an EGOT recipient.

elton john smiles at the camera from behind a podium with a microphone, he wears a purple bejeweled suit jacket, black collared shirt, and pink tinted glasses

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1947-present

Elton John News: Pop Icon Achieves EGOT Status with Emmy Win

The trophy for Outstanding Live Variety Special adds yet another bow on the 76-year-old’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour, which concluded in July 2023 and marked his last as a touring artist. Farewell from Dodger Stadium broadcast his final concert in the United States on Disney+. It captured his Los Angeles show on November 20, 2022, and featured Dua Lipa , Brandi Carlile, and Kiki Dee.

Between 1987 and 2020, John earned five Grammy Awards , two Academy Awards , and one Tony Award. His Oscars, both for Best Original Song, recognized “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from The Lion King (1994) and “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” from Rocketman , the 2019 biopic about the “Bennie and the Jets” singer. John’s work on the musical Aida with lyricist Tim Rice won the pair a Tony for Best Original Musical Score. Among his Grammys are two for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. The new EGOT recipient joins rarified air with only 18 other performers to have achieved the feat.

Quick Facts

Early life and career, later albums and broadway, farewell tour, substance abuse issues & elton john aids foundation, husband and sons, who is elton john.

Elton John’s unique blend of pop and rock styles turned him into one of the 20 th century’s biggest music icons. He was musically gifted from a young age and released his first self-titled American album in 1970, making him a huge international star. Some of his chart-topping hits include “Crocodile Rock,” “Philadelphia Freedom,” and “Candle in the Wind.” The five-time Grammy winner also found success on Broadway, composing the score for Billy Elliot (2008) , which went on to win 10 Tony Awards. John was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, knighted in 1998, and achieved EGOT status in 2024.

FULL NAME: Reginald Kenneth Dwight BORN: March 25, 1947 BIRTHPLACE: Pinner, England SPOUSES: Renate Blauel (1984-1988) and David Furnish (2005-present) CHILDREN: Zachary and Elijah ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Aries

Elton John was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on March 25, 1947, in Pinner, England, in the United Kingdom. He discovered his passion for music at an early age and taught himself how to play the piano when he was only 4 years old. Proving to be a great talent, he won a scholarship to a youth program at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

John had a difficult relationship with his father, Stanley Dwight, a member of the Royal Air Force. His parents divorced when he was a teenager, and he and his father clashed over his future. John, captivated by the sounds of early rock ’n’ roll, wanted to pursue a career in pop music. And much to his father’s dismay, John dropped out of school at 17 to follow his dream. He started playing with a group called Bluesology, and he cobbled together his stage moniker from the names of two members of the group.

In 1967, John answered an ad for a songwriter for Liberty Records. He got the job and soon teamed up with lyricist Bernie Taupin . The duo switched to the DJM label the following year, writing songs for other artists.

elton john and bernie taupin look at the camera while inside an ornate room

John got his first break as a singer with his 1969 album Empty Sky , featuring songs by John and Taupin. While that recording failed to catch on, his 1970 self-titled effort featured his first hit, “Your Song.” More hits soon followed, including No. 1 smashes such as “Crocodile Rock,” “Bennie and the Jets,” and “Island Girl.” John enjoyed a series of top-selling albums during this time, including Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973) and Rock of the Westies (1975).

elton john sings while sitting and playing a piano, he wears a bee costume with glasses

One of the top acts of the 1970s, John became equally famous for his live shows. He dressed in fabulous, over-the-top costumes and glasses for his elaborate concerts. In an interview with W , John explained that “I wasn’t a sex symbol like Bowie , Marc Bolan, or Freddie Mercury , so I dressed more on the humorous side, because if I was going to be stuck at the piano for two hours, I was going to make people look at me.”

“Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”

In 1976, John hit the top of the charts again with “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,” his duet with Kiki Dee. He soon decided to take a break from music, focusing his energies on his soccer team that he co-owned in England.

Around this time, John also publicly announced that he was bisexual (he later came out as a gay man). At the time, John was ridiculed and taunted for his sexuality. The controversy died down, and he made a triumphant return to music in 1979 with the album A Single Man .

“Little Jeannie” and “Empty Garden”

While not producing smash hits in the 1980s, John still did well on the charts. Some of the most memorable songs from this period include the ballads “Little Jeannie” and “Empty Garden (Hey, Hey Johnny),” the latter written as a tribute to his friend John Lennon of the Beatles, who had been killed in 1980.

“Can You Feel the Love Tonight”

Branching out in different directions, John teamed up with lyricist Tim Rice for several projects. They worked together on the soundtrack for the 1994 animated hit The Lion King , and one of the movie’s songs, “Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” brought John his first Academy Award win for Best Original Song as well as a Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. John and Rice pair later netted a Tony Award for Best Original Score in 2000 for their musical Aida .

John received a number of honors around this time. In 1994, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Queen Elizabeth II made John a Commander of the Order of the British Empire the following year. The queen knighted him several years later, making him officially Sir Elton John.

“Candle in the Wind 1997”

While he enjoyed all of the recognition and praise, he soon found himself rocked by grief. During the summer of 1997, John lost two good friends: fashion designer Gianni Versace and Princess Diana . He reworked one of his classic songs “Candle in the Wind” as a tribute to Princess Diana, with the song’s proceeds going to a charitable trust established in her honor. “Candle in the Wind 1997” proved to be a tremendous success, selling more than 30 million copies that year and earning the pop icon another Grammy.

John continued to record new music later in his extensive career. In 2006, he released The Captain & the Kid , a sequel to his earlier autobiographical effort Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (1975). He also teamed up with Leon Russell for 2010’s The Union , which led to a joint tour. John later released The Diving Board (2013), his 30 th studio album, produced by T Bone Burnett.

In February 2016, John released his 33 rd studio album, Wonderful Crazy Night, to generally positive reviews. The album featured the Elton John Band, with whom he last collaborated a decade prior.

Also in demand as a songwriter, John was instrumental in bringing Billy Elliott the Musical to the stage. The show, adapted from the 2000 film, opened on Broadway in 2008, where it quickly became a critical and commercial success. John also worked on the 2011 animated film Gnomeo & Juliet , serving as a producer and a composer.

Even with a toned-down stage persona, John remained a very popular live act. In 2012, he performed with Ozzy Osbourne , Eric Clapton , Stevie Wonder , and Paul McCartney , among others, in celebration of Queen Elizabeth II ’s 60 years on the throne.

Around this time, it was revealed that John and his husband were working on a biopic about the legendary musician titled Rocketman . Starring Taron Egerton, the movie finally reached the finish line with its premiere at the May 2019 Cannes Film Festival, drawing attention for its whimsical musical scenes as well as its unflinching portrayal of John’s sexuality. The artist followed with the publication of his autobiography, Me , later that year.

In January 2020, John and Taupin claimed the Best Original Song – Motion Picture at the Golden Globe for Rocketman ’s “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again.” Amazingly, it was their first shared award after more than a half-century of creating some of popular music’s biggest hits together. The duo then picked up their second joint honor, also for Best Original Song, at the Academy Awards the following month.

On January 24, 2018, John announced that he would retire from the road after his planned Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour. “My priorities have changed,” he said, citing his desire to spend more time with his husband, David, and their kids. “In 2015, David and I sat down with a school schedule... I don’t want to miss too much of this.”

That year also brought an end to his Las Vegas residency, “The Million Dollar Piano,” which wrapped with a May 17 performance at Caesar’s Palace.

elton john plays piano and is light up by several spotlights, he wears mostly black

Ultimately, fans had plenty of opportunities to see John before he entered a new phase of his career. The international Farewell Tour kicked off on September 8, 2018, and was scheduled to end in 2021. But the COVID-19 pandemic forced a delay, which was then extended so John could recover from a hip injury. Restarting in January 2022, John played his last show in the United States in November 2022 in Los Angeles before completing his 330 th —and final—concert on July 8, 2023, in Stockholm.

“I don’t think it will sink in for a while yet that I’ve finally finished touring,” John said in a statement to Entertainment Weekly after the final show. “I can’t tell you how much I’m going to miss the fans and how much their support has humbled me—it will stay with me forever.”

The Farewell Tour became the first concert series to earn more than $800 million in ticket sales before also breaking the $900 million mark. Those records propelled it to an even bigger feat as the highest-grossing tour in history. By the end of its run, the Farewell Tour generated $939.1 million in revenue. However, the title was short-lived with Taylor Swift ’s Eras Tour taking the title in December 2023.

The British pop icon memorialized his goodbye tour with a live-streamed concert special titled Elton John: Farewell from Dodger Stadium . It captured John’s final U.S. concert on November 20, 2022, in Los Angeles. Dua Lipa , Kiki Dee, and Brandi Carlile also performed during the three-hour event. In January 2024, John achieved EGOT status when the special, for which he was an executive producer, won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Live Variety Special. His is the 19 th person to have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar , and Tony Award.

In 1990, after years of battling substance abuse issues , particularly cocaine, which may have triggered severe epileptic seizures, John went into rehabilitation. The newly sober musical star, delighted at his second chance at life, soon founded his own charitable organization to help in the fight against AIDS. Established in the United States in 1992, the Elton John AIDS Foundation has brought in more than $565 million to support HIV/AIDS programs around the world.

In addition to his own foundation, John supports a number of different charities and arts organizations, including the Globe Theatre and the Royal Academy of Music.

In March 2020, John hosted the iHeart Living Room Concert for America to raise funds for coronavirus relief efforts. Alicia Keys , Dave Grohl , and Sam Smith were among the artists who performed from their homes for the benefit.

david furnish, zachary furnish john, elijah furish john and sir elton john

John met his longtime partner David Furnish at a dinner party in 1993. The pair got married in a civil ceremony on December 21, 2005, the same day the Civil Partnership Act 2004 went into effect. With the help of a surrogate, the couple welcomed their first son, Zachary, in December 2010 followed by their second child, Elijah, in January 2013.

Nine years after their civil ceremony, on December 21, 2014, the couple wed after laws allowing gay marriage took effect the same year in Britain.

John was previously married to Renate Blauel from 1984 to 1988.

Music has healing power. It has the ability to take people out of themselves for a few hours.
I’ve been touring since I was 17 in the back of a van. I’ve had the most incredible life. I’ve been so lucky, and I’ve loved every single minute of it.

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What 'Rocketman' Got Right (and Wrong) About Sir Elton John's Real Life

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The Big Picture

Rocketman takes many liberties with the true story of Sir Elton John, adjusting events and timelines to fit the artistic vision of the film.
The movie prioritizes emotional payoff over factual accuracy, aiming to bring viewers closer to Elton John's experience rather than simply depicting what happened.
The fantastical elements and rearranged release dates of songs were designed to convey feelings and emotions, making Rocketman feel more like a musical than a traditional biopic.

It's a weird thing, to have one of the best biopics around not be exactly a biopic. That's the case with Rocketman , the movie that tells the story of how Sir Elton John overcame his addictions and burnout to consolidate himself as one of the greatest musical icons ever. It becomes evident this isn't your regular movie of the sort when we see Taron Egerton 's iteration of John float and go through many fantastical experiences that just can't happen, unfortunately. Director Dexter Fletcher and writer Lee Hall took many other liberties to adjust the story of John's life to the artistic vision behind the project, and the result works perfectly, even if ignoring or changing some of the events.

A musical fantasy about the fantastical human story of Elton John's breakthrough years.

What Events Does ‘Rocketman’ Change in Elton John’s Story?

There are many things that Rocketman changed about Sir Elton John's actual history . We're not talking only about one of the most successful and talented stars of the 1970s and music in general, but also about a very complex character that is the subject of the picture, so there are a few different fronts we need to look at. Release dates, for example, are constantly rearranged. Personal life details, too. If it's factual accuracy you're looking for, then simply don't expect Rocketman to get it right, because it's not about that.

The most obvious differences are related to when Sir Elton John released some of his records and hit songs. During his childhood sequence, for example, the movie plays "The Bitch Is Back." This should be obvious, but young Reggie Dwight didn't write that song as a child; it came out in 1974. Another example is the scene in which he auditions in 1967. He plays two of his classics, "Daniel" and "I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues." Those two songs were actually released in 1973 and 1983, respectively. Another song that only came out in 1983 is "I'm Still Standing," which the movie uses to depict Sir Elton's comeback after rehab. The thing is, he went to rehab in 1990, so that couldn't have been his comeback release. Speaking of rehab, Rocketman shows Sir Elton abandoning a sold-out Madison Square Garden show and going straight to rehab, which factually couldn't have happened. He did have a concert at that venue canceled in 1984, but he only checked in rehab in 1990. Finally, "Crocodile Rock" came out in 1972, two years before the iconic Troubadour concert in 1970, despite the movie showing it being played then.

This leads us to the personal aspect of Rocketman 's accuracy. Sir Elton John checked in rehab after the death of Ryan White , one of the most tragic deaths of the AIDS epidemic, which isn't mentioned in the movie. Going back to his early career, the movie shows young Reggie choosing "John" as his artistic surname in reference to John Lennon when it was actually referencing Long John Baldry , a rock icon from the 1960s. In his family, the movie shows his relationship with his family as being difficult, with him often being at odds with his mother, Sheila ( Bryce Dallas Howard ). Although he rarely spoke of it in the past, it's possible to imagine it as such, as they spent eight years without talking between 2008 and 2016 - luckily, they reconciled before she passed in 2018.

Back to the Troubadour concert, Rocketman shows Elton John meeting John Reid ( Richard Madden ) at a party later that night in 1970. The concert took place in August, but John and Reid only met at a Christmas party in Motown's UK offices that year. Another romantic relationship of Elton John's that Rocketman rearranges in time is his marriage to sound engineer Renate Blauel ( Celinde Schoenmaker ). The movie shows them singing "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me," which was released in 1974, but, in fact, John met Blauel in 1983, and they got married in 1984. Sadly, the movie doesn't show when Elton John met his husband, David Furnish , but we'll tell you: they met in 1993 and are happily married to this day.

Why Are There So Many Discrepancies in ‘Rocketman?'

It may be weird to think in such terms for a biopic, but the discrepancies between Sir Elton John's real life and how it is depicted in Rocketman are what makes the movie so special. Many movies of the genre take liberties because it's impossible to portray someone's life with 100% accuracy. Even documentaries often suffer to achieve this. In the case of Sir Elton, he's such a beloved and celebrated icon with such an incredible story, that his biopic did the right thing in prioritizing emotional payoff rather than factual accuracy.

'This Is Spinal Tap' Sequel Sets Filming Window With Elton John, Paul McCartney, & More

Dial it up to eleven!

The fantastical elements of Rocketman , especially, are rooted in the movie's intention to bring the viewer an experience closer to what it felt like for Sir Elton instead of simply depicting what it looked like . Back in 2018, before the movie's release, Taron Egerton was already talking about this : "Everyone thinks it’s a biopic. It isn’t. It’s a fantasy musical, so it’s actually his songs used to express important beats in his life at emotional moments." Director Dexter Fletcher had a similar vision about it : "My approach is always, it's a memory, not a biography. And a memory is absolutely linked and connected to feelings." There are ways of conveying this emotional weight without using fantastical elements, of course, but it wouldn't feel true to Sir Elton's story and his larger-than-life persona.

The factual differences regarding release dates of songs, for example, were conceived exactly to convey feelings and emotions. In this aspect, Rocketman was designed to be more like a musical instead of a proper biopic , according to Fletcher: "It's completely irrelevant when the song was written. Does it fit? What will you need to achieve at this moment? We didn't write the film around the songs." And, let's face it, a musical is much more in league with Sir Elton's personality and artistic prowess than a regular biopic.

Another important aspect of Rocketman is that more than a biopic, it's also a story about burnout. The very song that lends the movie its name is about it, how one eventually ends up alone while exhausting themselves. Sir Elton is shown as an extremely intense person who doesn't know how to balance relentless touring, creative pressures, and personal struggles , which leads to his passions becoming a heavy weight on his mental and emotional well-being. His turning to drugs is a symptom of the overwhelming expectations placed upon him by everyone around him, but mostly himself. Success comes at a price in any professional area, and Rocketman highlights the dangers of neglecting one's mental health in its pursuit.

Sir Elton John himself wrote an essay about what it felt like watching his own story unfold onscreen. To ensure a good degree of emotional accuracy (rather than factual), writer Lee Hall spent some time with Sir Elton listening to stories, anecdotes, and tidbits about his life - those things may seem little and unimportant, but they are what make us understand how we deal with life . About how all that connects to his portrayal by Egerton, he was very direct: "It’s obviously not all true, but it’s the truth." And if the man says so himself, who are we to disagree?

Rocketman is available to rent on Apple TV+ in the U.S.

Watch on Apple TV+

Movie Features

Born March 25 , 1947 · Pinner, Harrow, Middlesex [now London], England, UK
Birth name Reginald Kenneth Dwight
The Rocket Man
The Pinball Wizard
Height 5′ 7¾″ (1.72 m)
Sir Elton John is one of pop music's great survivors. Born 25 March, 1947, as Reginald Kenneth Dwight, he started to play the piano at the early age of four. At the age of 11, he won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music. His first band was called Bluesology. He later auditioned (unsuccessfully) as lead singer for the progressive rock bands King Crimson and Gentle Giant. Dwight teamed up with lyricist Bernie Taupin and changed his name to Elton John (merging the names of saxophonist Elton Dean and Long John Baldry ). The duo wrote songs for Lulu and Roger Cook . In the early 1970s, he recorded the concept album "Tumbleweed Connection." He became the most successful pop artist of the 1970s, and he has survived many different pop fads including punk, the New Romantics and Britpop to remain one of Britain's most internationally acclaimed musicians. Elton John announced he was a bisexual in 1976, and in 1984, he married Renate Blauel. The marriage lasted four years before he finally came to terms with the fact that he was actually homosexual. In the 1970s and 1980s, he suffered from drug and alcohol addiction and bulimia but came through it. He is well known as a campaigner for AIDS research and he keeps his finger on the pulse of modern music, enjoying artists such as Eminem , Radiohead , Coldplay and Robbie Williams . He was knighted in 1997. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous
Spouses David Furnish (December 21, 2005 - present) (2 children) Renate Blauel (February 14, 1984 - November 18, 1988) (divorced)
Children Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John Elijah Joseph Daniel John
Parents Stanley Dwight Sheila Dwight
Relatives Geoff Dwight (Half Sibling)
His outrageous costumes and spectacles.
The earring on his right ear.
The gap between his teeth.
His rich falsetto voice.
His hair transplant, which is often red.
In 1974, during one of his concerts at Madison Square Garden, John Lennon joined him on stage to perform three songs. This was part of a bet that if Lennon's song "Whatever Gets You Through the Night" went to #1, he would join Elton on stage. This proved to be Lennon's last on-stage performance.
Stevie Wonder played harmonica on his song "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues".
He is a reformed drug addict, alcoholic and bulimic. He also has epilepsy.
He started wearing glasses to copy one of his idols, Buddy Holly . After a while, his eyes adjusted to the lenses and he's worn glasses ever since.
He is the Godfather of John Lennon 's son, Sean Lennon , Elizabeth Hurley 's son Damian and David Beckham and Victoria Beckham 's sons Brooklyn and Romeo.
I haven't made a good album in a long while. Not since 1976 and Blue Moves.
If there is a better singer in England than Craig David , then I am Margaret Thatcher .
[after being asked about his sexuality in the 1970s] I think people should be free to engage in any sexual practices they choose; they should draw the line at goats, though.
Nowadays, record companies want the quick buck from the Backstreet Boys , Britney Spears , S Club 7 , Steps . They've always been around, I'm not knocking the music perhaps, but it's like packets of cereal. There are too many of them, too many of them are just mediocre. And I think it damages real people's chance, real talent, of getting airplay. It's just fodder.
There's so much you're expected to do and you follow a pattern. You make a record, you do a video. I like to break the rules a little bit more and I did in the 1970s, I should try a little bit more now.

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A new feature documentary about John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s life in New York in the early 1970s has been announced. The film, One to One: John & Yoko , from Mercury Studios, features newly transferred and restored 16mm film footage including Lennon’s only full-length concert performances after The Beatles, as well as a wealth of previously unseen and unheard personal archives, such as phone calls and home movies recorded and filmed by the couple themselves. It’s described in the May 29, 2024, announcement as “a moving look at the couple’s life upon their entry into a transformative 1970’s New York, exploring their musical, personal, artistic, social, and political world.” Set in 1972 against the backdrop of a turbulent era in American history, the film was directed by Kevin Macdonald. No release date was revealed.

At the core of the story are the One to One Concerts at Madison Square Garden, where Lennon was accompanied by Yoko Ono, The Plastic Ono Band, Elephant’s Memory and Special Guests. The remixed concert audio was produced by Sean Ono Lennon.

“I wanted to make a film that surprises and delights even the most dedicated Lennon and Ono fans by focusing on one transformative period in their lives and telling the tale through their own words, images and music,” said Macdonald. “Built around the beautiful 16mm film footage of the only full-length concert John gave after leaving the Beatles I hope the film will introduce the audience to a more intimate version of John and Yoko – while also reflecting their politically radical and experimental sides.”

Watch a brief rehearsal clip posted on YouTube several years ago

Sean Ono Lennon says, “Kevin’s documentary brings completely fresh insight into my parents’ lives during their Bank Street and early New York years, showing first hand their unwavering dedication to promoting peace and non-violence during a turbulent era of unrest, corruption and unnecessary war.”

The film is described as an honest and intimate look at a pivotal year in John and Yoko’s lives – a melting pot of politics, youth culture, self-growth, and spine-tingling artistry.

Macdonald is no stranger to documentaries, directing multiple award-winning stories such as Oscar® winning One Day in September , BAFTA Best British Film Touching the Void , and others.

Related: Lennon’s 1973 album, Mind Games , is getting a 50th anniversary box set and book

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Rocketman (film)
Rocketman is a 2019 biographical jukebox musical drama film based on the life, music and career of British musician Elton John.Directed by Dexter Fletcher and written by Lee Hall, the film tells the story of John in his early days in England as a prodigy at the Royal Academy of Music through his musical partnership with Bernie Taupin.The story is told through his music and is titled after John ...
Rocketman (2019)
Rocketman: Directed by Dexter Fletcher. With Taron Egerton, Jamie Bell, Richard Madden, Bryce Dallas Howard. A musical fantasy about the fantastical human story of Elton John's breakthrough years.
Rocketman (2019)
Young Reginald Dwight changes his name to Elton John and collaborates with singer-songwriter Bernie Taupin to become one of the most iconic figures in pop history. Set to his most beloved songs ...
The True Story Behind the Elton John Movie Rocketman
May 31, 2019 7:00 AM EDT. Rocketman, a musical film about Elton John that arrives in theaters on Friday, looks a lot like a biopic: It traces John's life from a shy child in London through his ...
Rocketman movie review & film summary (2019)
Powered by JustWatch. "Rocketman," about the life and music of Elton John, is a formulaic, paint-by-numbers biopic. It actually begins at a moment of crucial emotion and flux in the singer's life, then backtracks to show us how he ended up there—a narrative device that already was a cliché when the brilliant " Walk Hard: The Dewey ...
Watch Rocketman (4K UHD)
Rocketman (4K UHD) The story of Elton John's life, from his years as a prodigy at the Royal Academy of Music through his influential and enduring musical partnership with Bernie Taupin. 40,091 IMDb 7.3 2 h 1 min 2019. X-Ray HDR UHD R. Drama · Arts, Entertainment, and Culture · Inspiring · Strange. Free trial of Paramount+, rent, or buy.
'Rocketman' Review: The Fantastical Tale of Elton John, Survivor, Rock
The first album I ever bought with my own allowance was "Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy," one of two studio LPs Elton John released in 1975. Nestled inside the sleeve was a ...
'Rocketman' Review: Elton Gets the Victory-Lap Biopic Treatment
Elton and Bernie are the film's core love story. Since Bernie is straight, there's no sex. That comes for the closeted Elton in the suave person of John Reid, who would become his manager and ...
Rocketman Movie Official Website
Rocketman is an epic musical fantasy about the incredible human story of Elton John's breakthrough years. The film follows the fantastical journey of transformation from shy piano prodigy Reginald Dwight into international superstar Elton John. WATCH NOW AT HOME.
'Rocketman': Film Review
Taron Egerton retraces Elton John's early rise to stardom and his flirtation with self-destruction in Dexter Fletcher's glittery bio-musical fantasy, 'Rocketman.' ... Film Review | Cannes 2019.
Rocketman Review: Elton John Biopic Is Magnificent and Silly
The Elton John of Rocketman is both a fantasy and a rendering of a real human being who has seen his share of suffering: Though the movie is largely celebratory, there's a forceful strain of ...
'Rocketman' Elton John Movie Trailer: Taron Egerton Stars in Biopic
October 1, 2018. Taron Egerton as Elton John in the biopic 'Rocketman.'. David Appleby. The first trailer for the upcoming Elton John biopic Rocketman, portrays the singer's early days at Royal ...
Elton John
Early life. Elton John was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March 1947 in Pinner, Middlesex (now part of the London Borough of Harrow), the eldest child of Stanley Dwight (1925-1991) and only child of Sheila Eileen (née Harris; 1925-2017). He was raised in a council house in Pinner by his maternal grandparents. His parents married in 1945, when the family moved to a nearby semi-detached ...
The 'Nuanced, Complex Journey' Of Becoming Elton John
The glitter. The piano-playing. That voice. Based on a true fantasy, the story of Sir Elton John is being encapsulated with Rocketman, the larger-than-life biopic in theaters now.The film stars ...
Film Review: Taron Egerton as Elton John in 'Rocketman'
Camera (color, widescreen): George Richmond. Editor: Chris Dickens. Music: Matthew Margeson. With: Taron Egerton, Jamie Bell, Richard Madden, Gemma Jones, Bryce Dallas Howard , Steven Mackintosh ...
About Elton John
Musical Theatre. Elton has composed songs, in collaboration with lyricists Sir Tim Rice, Lee Hall, and Bernie Taupin, for: ★ The Lion King (1998) - Six Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and named the highest-grossing stage show or film release in the world. ★ Elton John & Tim Rice's Aida (2000) - Tony Award for Best Original Score; Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album.
Is 'Rocketman' Accurate and Based on a True Story?
But that's how events are depicted in Rocketman, the film about Elton John, because this is not a biography—it's a musical intended to capture the emotion of John's life, as the movie's director ...
Elton John
Elton John. Actor: Kingsman: The Golden Circle. Sir Elton John is one of pop music's great survivors. Born 25 March, 1947, as Reginald Kenneth Dwight, he started to play the piano at the early age of four. At the age of 11, he won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music. His first band was called Bluesology. He later auditioned (unsuccessfully) as lead singer for the progressive rock bands...
Rocketman (Film)
"The Only Way to Tell His Story is to Live His Fantasy." "Based on a True Fantasy." "Taron Egerton plays Elton John." - Rocketman's Taglines Rocketman is a R rated musical biopic based upon the life-story of Elton John released in 2019. Rocketman was released on DVD on August 27th 2019. Taron Egerton -- Elton John Richard Madden -- John Reid Jamie Bell -- Bernie Taupin Bryce Dallas Howard ...
Elton John: Biography, Musician, EGOT Winner
Legendary British musician Elton John has sold more than 300 million records. Read about his age, songs, movie, farewell tour, husband, kids, and more. ... The show, adapted from the 2000 film ...
How Accurate Is 'Rocketman'?
Rocketman takes many liberties with the true story of Sir Elton John, adjusting events and timelines to fit the artistic vision of the film.; The movie prioritizes emotional payoff over factual ...
Elton John
Elton John. Actor: Kingsman: The Golden Circle. Sir Elton John is one of pop music's great survivors. Born 25 March, 1947, as Reginald Kenneth Dwight, he started to play the piano at the early age of four. At the age of 11, he won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music. His first band was called Bluesology. He later auditioned (unsuccessfully) as lead singer for the progressive rock bands...
Elton John
Elton John (born March 25, 1947, Pinner, Middlesex, England) is a British singer, composer, and pianist who was one of the most popular entertainers of the late 20th century.He fused as many strands of popular music and stylistic showmanship as Elvis Presley in a concert and recording career that included the sale of hundreds of millions of records.. A child prodigy on the piano, John was ...
Elton John
Elton John (2024) Sir Elton Hercules John, CH, CBE (* 25. März 1947 als Reginald Kenneth Dwight in Pinner, Harrow Urban District) ist ein britischer Sänger, Komponist und Pianist.Mit 300 Millionen verkauften Tonträgern zählt er zu den fünf Interpreten mit den meisten verkauften Tonträgern weltweit.. Elton John ist zudem einer der wenigen Künstler, die alle wichtigen Darstellerpreise in ...
Bernie Taupin
Heather Kidd. . ( m. 2004) . Bernard John Taupin CBE (born 22 May 1950) [1] is an English-American lyricist and visual artist. He is best known for his songwriting partnership with Elton John, recognised as one of the most successful partnerships of its kind in history. Taupin is behind the majority of John's songs, dating back to the 1960s.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono 'One to One' Concert Documentary Coming
A new feature documentary about John Lennon and Yoko Ono's life in New York in the early 1970s has been announced. The film, One to One: John & Yoko, from Mercury Studios, features newly transferred and restored 16mm film footage including Lennon's only full-length concert performances after The Beatles, as well as a wealth of previously unseen and unheard personal archives, such as phone ...
Your Song (Elton John)
Your Song is een nummer van zanger Elton John.De muziek is geschreven door Elton John zelf, de tekst is van Bernie Taupin.Het nummer verscheen op zijn tweede album Elton John in 1970.. In de Verenigde Staten kwam het nummer in oktober 1970 uit als B-kant van het nummer Take Me to the Pilot.De nummers werden beide gedraaid op de radio, maar de dj's vonden Your Song beter waarna Take Me to the ...
Aida (musical)
Aida es un musical en dos actos compuesto por Elton John, letras de Tim Rice y argumento de Linda Woolverton, Robert Falls y David Henry Hwang. Está basado en la ópera homónima de Giuseppe Verdi.El musical fue producido por Hyperion Theatrical junto con Disney Theatrical. Elaborate Lives: The legend of Aida (Vidas elaboradas: La leyenda de Aida) tuvo su premier mundial en el Alliance ...
John Reid (manager)
John Reid (né le 9 septembre 1949 à Paisley) est un manager et agent artistique écossais, actif de 1967 à 1999 et de 2005 à 2006.. Il est connu pour être le manager et ancien amant du chanteur britannique Elton John ainsi que pour avoir managé le groupe de rock britannique Queen.. Reid est interprété par Aidan Gillen dans le film biographique sur Queen Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) [1] et ...

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