Elton John Is Still Standing: Rocket Man on Disney+ Live Special, Ending Tour Life and Topping the Charts in His ‘70s
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Going to an Elton John concert is an experience — fans eagerly play the air piano, parents film the show with their cellphones like feverish teenagers, and attendees wear sequined blazers, studded rhinestone glasses and fuzzy scarves to match the style of the Rocket Man.
All this was captured in Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium, which aired live on Disney+ on Nov. 20. The concert took place 47 years after John’s historic 1975 performance at the Los Angeles ballpark that cemented his superstar status.
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“The love from the audience, the kindness, the generosity, the loyalty — it’s been like one big party,” John says of the stop on his Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour, which wraps July 8 in Stockholm. “It’s like the end of an era, and it’s a happy end to an era.”
Adds the special’s executive producer David Furnish, who is married to the singer-composer: “I think Elton gives permission for people to really be themselves, to celebrate their inner rock star and bring out the most joyous, celebratory part of their lives. And I think that came across [in the special].”
John also has executive producing duties on Farewell From Dodger Stadium, which could earn an Emmy nomination and lead to the final piece of the EGOT puzzle for the British icon. His company with Furnish, Rocket Entertainment, produced the concert event with Fulwell73 Productions and director Paul Dugdale, the team behind the five-time Emmy-winning Adele: One Night Only.
Furnish, who serves as creative director on John’s tour, says they had only 10 weeks to put the live spectacle together. “There were a lot of balls in the air, and everybody pulled together as a team and just rose to the occasion, because we all knew we had the opportunity to create something really special,” he says.
“Also, one of the things that I’ll always remember is that Joni Mitchell was at the side of the stage dancing,” John chimes in, smiling. “Can’t beat that.”
In an interview with THR, John discusses the concert special and having a No. 1 hit at 75, recalls Aretha Franklin’s last performance and gives his thoughts on inching toward EGOT status.
DODGER STADIUM, 27 YEARS LATER
With nearly 30 cameras and drones onstage, John and friends helped Disney+ pull off its first livestream of a concert at a time when more streaming services are tapping into the live business.
Besides airing the concert live, the production was also filming the performance for a documentary about John’s last trek on the road.
“I was just hoping that there weren’t going to be any technical or equipment snags from our end,” says John. “Because you never know, things go wrong, and we were extremely lucky that things didn’t go wrong. It was one of the most amazing, memorable nights of my life, and I’ve had a few there.”
John notes that though the production of the tour was grand, he felt comfortable being able to do what he does best — sing and play piano. “I was so blown away with the way that we played and we sang, and the sound was fantastic,” he says. “I think that comes across in the livestream. I was having such a great time.”
“It wasn’t just watching a concert,” Furnish adds. “It was a transcendent emotional experience for so many of the people watching the show. I was thrilled that we were able to bring that culture to life.”
COLD HEART, HOT HIT
John’s “Cold Heart” received a warm response from fans when it was released two years ago.
The track, a collaboration with pop star Dua Lipa and electronic trio Pnau, became an international hit and interpolates John’s “Rocket Man,” “Kiss the Bride,” “Sacrifice” and “Where’s the Shoorah?” The bop topped the Billboard Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart for a whopping 36 weeks.
“At 75, I had a No. 1 hit record all around the world,” says John, who performed the song alongside Lipa during the concert event. “That’s one of the great things that this business can give you — the surprise element. You don’t know what’s around the corner.
” ‘Cold Heart’ is still in the Australian Top 50 now,” he adds. “It’s ridiculous. It’s wonderful. Is it a surprise? It was never planned.”
John followed the hit with another top 10 effort: “Hold Me Closer” with Britney Spears. The song, which combines elements from John’s “Tiny Dancer,” “The One” and “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,” was Spears’ first release after the termination of her conservatorship.
“It was lovely to do the Britney [collaboration] because I wanted people to know that she can still sing and do things. It just lifted me,” says John of the single, which was the pop diva’s first new song in six years.
And more music from John is on the way. “I’ll be recording a new album very soon, and I can’t wait because I haven’t really recorded a proper record for a long time, so I’m looking forward to doing that,” he says.
More collaborations with contemporary acts could be on the horizon, too, and John drops names of performers with whom he’s keen to collaborate. “Ryan Beatty is incredible. There’s a song he wrote called ‘Ribbons,’ which is beyond belief,” says John. “There’s a Scottish boy called Joesef, who’s amazing. And there’s another English boy called Saint Harison. Those three young kids are just phenomenal.
“There’s so much great music around that you don’t hear on the radio. And unfortunately, the playlists that you stream tend to [be for] the biggest streamy record. But I do a radio show every week, and I hear the greatest music. There are so many great girls and boys that I’d love to record with, and they’re new and they’ve not been heard of.”
HUBBY’S FAVORITE
When it comes to picking his favorite John song, Furnish says the autobiographical “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” tops his list. “The thought of Elton being at a stage in his life where he was so low that he was considering taking his own life, and might not be with us, is very emotional,” he says.
“Someone Saved My Life Tonight,” a near-seven-minute song, became a hit in 1975 off John’s album Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy.
Furnish says John was planning to create an animated feature based on the Captain Fantastic cover art designed by Alan Aldridge, but it never happened. “All the visual development work was done, and we pulled it out of the archive and created this amazing video that accompanies the song when Elton plays it live,” explains Furnish. “And I always find it incredibly emotional. It really touches me.”
QUEENS OF SOUL AND ROCK ‘N’ ROLL
During Farewell From Dodger Stadium, John honors Aretha Franklin, whose final public performance was at his AIDS foundation gala in November 2017. She died nine months later.
“She was so sick and frail, and she came out — and I think it was the fact that it was in the cathedral [Manhattan’s Cathedral of Saint John the Divine] — she just went for it,” recalls John. “And we were all crying. Rosanne Cash was there, Sheryl Crow. We were just standing by the front of the stage like little fans, just sobbing, when she was playing the piano. You’ll never see that again. Ever.”
John says he has several favorite memories of the Queen of Soul, but he especially loves when she paid tribute to Carole King at the 2015 Kennedy Center Honors with her rousing rendition of “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” a performance so good, it even brought Barack Obama to tears.
“I’ve seen that performance about 50 times, and it is beyond belief,” says John. “And when she drops the coat and the handbag, and that voice — no one comes near that kind of thing.”
He adds another musical powerhouse to his list of favorites: Tina Turner. “There has never been anybody as electric, male or female, onstage than Tina Turner,” says John, interviewed two days after her death in May. “You had James Brown. You’ve had Prince. You’ve got Mick Jagger. But no one came near Tina. She was unbelievable.”
THE ‘E’ IN EGOT
John has won two Oscars, five Grammys and a Tony. He’s never been nominated for an Emmy, though some of his specials, including Elton John: The Red Piano; A Special Evening With Elton John; Elton John: One Night Only — Greatest Hits Live; and Elton John: I’m Still Standing — A Grammy Salute have earned nominations in a number of categories: music direction, sound mixing, picture editing and camerawork.
But things could change this year, if Farewell From Dodger Stadium scores a nom for outstanding variety special (live). Last year, Dr. Dre’s star-studded Super Bowl performance with Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, 50 Cent and Kendrick Lamar won in the category, helping each of the A-list acts earn their first Emmys. Jay-Z and Jesse Collins also won as executive producers.
John admits that becoming an EGOT “has never been a goal” but adds: “If it gets nominated for an Emmy, that’d be wonderful.
“I’m so pleased about the quality of this thing,” John continues. “The sound and what they did is incredible, and I’m so proud of it. I couldn’t find anything wrong with it, and I’m usually so critical. So if it is nominated for an Emmy, we’ll just celebrate that.”
This story first appeared in a June stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
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