Elton John hosted a virtual viewing party for his 2019 biopic “Rocketman” on Friday night, and the 73-year-old rock legend offered up an array of anecdotes and commentary along the way.
At one point, referencing a scene in which he (played by Taron Egerton) is shown going on a cocaine bender, Sir Elton joked, “It took a fairly Herculean effort to get yourself noticed for taking too much cocaine in the music industry of 1970s L.A., but I was clearly prepared to put the hours in.”
It took a fairly Herculean effort to get yourself noticed for taking too much cocaine in the music industry of 1970s LA, but I was clearly prepared to put the hours in. #RocketmanWatchParty pic.twitter.com/cHpCZh4ngT
— Elton John (@eltonofficial) May 30, 2020
He also admitted that a scene in the movie featuring songwriting parter Bernie Taupin confronting him about his out-of-control drug use made him emotional.
“Seeing this scene for the first time also set me off sobbing again,” he wrote. “Bernie was one of the people who tried to tell me to stop doing drugs and I wouldn’t listen, but he stuck by me and never gave up on me.”
Seeing this scene for the first time also set me off sobbing again. Bernie was one of the people who tried to tell me to stop doing drugs and I wouldn’t listen, but he stuck by me and never gave up on me. #RocketmanWatchParty pic.twitter.com/MV9LmcFngV
— Elton John (@eltonofficial) May 30, 2020
Check out more of Sir Elton’s tweets from the viewing party.
Here we go – press play now! #RocketmanWatchParty pic.twitter.com/lo9NtGbK5L
— Elton John (@eltonofficial) May 29, 2020
I was never interested in looking back at my career but that changed when I had children. I became less conscious about keeping it all to myself and love the idea of them having a film to go back to that captures the true spirit of their father's life. #RocketmanWatchParty 🚀 pic.twitter.com/usiX82hB6N
— Elton John (@eltonofficial) May 29, 2020
The best way to escape it was to shut myself in my bedroom with my record collection and my comics, and drift off into an imaginary world, fantasising that I was Little Richard or Ray Charles or Jerry Lee Lewis. Music was my passport to a much happier life. #RocketmanWatchParty
— Elton John (@eltonofficial) May 29, 2020
I was in the cinema for about 15 minutes before I started crying. Not as in the occasional tear, but really sobbing. Watching my Mum and Dad, and my Nan, in my Nan’s old house in Pinner, singing ‘I Want Love’ – a song Bernie and I had written in 2001. #RocketmanWatchParty pic.twitter.com/pDB7vl9GqY
— Elton John (@eltonofficial) May 29, 2020
Taron isn’t doing an impersonation of me, and he doesn’t look uncannily like me, but he’s like me. He’s captured something of me, just as Richard Madden’s got something of John Reid and Jamie Bell’s got something of Bernie. #RocketmanWatchParty pic.twitter.com/fsm9WDcbSX
— Elton John (@eltonofficial) May 29, 2020
I thought it was really important that the actor who played me sang the songs themselves. I didn’t want them to lip-sync. Taron had already sung ‘I’m Still Standing’ brilliantly in the film ‘Sing’. #RocketmanWatchParty pic.twitter.com/M0HimLMuWd
— Elton John (@eltonofficial) May 29, 2020
That’s honestly what it felt like, when everything in the room starts levitating. I’d been slogging around the clubs back home, to so many people who weren’t interested, but then everything clicked at The Troubadour and my career went off like a missile 🚀 #RocketmanWatchParty pic.twitter.com/QnGjx5wujq
— Elton John (@eltonofficial) May 29, 2020
I left England in August 1970 more or less unknown, but came back a month later with the American critics calling me the saviour of rock’n’roll. Artists who I worshipped like Brian Wilson and Bob Dylan were turning up to say they loved what we were doing. #RocketmanWatchParty pic.twitter.com/4Ov4R8deSp
— Elton John (@eltonofficial) May 29, 2020
To say it was a lot to take in is a terrible understatement! #RocketmanWatchParty pic.twitter.com/szHuFQNMk1
— Elton John (@eltonofficial) May 29, 2020
Kiki and I are still great friends today. She still comes to see my shows and I love her dearly. #RocketmanWatchParty pic.twitter.com/SYLTsLHD0K
— Elton John (@eltonofficial) May 30, 2020
If you're desperate for more Honky Cat, watch the full-length video on YouTube! (after the movie is finished…!) – Team EJ #RocketmanWatchParty 🚀 https://t.co/r3dBdSlZhI
— Elton John (@eltonofficial) May 30, 2020
They shaved Taron’s head and thinned out his hair to make it look like mine in the 70s, which he hated. Welcome to my world, baby! At least yours will grow back… #RocketmanWatchParty pic.twitter.com/HMBFB1FylZ
— Elton John (@eltonofficial) May 30, 2020
Some studios wanted us to lose the fantasy element, but I lived in my head a lot as a kid, and it was like that when my career took off – it didn’t feel real. My life has been so 'larger than life' that only a fantasy film could capture its true spirit. #RocketmanWatchParty pic.twitter.com/B9dDb3XakR
— Elton John (@eltonofficial) May 30, 2020
The more my life with drink and drugs spiraled into unhappiness, the more my stage costumes became ludicrous and outrageous. #RocketmanWatchParty pic.twitter.com/bFGyJzXH98
— Elton John (@eltonofficial) May 30, 2020
I knew @TaronEgerton was the right man to play me when I heard him sing “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me”. It’s a really hard song and I even struggled with it myself! #RocketmanWatchParty pic.twitter.com/4d0wCiuuAy
— Elton John (@eltonofficial) May 30, 2020
No one forced me to do drugs and drinks. In fact, a lot of people, including Bernie, tried to warn me I was out of control, but I didn’t listen. #RocketmanWatchParty pic.twitter.com/gqYmM2pfso
— Elton John (@eltonofficial) May 30, 2020
I broke down the first time I saw this scene of me hugging Little Reggie. I’d spent most of my adult life running away from myself. It was time to re-embrace the real me. #RocketmanWatchParty pic.twitter.com/N3iY6Gblwq
— Elton John (@eltonofficial) May 30, 2020
And that's a wrap! Thank you so much for joining me, I love you all! #RocketmanWatchParty pic.twitter.com/OqdcQeAnf5
— Elton John (@eltonofficial) May 30, 2020
