With the Elton John biopic set to hit cinemas on May 30, the first full single from the soundtrack of Rocketman – ‘Rocket Man‘ – has landed and hoo lord it both slaps and whips.
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It’s also the first single that Taron Egerton has ever released and recorded, and Elton’s gone and given him a glowing review of his stellar rendition of the huge track.
The whole soundtrack is geared up to drop on May 24 and includes Taron’s pipes on tracks like ‘Crocodile Rock‘, ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road‘, and a special interlude of ‘Benny And The Jets‘.
But it was ‘Rocket Man‘ that was particularly special, as Taron revealed to Zane Lowe on his Apple Music Beats 1 radio show that it was actually his first-ever recorded single.
I’m very, very honored to be able to say that I have recorded my first single, which sounds a little bit crazy, yeah, with the help of my great friend Giles Martin.
Renowned producer Giles Martin is known for his work with bands like INXS, Kate Bush, and Paul McCartney, and is very casually the son of Beatles producer, George Martin. He’s produced the entire soundtrack for Rocketman, reimagining a whole swathe of Elton John’s iconic hits with Taron behind the mic.
Elton John has previously said that there’s nobody better than Taron Egerton to play him in a biopic, and gave him high praise on the cover of the film’s namesake.
“This is quite extraordinary,” he said to Zane Lowe. “I don’t think any one actor has really done anything like this, ever.”
And of the whole soundtrack, Elton says that he thought it was vital that all the songs were actually sung by Taron, and not just him lip-syncing over a backing track.
It was so important that the music I composed and recorded had to be sung by Taron. I wanted his interpretation of me, through Bernie’s (Taupin) lyrics & my music – not just acting.
I left Taron in the hands of Giles Martin, who I trusted implicitly because he’s brilliant. I didn’t want to be in Taron’s shadows, watching over the process, I trusted them to do what they needed to do, artistically, and listening back I’ve been astonished with the results.
‘Rocket Man‘ is out now, so peep the video below and get your glitteriest garb out for when the film hits cinemas later this month.
Keen to learn more about what’s happening with Sydney‘s live music culture between the NSW election and before the federal election? Check out our thoughts in our Sneak Up podcast below.
