Someone Once Told Elton John He Would Never Be A Pop Star

Fresh Air

NPR

Tv & Film, Arts, Society & Culture, Books

4.4 • 34.4K Ratings

🗓️ 15 December 2024

⏱️ 22 minutes

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Summary

Pop sensation Elton John wrapped up his farewell tour in 2023, only to pop up in a surprise concert at the October 2024 New York City premiere of the new documentary, "Elton John: Never Too Late." Still, as John reduces his public output — and as that documentary drops on the Disney+ streaming platform — we thought our listeners might like to hear again from the British music legend himself. Weekly bonus episodes like this, curated from our vast archive, are usually only available for our Fresh Air+ supporters. But today, in the spirit of giving, we're making this episode available to all. Not a Fresh Air+ supporter yet? Find out more, and join for yourself, at https://plus.npr.org/freshair. Listen to Elton John in 2013: https://n.pr/3BoEEYT| Listen to Elton John in 2019: https://n.pr/49ssSJG | Listen to 40+ years of Fresh Air's archives at https://FreshAirArchive.org.

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0:00.0	Hi, it's Terry Gross here with a special bonus episode. It's the season of giving, and in that spirit,
0:09.2	we thought we'd give all our podcast listeners something extra. Bonus episodes like this one,
0:15.5	curated selections from our archive, are usually only available for our Fresh Air Plus supporters.
0:21.7	Today, we're giving everyone a chance to hear it.
0:24.6	If you're already a Fresh Air Plus supporter, thank you so much for your ongoing support of
0:29.2	our show and of NPR.
0:31.3	But if you haven't signed up for Plus yet, we hope you will.
0:34.9	You'll get weekly bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening for every
0:38.8	episode of our podcast, and you'll be supporting the NPR shows you listen to, including
0:43.6	fresh air. You can find out more at plus.npr.org. Now to the show. Today we have two interviews
0:51.6	I recorded with Elton John. After a career of more than 50 years of
0:56.2	extravagance and extraordinary popularity, Elton John finished his farewell tour last year. But he performed
1:03.7	at Lincoln Center in October of this year at the premiere of the documentary Elton John Never Too
1:09.7	Late. That documentary just started streaming on Disney Plus.
1:14.6	Elton John's music spans genres and generations from Rocket Man to the soundtrack for Disney's
1:19.7	animated feature, The Lion King. In 2019, he executive produced a biopic of his own life called
1:26.7	Rocket Man.
1:27.9	It was a box office hit and won John and his longtime collaborator,
1:32.1	the racist Bernie Taupin, the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
1:36.7	I spoke with Elton John twice on Fresh Air.
1:40.0	We listened to excerpts from both interviews, starting with the more recent one recorded in 2019,
1:45.5	when he'd just written his memoir titled Me.
	...

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