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. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
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Today we have two interviews I recorded with Elton John.
After a career of more than 50 years of extravagance and extraordinary popularity, Elton John finished his farewell tour last year.
But he performed at Lincoln center in October of this year at the premiere of the documentary Elton John Never Too Late.
That documentary just started streaming on Disney.
Elton John's music spans genres and generations, from Rocketman to the soundtrack for Disney's animated feature the Lion King.
In 2019, he executive produced a biopic of his own life called Rocketman.
It was a box office hit and won John and his longtime collaborator, lyricist Bernie Taupin, the Academy Award for best original song.
I spoke with Elton John twice on FRESH air.
We listened to excerpts from both interviews, starting with the more recent one recorded in 2019, when he'd just written his memoir titled Me.
We talked about an early lesson John learned about handling stardom, his difficult childhood, how he became addicted to shopping and collecting, and his early musical influences.
So the book is a very candid description of your life.