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(Credits: Far Out / Heinrich Klaffs)
Tue 4 March 2025 9:30, UK
Elton John’s career has always been irrevocably tied to cinema, not least because the singer’s penchant for show stopping outfits and live productions is inherently cinematic. The singer, who rose to prominence in the 1970s following several years as a songwriter, has gone on to work on various soundtracks, proving his worth in the film industry as well as music.
John released music rather prolifically in the early ‘70s, and in 1971, he made his first soundtrack in the form of Friends, a strange little British film about two teenagers, one English, one French, who run off together and have a child. A few years later, John immersed himself in the film world even more with a rare acting performance in Tommy, the Ken Russell movie inspired by The Who’s album of the same name.
However, it wasn’t until the ‘90s that John’s reputation as a singer with strong ties to the film industry was cemented when he soundtracked Disney’s The Lion King. That year, he earned three nominations from the Academy for ‘Best Original Song’, winning for ‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight’. The songs from the soundtrack have transcended their places in the movie, becoming well known hits of John’s in their own right and proving his prowess as a songwriter.
John has provided music for a wide range of genres, from children’s animation like Gnomeo and Juliet to the British coming-of-age film Billy Elliot. He’s even provided a soundtrack to a biopic about himself, Rocketman, with Taron Egerton playing the musician during the early days of his career.
Naturally, with all of these connections to cinema, John himself is quite the film fan. Talking to Rotten Tomatoes, he once revealed some of his favourite movies, citing titles like The Exorcist, All About Eve, and The Godfather Part II.
The singer had to add something funny to his list, though, “Let me choose a comedy,” he insisted. “Let me choose Blazing Saddles, because I just thought, at the time when that came out, it was just so ahead of its time. I mean, you couldn’t get away with that now. There’s no fucking way you could get away with it.”
Blazing Saddles, directed by Mel Brooks, certainly would struggle to get greenlit today, what with Brooks playing a Native American character and its use of racial stereotypes. However, the movie aims to satirize racist attitudes and uses humour to explore complex issues of identity and prejudice – something that has certainly flown over certain people’s heads throughout the years. Alongside Brooks, the film also featured Gene Wilder, Cleavon Little, Slim Pickens, and Harvey Korman, with the film taking place during the ‘Wild West’ era.
The film is well-loved by many, including John, and it even earned three Oscar nominations. Yet, at the time of its release, critics were divided, with some struggling to find the humour. Still, it was a testament to Brooks’ bold and daring comedic style, and John seems to love the filmmaker’s brave approach to pushing boundaries and using humour as a way to tackle serious issues, such as race. Not everyone appreciated Brooks’ approach, but John certainly did.
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