* (ELTON JOHN'S COVER OF 'PINBALL WIZARD') I'm different to David Bowie, Mick Jagger, Rod Stewart, Freddie Mercury, Marc Bolan, Roger Daltrey. They can all move around the stage with a microphone. I'm stuck at a 9-foot piano. It's 50 years since Elton John launched his amazing career. # ...sure plays a mean pinball. # You're Elton John! I am loving your music. I'm David Walliams, and I'm lucky enough to be friends with one of the world's greatest artists. And tonight, I'm gonna find out how some of his best loved songs came about. When you say you wrote it quickly, how quickly? 15 minutes. Wow. # ...sure plays a mean pinball! # Instead of going to Sainsbury's that day, I decided to write that. (LAUGHS) We'll also hear from some of Elton's most famous fans. # He's a pinball wizard. There has to be a... # He's definitely a page in the history books, which is what any musician wants to be. He always looks awesome. When he plays, it's like Mozart. I'd hire him. (CHUCKLES) I love the guy. Love ya. (SMOOCHES) And at the end of the show, I'll reveal to Elton which of his classic tracks has been crowned the nation's favourite in our top 20 countdown. It's difficult. Elton's got a lot of great songs. It's not every day you get to meet one of the campest men in Britain. Cream horn? LAUGHS: No. But for Elton, that day has finally come. Yay! (LAUGHS) Copyright Able 2018 Sir Elton John has been creating musical works of art for over half a century. And tonight we'll discover the secrets behind the songs of one of the world's biggest selling solo artists in a defining year in his life. (BOTH LAUGH) It's hard to believe you turned 70 this year. I did indeed. Yes. I don't feel 70. It was 1967 when Elton famously answered a record label ad looking for budding songwriters. By the fate of the musical gods, this would lead to his pairing with lyricist Bernie Taupin and the start of a partnership that would give us some of the best love songs of all time. I answered that ad, and I was, kind of, not exactly a rock 'n' roll looking kind of guy, and I was very, very shy. So why I answered it, I don't know. Every time I think about it, it gives me goosebumps. Well, you have to put yourself in my shoes of being a 17-year-old fish out of water. But he was so genuinely friendly from the get go, it was a good fit straight away. Together, Bernie and Elton would go on to create a chapter in the history of music. But which Elton John song will come out top in our exclusive poll? 'I'm Still Standing'. 'Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word'. 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart'. 'Rocket Man'. They're all classics. Now, the nation has been asked what is their favourite Elton John song. Right. What do you think's gonna come out on top? 10 years ago, I'd have said maybe 'Your Song'. I'm not so sure any more. Can I make a bet? OK. What do you think it is? 'Candle in the Wind'. Well, there's only one way to find out. Our countdown begins with a song written about an emotional turning point in Elton's life. # When I think of those east stand lights, # muggy nights, the curtains drawn in a little room downstairs. # So, we're going to start with 'Someone Saved My Life Tonight'. Now, this is a very personal song for you. What was going on in your life at the time? I was living with Bernie in Islington with a girlfriend, and we'd arranged to get married for some stupid reason. I don't know why. And we'd been out with my friend, Long John Baldry, to a club in Carnaby St. # We've all gone crazy lately. # Long John Baldry. I speak for both of us ` he had a great influence on our lives. Human being ` one of the best. Singer ` one of the best. Instrumental in bringing blues to the UK audience. # Someone saved my life tonight, sugar bear. # Privately, he was wonderfully gay. Just proud of who he was. Don't forget, before '67, it was totally illegal. So, um, I think Elton learned a few things from Long John. # Hypnotised, sweet freedom whispered in my ear. # We got absolutely hammered, and he said, 'You're making a crazy mistake.' And I thought, 'Yeah, you're absolutely right.' And, um, we came back, um, and... I just put my head in a gas oven with the windows open. It was a cry for help. Seven years later, that desperate cry for help became the inspiration for this song, the only single to be taken from Elton and Bernie's autobiographical album, Captain Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy. (PLAYS RESONANT PIANO CHORDS) The whole album is about him and I. It's all about our songwriting journey and our life together before we became famous. It's a beautiful song. # Someone saved, someone saved, someone saved my life tonight. # It seems like it's really about getting out of a bad relationship. But I think what it's really about is saving the dream of his music. It's just beautiful; it's dramatic; it's profoundly moving. (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) At number 19, a song dedicated to American sporting legend Billie Jean King, one of the greatest female tennis players of all time. She's such an inspiring woman. Spend five minutes with her and you wanna conquer the world. And I'm kinda similar in that respect. She's amazing. # I used to be a rolling stone, you know. # If the cause was right, I'd leave # find the answer on the road. # Two weeks before the King-Riggs match, Jerry Perenchio, who was the promoter of the match, had a party. And I asked Jerry, 'Is this party for you or what?' He says, 'No, it's for Elton John.' I went, 'Elton John? He's my favourite. Are you kidding?!' # I live and breathe my Philadelphia freedom. # So the whole night, we're looking across at each other, and finally his manager, Tony King, comes over and looks at me and goes, 'Elton's been dying to meet you all night!' He sits me across from Elton. 'Elton, this is Billie. Billie, this is Elton. Start talking.' And so we start talking; we hit it off like that. I didn't realise it until that night he loved tennis. We're going to a concert one day together, and we're sitting in the back, and he goes, 'I wanna write you a song.' I'm like, 'What?!' 'I wanna write a song for you. What are we gonna call it?' I'm like, 'I don't know!' # Shine a light # If it was gonna be a song for her, it was gonna be called 'The Philadelphia Freedoms', cos that was the team she was on. And at that time, the music coming out of Philadelphia was music I loved ` Howard Melvin & the Blue Notes; Three Degrees; Spinners. And it sounded like a Philadelphia record. # Love you # The thought of it meant everything. I mean, I didn't care what it sounded like; I was gonna love it. And he played it for me. I can tell you, he was so nervous I wouldn't like it. And, uh, he says, 'When I go "Phil-a-delphia," like that,...' # Phi-la-delphia freedom # 'It means` That's when you're upset with the umpire, you're stomping over at the umpire like this.' # Ooh, don't you know, love... # The song's brilliant, strong, and then you think about Billie Jean and Elton, and it's just... yes. You did it! # Philadelphia freedom # It's about relationships. It's about friendship. These are times I'll never forget. Ever. 40 years on, 'Philadelphia Freedom' still goes down a storm when Elton plays live. As does the song next in our countdown at number 18. 'Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting'. That's a real rocker. # It's getting late. Have you seen my mates? # Ma, tell me when the boys get here. # It's 7 o'clock and I want to rock, # want to get a belly full of beer. # Elton is capable of such an aggressive vocal. For somebody who's known for, you know, quite lush sounds, suddenly he's, like, belting it on that track. # A handful of grease in her hair. # SINGS: # Don't give me none of your aggravation. I'm tired of your discipline. # Saturday night's all right for fighting, get a little action in. # I mean, I've gone out on Saturday nights feeling exactly like that. # Gonna set this dance alight. # Saturday night's that night I like. # Saturday night's all right, all right, all right. # I think there's a myth that's sort of grown up around that song. I mean, was it really inspired by my rowdy youth in Lincolnshire? # I'm saying Saturday night! # I'm not really sure if it was or not. I'm sure it had some sort of input. # Saturday night's all right! Let me hear you sing it now! One, two, three, four! # Saturday! # # Saturday, Saturday, Saturday! # I mean, nobody rocks out like Elton. Nobody rocks out like Elton. And when he does that, I just wanna jump up on the stage with him and jump on his back. It's that magic moment at any concert for the person on stage and the people in the audience. And, you know, we're all after that. # Oh yeah! # (BAND FINISHES SONG) Yeah, it's all right! (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) I've seen Elton live dozens of times. In fact, he's played over 4000 concerts in 80 different countries. For me, it's always an amazing experience, and I'm not the only one who thinks so. As a live performer, Sir Elton John is amazing, OK? # Well, she looked a peach... # He gives his all. He's funny, humorous, like I am. We're very similar. The only thing is she's stuck at the piano and I can move about. Here's a guy that exploded on stage. He took that instrument that wasn't supposed to be sexy and made it sexy. There are pictures of him from the era where he looks literally airborne. # I shoulda stuck up my hand # He'd be jumping on top of the piano and sort of doing almost not quite handstands, but he really made you notice him. He wasn't just animated. He would kick the stool out of the way. He was one of my true inspirations. He's a master at his craft. Of course, on stage, his presence is unreal. I've stolen a few things off him. It's rock 'n' roll. (CHUCKLES) I grew up watching Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis. Little Richard stood up and played the piano, and Jerry Lee Lewis leapt off it. And I thought, 'That's for me.' Because if you're stuck there, visually you have to try and do something and make it different. # Kiss the bride. # I was always very envious of other artists because they could move around on stage. Now I'm 70, I'm not so envious of them. I'm glad I'm sitting at the piano. (CHUCKLES) Yeah. But I had to make the best of what I had. # I wanna kiss the bride. Yeah! # And that's just the beginning of our celebration of the very best of Elton John. # I wanna kiss the bride. # Coming up ` find out which Elton hit was almost a near miss. I went, 'Release it.' (LAUGHS) 'Release it at once!' * Elton John recorded his first album in 1969. But it was a year later that his career really started to take off with a trip across the pond and a residency at a legendary Los Angeles nightclub. I got the big kick in America first. Although I was beginning to get a reputation in Britain, um, it all happened in America first. When you arrived in America, were you already well known? No, not at all. We'd been doing shows in England and around Europe, but I went to the Troubadour in August of 1970 and we kicked ass. And, uh, I think that was when people went, 'Oh my God.' # Walk me down to church when I'm 60 years of age. # It really was amazing. Nobody expected that, but, boy, they took care of business, Sonny. God enabled him to put his personality and stamp on the music he played. Thank God we've got him on this planet. He just tore the place up. After the end of the first week, I was driving back to LA, and I turned the radio on, and I heard the DJ say, 'There's a new messiah in town. His name is Elton John.' Since those first shows at the Troubadour, Elton has gone on to sell over 300 million records. But which is the nation's favourite? Our countdown continues at number 17. My first memory of Elton John was I thought he was Russian, because the first thing I saw was him in the 'Nikita' video. I was like, 'Who's this Russian dude?' # Hey, Nikita, is it cold # in your little corner of the world? # I was like, 'He must be really talented.' I was only 7, to be honest. I was like, 'Who's this Russian guy with the hot girlfriend?' # ...and never find a warmer soul to know. # As time went on, I learned more about him, and I realised that maybe some of that was fictional. But I was still left with a love and passion for the man and his music. # With eyes that looked... # This classic Cold War love song is the first of two Elton John tracks tonight to call on the vocal talents of the late, great George Michael. # Oh, Nikita, you will never know # What really topped it off for me was George at the end. He said, 'I've got an idea.' Elton's like, 'Go for it.' And he went out and just did the end, which was crazy good. # Nikita, they'll never know. (GEORGE VOCALISES) # Nikita # That's when you realise how good somebody is. # Whoo-ooh-ooh! # I have a soft spot for that song. But do you know what song I love that came out in the 2000s? SINGS: # Are you ready, are you ready for love? # The one that they, sort of, reinvented. Well, here it is, Chris, at number 16. One of the great pleasures of being a fan of Elton is you can go two, three, four levels deep on his work and find stuff that you might've missed the first time. And 'Are You Ready For Love?' is one of his great tracks. # Catch a star # if you can. # Wish for something special. # Let it be me. # Tom Bell had been one of the great songwriter-producers of the early 1970s, and people know his great work with artists from Philadelphia. Elton's love of Tom Bell was genuine, so it seemed natural when he was having a little break from working with Bernie to work with Tom Bell. # I'll write a symphony just for you and me # 'Are You Ready For Love?' narrowly missed the Top 40 when it was first released in 1979. But two decades later, a dance remix would give it a second stab at chart success. # Are you ready? # Are you ready for love? # I hadn't heard the original of 'Are You Ready For Love?'. And once I'd heard the record, straight away I was attracted to it, being a big fan of Philadelphia soul music. # Yes, I am. Are you? # It's basically taking the elements that really make the track work. Now, for me, there was a brilliant rhythmic pattern with the congas and the chorus. (CONGA BREAK-BEAT PLAYS) So I stripped it back. Whether or not Elton was worried that I took away most of the song, I don't know... (LAUGHS) I personally didn't expect it to go to number one, and when it did get to number one, it was like champagne all round, you know? # Are you ready for love? # That song, which had been pulled out of the archives, was suddenly a radio hit. In the summer of 2003, I just remember everybody was so happy it existed. # Are you ready? Are you ready for love? # It was a very special time for me with my band going over to the UK, and we were just starting out. And I really do think that song paved the way for my band. That's the most special single to me probably, just because of that memory. # Ooh, ooh, yeah, yeah. # Staying with the Philadelphia sound is our next track. Bet you can guess it from the first chord. Dun, dun, dun. (VOCALISES 'BENNY AND THE JETS' INTRO) It was so classic American R&B. # Hey, kids, shake it loose together. # The spotlight's hitting something that's been known to change the weather. # We'll kill the fatted calf tonight, so stick around. # This you didn't want to release as a single. No, I didn't. Why? I'd had 'Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting' and 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' as singles, and I wanted 'Candle in the Wind' out. And the Americans said, 'No, we want Benny and the Jets.' And I said, 'I don't see that as a single.' # Benny and the Jets. # And I, kind of, fought my corner for about two weeks, and then they rang me up one day and said, 'How about me telling you it's the number one R&B reckon ie black record in Detroit?' I went, 'Release it.' (LAUGHS) IMITATES THE QUEEN: 'Release it at once!' Because for me to have a black radio station playing my music was just incredible. And, of course, I was proved totally wrong. # Yeah! # For a white boy from Pinner, that's the ultimate accolade for me, because that's the music I love the best. And it got me on Soul Train. Yay! # Bennie # Oh, Bennie and the Jets. # I'll never forget how much I cried when I listened to that song over and over and over again. # Bennie # Bennie. # It's majestic and soulful and rock 'n' roll and everything all at the same time. I'm still probably ripping off 'Bennie and the Jets' on some level. (CHUCKLES) (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) Next, a hit from 1990 that would give Elton his first ever UK solo number one. This is an important song. It was around the same time when you got heavily involved with your charity work with the Elton John AIDS Foundation. The AIDS Foundation was started at my kitchen table in Atlanta, and now it's 25 years old. We've come a long way. # It's a human sign # when things go wrong. # Sacrifice marked a new and more mature Elton. It's heartbreaking. The words are very powerful, and it just touches you. # Into the boundary... # 'Sacrifice', for some reason, it sums up an entire decade of music. # Cold, cold heart. # It's a very well-written song. # Hard done by you. # Some things look better, baby, # just passing through. # Why did you want to get so involved in that particular cause? During the '80s, a lot of my friends ` lots of my friends ` died of AIDS, but I really didn't get my fingers and my hands dirty. I was a gay man, and I can't really remember why I didn't. I think I was probably too much of a drug addict or too self-obsessed, and I was very ashamed of that. # And it's no sacrifice. # After I got sober, I decided that it would be wonderful to start an AIDS foundation and just give back, because I just wanted to atone for the absence of my, um, actions during that whole crisis. So I started doing singles and giving the money to the AIDS Foundation. So music was the first thing that kicked it off, and it, um` that's why I did it. I felt ashamed. # Sacrifice, # just a simple... # Since 1992, the Elton John AIDS Foundation has raised almost �300 million in the fight against the disease. What the Elton John Foundation has done globally in terms of saving people's lives, raising awareness about the pandemic is extraordinary. # It's no sacrifice. # You talk to senators and politicians, everybody and anyone ` in terms of advocacy, there's no one like Elton John. 'Sacrifice' spent five weeks at the top of the charts and came from one of the most prolific and successful songwriting partnerships in music history. I thought it'd only be fair that I introduce Bernie Taupin, who never really faces his public. (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) It's 50 years since you've been writing with Bernie Taupin. Yeah. How would you describe your relationship with him? Quite amazing. I mean, I have to say, as a songwriter, I have it a little bit easier, because I have the lyrics come to me first. And by some God-given gift, I'm very good at writing music to lyrics. Without Bernie, there wouldn't be any songs anyway. Well, the one thing that hasn't changed and has remained the same since day one is really the way we write, which is kind of unusual. Elton and Bernie write backwards. Bernie will give Elton some lyrics. And then Elton will just put the music on top. I mean, how beautiful is that? How simple is that? I've tried to write his way, and I can't do it. I can't write to words. I have to write the music first. # ...share the troubles we already know. # I mean, we've never ever had an argument over music or anything else. There have been times in our relationship when I'm sure he disapproved of my behaviour, and he told me. It certainly doesn't feel like 50 years. I'd be lying if I said we didn't have our highs and our lows. But it's been one hell of a ride. * And it's another Elton and Bernie classic at number 13 in our countdown. What Elton's really good at is just coming up with those really heartfelt chords that just sit beautifully in your ear. Like, you hear the opening piano to 'Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word' and you're there. # What do I gotta do to make you love me? # What do I gotta do to make you care? # The best songs are really simple and they just say what they need to say. And, you know, everybody can relate to that song. Just, 'What have I got to do to make you love me? What have I got to do to be heard?' I mean, it's not Shakespeare, but it's... it's poignant. # What do I do to make you want me? # What do I gotta do to be heard? # I've known Elton a long time, and I think where Elton goes to sort his emotions out is the piano. # Sorry seems to be the hardest word. # At the time, Elton had had a setback in his album sales. Blue Moves did not sell as well as the predecessors. It was just one of those periods when the lemons all lined up and Bernie and Elton were both unhappy at the same time. # It's sad... # And I went to this gig, and there's Elton, looking sad on the stage. This was not one of the big show business productions. # Sorry seems to be the hardest word. # He was obviously very unhappy that night. For 'Sorry', he was wearing a very wrong outfit. He was wearing black leather with a black beret on. I remember thinking, 'That's not it at all.' And then Elton makes a remark. I've made a decision tonight. This is gonna be the last show. All right? (AUDIENCE JEERS) So, uh,... there's a lot more to me than playing on the road. And this is the last one I'm gonna do. When we heard it, it was like, did he just say 'I quit', you know? 'That's the last concert'?' And it was like, 'Yeah, he did say that.' We'd had numerous albums just go number one, number one, number one. We'd filled the biggest stadiums. And you get to a point where you know you can only go so far. # What have I got to do? # Elton has clarified on many occasions there was no, um, animosity. # ...hardest word. # It was strange, and it was odd, um, but we never, ever broke up. We gave each other the leeway to write with other people, which, I think, enhanced and saved our relationship. (SONG ENDS) Sir Elton Hercules John was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on the 25th of March 1947 at his grandparents' home in Pinner, Middlesex. It was at the age of 3 that he first sat at the piano and astonished his family by playing music by ear. By his early teens, this musical prodigy was honing his talent at the Royal Academy of Music, where he studied for four years. Elton began his career in the pubs and clubs of Northwest London but dreamt of something more. I was a young kid in a band, getting fed up with playing to people in cabaret, and I thought, 'What else can I do?' I used to get him session work. And he demoed a song for me, and I played it to Ron Richards, who was The Hollies' producer. And Ron booked him to do The Hollies' 'He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother'. He had a great ability to play beautiful piano. I mean, I learnt piano from an early age. My mum forced me to learn it, and I hated it in many ways, cos playing Mozart's 'Sonata in F sharp minor' is not something you can play to your mates. But I always had a piano at home, and I've always loved playing his songs. Elton came along and played it in a completely different style that hadn't been heard before. And, um, I liked him right away. As soon as I heard his stuff, I liked him. I thought, 'This guy's good.' And there's that unique piano sound that's coming up next at number 12. I love the chord progression. I love the key it's in. I love the way he sings it. I aspire to write songs like that. # When are you gonna come down? # When are you going to land? # I should have stayed on the farm # When I first moved to New York City and just had not a lot ` I had a record player ` I'd just find used records for as cheap as I could get them, just so I could have some music. And 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road', that was when I first started listening to Elton. He's just got soul. # This boy's too young to be singing # the blues. # Like a lot of poetic lyrics, they suggest more than they state, so now they create a world, a series of flashing images through the song. # So Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road # where the dogs of society howl. # You can't plant me in your penthouse. # It's very American. Obviously Bernie must have some infatuation with the wild west. # ...owl in the woods. # I wanted to grow up in the American heartland, so I think it's me inventing me as a character who was raised in America. # Beyond the yellow brick ro-o-oad # So it's goodbye to the Yellow Brick Road. And time to find out the truth behind one of Elton's most enigmatic songs at number 11 in our countdown. # Daniel is travelling tonight on a plane. # It's one of those songs that, like, um` I love songs that put you in a moment. # I can see the red tail lights heading for Spain. # Hearing that line, you can see the tail lights, you can see Daniel waving goodbye. And it's, like, that's really cool when a song does that to you. # Oh, it looks like Daniel... # The lyrics are so mysterious. # Must be the clouds in my eyes. # It's telling you a story, but you have to, kind of, fill in the blanks yourself. 'Daniel', for me, was a gay anthem. # They say Spain is pretty, though I've never been. # I don't know what it was about, but I figured it must be about some sort of gay relationship. # ...he's ever seen. # I'm gonna tell you about 'Daniel', because there's a lot of misconceptions. I wrote that song after reading a story in Time Magazine about the soldiers coming home from Vietnam, and some of them just wanted to forget it. # Oh, I miss him so much. # It was a younger brother talking about his older brother... who was suffering from a really bad experience. # Do you still feel the pain? # No clue that it was about Vietnam. (LAUGHS) And I'm sticking with my story. # But you see more than I. # Daniel, you're a star... # That takes me back to spending time with my dad. That's a song that I can specifically remember him enjoying, and, you know, you can't repay people for those kinds of memories. 'Daniel' was one of Elton and Bernie's more gentle ballads. (APPLAUSE) But within just a year of its release, Elton John had transformed himself into one of pop's most outrageous stars. # Ever since I was a young boy, I played the silver ball. # This is a particularly sexy one. What is actually going on here? (LAUGHS) More like what's coming off here. (LAUGHS) That's how I hit America, more or less. # Sure plays a mean pinball. # Why did you get into dressing up? As a kid, I wasn't really allowed to wear pointy-toed shoes or chisels, so in my 20s, I exploded. Looking back over the years, Elton has been the most flamboyant person in terms of costumes, headwear, hairpieces, everything. I remember thinking he was quite Liberace ` you know, glamourous, over the top. As an onlooker, I was like, 'Ooh, I want some of that.' (LAUGHS) Seeing him dressed as Louis XIV. And I loved him in the Who movie, Tommy. I could never get away with any of that. That's what we all did then ` anything to cause a stir. And I thought I was being shocking with just a fur boa tied around me, you know? He could come out as Marilyn Monroe, for all I care. But the duck outfit, that tops 'em all. # Sure plays a mean pinball! # I have to say that` What is he thinking here? They said, 'You're gonna be Donald Duck.' I said, 'Fabulous!' (LAUGHS) But the thing is ` the bum was so big that I couldn't sit down in my seat and play the piano. (LAUGHS) It's weird how famous this still is, isn't it? Yes, it is. Yeah. The freedom to do the clothes was just fabulous, because I'm not the normal rock 'n' roll looking star. I'm not svelte. I'm not leopard-skin outfit like Rod, who looks so fabulous with the hair and everything. So I had to do my own thing. And at number 10 in our countdown, it's a rock 'n' roll classic that's always given Elton a platform for his flamboyant fashion. Ooh, nice shoes! # I remember when rock was young. # Me and Suzie had so much fun. # Holding hands and skimming stones # Had an old gold Chevy and a place of my own. # You can't go wrong with 'Crocodile Rock'. It's a masterpiece. # ...was a thing called the Crocodile Rock. # The most important record in making Elton a pop act was 'Crocodile Rock'. That was his first American number one. # Crocodile rocking is something shocking # when your feet just can't keep still. # One of Elton's most memorable performances of this song took place in front of 16,000 fans in September 1973. # ...those Friday nights. # I happened to be in America, cos I was working for Apple Records, and I just arrived, literally, and I got a phone call ` 'Can you come to the Hollywood Bowl?' So I got a car. Next thing you know, I'm on stage. I introduced Linda Lovelace; she introduced Elton. Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to welcome you to the Hollywood Bowl. The gentleman you've all been waiting for, the biggest, most colossal Elton John! (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) Elton came on feathers, sequins, boots, the whole thing. And then these five pianos open to spell 'Elton'. And inside the piano were all these doves that were meant to go (WHOOSHES). And they were all fast asleep. Our manager, he went absolutely nuts because the doves just wouldn't fly out. And then people were getting them and throwing them in the air. So these poor birds were kind of waking up mid-air, 'Oh! Oh, I suppose I'd better fly, then.' # La, la, la, la, la # (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) * * Throughout his career, Elton John has collaborated with dozens of emerging stars, keeping his finger firmly on the pulse. # I live in England # When I hear something new or I see a new photograph or a new painting or a new play or a film, it's something creative that makes you feel, 'God, I wish I could have done that.' I'm still a fan. I'm still like the little boy who grew up in Pinner that wanted to go to the cinema every week, wanted to buy a record every week. And I've never lost that, and it's harder now for new artists to make that impression. And that affirmation from someone who is older, a lot older, can sometimes mean, 'Yeah, we're doing the right thing.' # Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh # I got a phone call that came up as 'No caller ID', and I was like it's gonna be a PPI claim or something, you know? I was like, 'Cool, who's this?' And, uh, he basically just called me to say how much he liked my music, and I don't know if he realises what that means to someone like me. Elton definitely was part of my influence to become a musician, especially in songwriting. His championing of, like, me or Gaga, he's been part of so many people's journeys. My earliest memory of hearing him, I think, was 'I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues', and it's just that piano, the (HUMS INTRO), and the way it kind of slides into it. I'll always remember that opening bit from 'I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues', and sat with my stepdad, and we both come in at the same time ` the 'Don't wish it away...' # Don't wish it away. # Don't look at it # like it's forever. # Those first years of my teenage years, um, he was played a lot in our house. # I could honestly say that things can only get better. # I was 14, and I'd just split up with my boyfriend, and it was that thing where I'd just listen to it over and over and over again. Just like putting it on repeat, weeping, putting it on repeat, weeping. (CHUCKLES) # Before you and me... # My first kiss was actually to 'Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues', so that's` I remember that very clearly. You're not getting any more. That's it. # I guess that's why they call it the blues. # Time on my hands... # There's quite a lengthy solo section, and so what should it be in? The idea came from Chris Thomas, who was our producer, and he said, 'How about getting Stevie Wonder?' So I got hold of Stevie. He said, 'Yeah, yeah, sure. That'd be great.' He came down, and he just got up on the microphone and played his harmonica. One take. Boom. (HARMONICA SOLO) Thanks, Stevie. And at number eight, all rise for a song that recovered form a remarkably cool start. How hard is it for you to predict which of your songs are going to be hits? I'm terrible at it. One of them was 'Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me', and I remember writing it in the morning, and my drummer, Nigel Olsson, and me were sharing a cabin. He was asleep, and I was downstairs writing, which must have annoyed him. # I can't light # no more of your darkness. # I woke up and heard him playing around with chords and sequences and stuff. And I left him for a little bit, and then I went downstairs and said, 'That is a number one record, right there.' # I'm growing tired # and time stands still before me. # When we finished recording it, I said to Gus Dudgeon, my producer, 'I don't think that's a hit. I don't really want it on the album, even.' And he said, 'You're crazy.' And everybody else thought I was crazy. Um, and, of course, it became one of my most famous songs. # Don't let the sun go down on me. # I have such vivid memories of being a kid and just having, like, huge, epic family sing-alongs, really belting out 'Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me'. For me and for my family, his music's woven into the fabric of music that I experienced growing up. # Losing everything # is like the sun going down # on me. # 'Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me' also became a famous duet for you with George Michael. He made that song something else. It was already a classic song, but he put his mark on it and did the most wonderful version of it live in Chicago. There's this incredible moment where George Michael goes, 'Ladies and gentlemen, Mr Elton John.' 'Ladies and gentlemen, Mr Elton John.' (IMITATES PIANO CHORDS) And the whole place goes, 'Ahhh!' # Just because you think I mean you harm. # # Just because you think I mean you harm. # # But these cuts I have... # They complemented each other, he and George. I don't think anybody else could have done that song but the two of them. # Don't let the sun go down on me. # The music world has been paying tribute to George Michael, who died last night from suspected heart failure at the age of just 53. You know, with George gone, it's just changed the meaning of the song. # To wonder free, baby! # When you sing it now, does it bring back memories of him? All the time. As soon as I start singing the song, a picture of George goes up, and that will be the case for as many times as we play that song. Mr Elton John! I loved him so much as an artist and a friend and a human being. He made that song something else. (BAND FINISHES SONG) * I remember when I was 17, started going to pubs with mates and stuff, and 'Tiny Dancer' would always come on. It's a real arms-around-shoulders moment for anybody listening to it. It's still a moment among us as friends, and that's just a great example of what a timeless and brilliant song it is. # Blue jean baby # LA lady. # Seamstress for the band. # 'Seamstress for the band'. You have a great mental image of who the tiny dancer is. The thing about Elton's music is it's so transformative. # You married a music man. # It's the voice of the soundtrack of my life. # Ballerina # you must have seen her # dancing in the sand. # 'Tiny Dancer', it's going back to that first trip to America. It was something about California that was absolutely magical. It was the promised land. It really was the garden of Eden. The concept of the British being very stiff upper lip and being a bit more reserved, people were the total opposite there, especially the girls. There was, like` It was like, 'Whoa!' You know? (CHUCKLES) # ...God. # 'Tiny Dancer' was never a hit, and it was originally released as a single. But when Elton finally went on to iTunes, it was the most purchased download, and that is, of course, due to Cameron Crowe's movie 'Almost Famous'. # You must of seen her. # She was dancing in the sand. # It's weird how some songs sort of come back, like 'Tiny Dancer'. It's one of those songs that, as I sing it, it gets better and better to me. So it's a pleasant surprise when those things come along. # Lay me down in sheets of linen. # When I first listened to 'Tiny Dancer', I was completely blown away. # You've had a busy day today. # To listen to a song that was made back then and to feel so present now was completely incredible to me. (BAND FINISHES SONG, APPLAUSE) Next in our countdown, it's the sweltering hot summer of 1976. And despite a phenomenal songbook throughout the early '70s, Elton still hadn't scored a chart-topping single in the UK. But was all that about to change? The first Elton song I heard, actually, was the duet he did with Kiki. # Don't go breaking my heart. # I couldn't if I tried. # And I said, 'Wow, what a cute song that is. 'Who's that girl singing with him anyway and why is it not me?' # Don't go breaking my heart. # I wanted to write something for her, because I loved her and she was on my record label, I produced her, and she was a dear friend. So that's how that came about. # Ooh, I gave you my key. # Here was a track on which Elton would break his usual songwriting tradition. This time, the music came first. I was actually living in Barbados at the time, and Elton was up in Canada. He called me and said, 'I've just written this melody that I wanna do as a duet with Kiki.' # Right from the start, # I gave you my heart. # He played it to me on the phone, and I just sat down and I wrote the lyrics out, and then I called him back and that was it. # So don't go breaking my heart. # I won't go breaking your heart. # I got this song through the post. I thought, 'Oh, this is good. This is bouncy, quite nice.' So I put my vocal on and didn't think too much about it, really. Of course, then it was released as a single, and the rest is history. # Nobody told us # cos nobody showed us. # Every week, you'd get over a hundred singles. So I would listen to every single one, and you're just searching for something great. # Ooh-hoo # Obviously I got a bit of a clue cos the label said 'Rocket, Elton John'. But Elton John and Kiki Dee? 'Oh, hello. I'll have a listen to this.' # Oh, oh # I gave you my heart. # And so I was just leading up to leaving Radio 1 and going off to America. It was, in fact, my very last Record Of The Week. So I picked that one. It was a lovely thing for me and for them, really. My last ever Record Of The Week on Radio 1; Elton's first ever number one. Why do you think it was that song that got you to number one in the UK? Timing. Timing is so the essence of pop music. It's timing. It's luck. It was a pure piece of pop. # Ooh, ooh # There are certain things that when they come along, you can't stop playing them, and it makes you feel good. # When I was down # I was your clown. # People get snobbish about pop music. 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart,' it's tongue and cheek, it's really fun, and it lifted people up. It made life bright. # So don't go breaking my heart. # I'm very proud of it, actually. Yeah, it's really made a lot of people very happy, that record. # Don't go breaking my heart # We're edging closer to revealing the nation's favourite Elton John song. (BAND FINISHES SONG, APPLAUSE) * We're now into the top five of our countdown of Elton John classics, and a family favourite that, in 1994, brought his music to a whole new generation of fans. # There's a calm surrender # to the rush of day # when the heat of rolling world # can be turned away. # Was it an ambition of yours to write a Disney classic? Tim Rice called me one day, and he said, 'Disney are doing their first original animation movie, The Lion King. 'They want me to write the lyrics, and they asked me who I wanted to do it, and I said, "I'd love Elton to do it," and they said, "You'll never get him."' Well, of course, I was fascinated, and I said, 'Absolutely I'll do that.' # Can you feel # the love tonight? # That's one thing I'm like eternally jealous of Elton. Like, despite all of the other accolades and all the other songs, he wrote The Lion King. That's the coolest thing. And 'Can You Feel The Love Tonight?' is a gem. It's a gem. # ...that we got this far. # We always have a table of sandwich making, whatever, and I remember he started writing this song. I got a baguette, cut it in half, and by the time I'd finished making the chicken sandwich, before I'd even eaten it, he'd finished the song. So it was, like, about 10 minutes. # ...kings and vagabonds. # We were in the studio, and he was supposed to writing songs for the album we were working on. And he said, 'Come and listen to this.' And he played it to me and I fell in love with it straight away. It really does capture that Disney feeling. When I saw the final version of the movie, it didn't have 'Can You Feel The Love Tonight?' in it. Jeffery Katzenberg, who was the head of Disney at that time, came down and showed it to me. I said, 'Where is 'Can You Feel The Love Tonight?'' And he said, 'We didn't have room to put it in.' I said, 'Jeffery, every Disney film classically has a love song.' And he didn't` To his credit, he didn't say, 'Too late, hard luck, bugger off.' He went back and he found a place to put it in. And, of course, it won the Oscar. And it won you an army of little fans as well. Yeah, and it introduced me to a whole new audience, and I'm so grateful for that. # ...beats in times with yours. # And can you feel... # Elton played at our wedding. David and I got married in Italy, and he played a little set. He sang 'Your Song' ` fantastic. He sang 'Can You Feel The Love Tonight?'. Music comes out of him in a way that people can't help but pay attention to. A lot of people get married to it, and it's just an incredible thing to be part of the biggest entertainment franchise in history. And it's wonderful. # It's enough # to make kings and vagabonds # believe the very best. # (FINISHES SONG) (APPLAUSE) And at number four... We've come on to 'I'm Still Standing'. Now, I remember sitting watching Top Of The Pops with my sister in 1983, and then the video came on, which is absolutely fantastic. But famously, you don't like making videos. Videos for me are just a pain in the butt. But I enjoyed making that one because it was Russell Mulcahy. Got up at 4 o'clock and recorded it on the Riviera. # You can never know what it's like. # Your blood like winter, freezes just like ice. # There's a cold and lonely life that shines from you. # You'll wind up like the wreck you hide # behind that mask you use. # We had 15 dancers. We had Eileen Phillips, choreographer. And we said, 'OK, we're just going to have fun.' # You need to know why I'm still standing. You just fade away. # Don't you know I'm still standing # better than I ever did? # It's unusual that video, cos you dance in it. Yes. And we see you dance occasionally, but you're not famous for your dancing. No. Eileen Phillips says I'm the worst dancer she ever worked with. (LAUGHS) # ...after all this time. # When he saw the energy of the dancers, he just jumped in there. So he was so into it. # Yeah, yeah, yeah. # By the time we got to the last scene, I was knackered, to be honest with you. And Duran Duran happened to be in the hotel. We said hello and hung around for a while. And at a reasonable hour, I believe I went home. But it appears that other members of my band and Elton decided they were going to stay up a little later. # I'm still standing... # As the legend goes, Simon decided to deliver a tray of vodka martinis, and Elton rather liked them. # I'm still standing after all this time. # And I said, 'I'm flagging, guys. What can I do?' He said, 'Have a vodka martini.' (LAUGHS) And, you know, I went, 'Yeah, this is fabulous!' # I'm still standing. # But I had three or four of them, and I can't remember much else. It became a drink of my choice and my downfall, thanks to them. The song feels like a really personal statement as well. Everybody has their time at number one, and in the '70s was my day in the sun where everything that I did got to number one. And I was wise enough to know that doesn't last. # Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid. # In the '80s, there was new music coming, punk had happened, and then there was new wave coming in and new romantic. And people thought my kind of music was passe, and 'I'm Still Standing' was kind of an anthem. # I'm still standing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. # SINGS: # I'm still standing. Yeah, yeah, yeah! # 'I'm Still Standing' could have well been a finger up at the British press. I don't know what was going on in Bernie and Elton's mind at the time. # Yeah, yeah, yeah. # You're sort of fair game if you're in the public eye. I think both of now are revered by the press and loved by the British public cos we're both a couple of queens` I mean knights. # I'm still standing. # And your boys love it. My boys sing it. I don't know how they know the words, but they do know the words, and they sing it very, very sweetly. * # She packed my bags last night, # pre-flight. # Zero hour, 9am. # And I'm gonna be high-igh-igh # as a kite by then. # 'Rocket Man' is probably my personal favourite Elton John song. I remember the first time I heard it and just completely being transfixed by the sound of it. # It's lonely out in space. # It's, I think, the perfect combination of Elton's insane chord changes. I mean, the melody is just beyond belief. And Bernie's lyrics, telling a story but also being so, sort of, weird in that most wonderful way. # And I think it's gonna be a long, long time # till touchdown brings me round again to find # I'm not the man they think I am at home. Oh, no, no, no. # I'm a rocket man. # I got the title from the Ray Bradbury book The Illustrated Man that has a wonderful story called 'The Rocket Man' in it. I was visiting my parents in England and driving to their house, and I came up with the first verse. I didn't have anything in the car. There wasn't any paper, pencil, nothing. So I had to keep it in my head for about a couple of hours. And I remember trying not to forget this until I was able to rush through the front door and go, 'Excuse me, I've gotta write this down!' And, yeah, that's how that came about. # ...and all the silence I don't understand. # It's just my job five days a week. # When I first started to work with Ozzy in '79, he was a huge Elton John fan ` huge. And he would say to me, 'You know, that Rocket Man song is absolutely brilliant.' He still goes on about it now. (CHUCKLES) # And I think it's gonna be a long, long time # till touchdown brings me round again to find... # When things hold up for that long and you can still listen to them and say it's perfect, that's really how I judge songs. It really is very, very special. # And I think it's gonna be a long, long time. # And I think it's gonna be a long, long time. # And I think it's gonna be a long, long time. # (APPLAUSE) Thank you. # Not many knew him # the way that we did. # We're about to reveal the song voted at number two in our Elton countdown. A classic track, the beginnings of which were captured in this documentary from 1973. # Now it's all over... # Elton wanted to make a documentary, and he chose Bryan to do it, because he thought Bryan had the right talent, and I think they just worked together very well. It was to show Elton during a period in his life with the band to give people a taste of what went on behind the scenes. Usually we would like to go away and record so we don't have any distractions. And most of our early records were cut in France at Chateau d'Herouville. The Chateau was this magical place. We had no clocks, no watches. It was just total joy. # Goodbye, Norma Jean. Though I never knew you... # When we were shooting in France, 'Candle in the Wind' was first recorded. It was an incredibly moving piece of music, and I think that is why it stood the test of time. It's beautiful. # And they whispered into your brain. # They set you on the treadmill # I remember loving that song as a kid and the whole connection to Marilyn Monroe. # And it seems to me you lived your life like a candle in the wind. # Never knowing... # The song itself is about fame and what fame can do to you. # And I would have liked to have known you # but I was just a kid. # Your candle burned out long before. Your legend... # It could have been about James Dean. It could have been about Jim Morrison. Anybody whose life is snuffed out when they are young and beautiful, because they stay in the psyche looking that way forever. # Loneliness was tough. # The toughest role you ever played. # Hollywood created a superstar # and pain was the price you paid. # I brought my own copy that I bought. It's a picture disc. Wow. This beautiful picture on this side, and... (CHUCKLES) There's you, dressed as Mozart! Well, I did a tour of Australia, and we did a live recording of it. # It seems to me you lived your life # like a candle in the wind. # So I've had three different hits with it ` one, in England with the original from Yellow Brick Road; two, from the Live in Australia album; and then, of course, in 1997. # Goodbye, England's rose. # From the country lost without your soul. # Who'll miss the wings of your compassion... # The whole Princess Diana moment, I think, was a kind of iconic turning point in Elton John's legacy, because she was so loved. # ...like a candle in the wind. # You captured the mood. It was a moment in time, and you forget how beautiful she was. Having spent time with Prince William and Prince Harry, she was an extraordinary woman, an extraordinary mother, and now I'm a father, I can really relate to how brilliant of a job she did with her children. Did you have any idea the impact it would make? Only by the sales of the records and the money we raised for her charity. It was astonishing. # Your legend never will. # 'Candle in the Wind 1997' remains the highest selling single in British chart history. And that was Elton's prediction for what would be our number one tonight. But it looks like there's a song on our list that burns even brighter. From an incredible career, including seven UK number ones, what's come out on top in our exclusive poll? As we know now, it's not one of these. # Are you ready? Are you ready for love? # # Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road # # Don't go breaking my heart. # # Saturday night's all right for fighting. # # Yeah, yeah, yeah! # I think we're ready to reveal what the nation has chosen. Ooh. It's 'Mysterious Girl' by Peter Andre. (LAUGHS) (BOTH LAUGH) The year was 1970, and as established acts like Simon & Garfunkel and Elvis Presley battled of the top of the charts, this 23-year-old was Pinner was about to have his very first hit. So what is the nation's favourite Elton John song? Wow. Incredible. You peaked early. I peaked early, yeah. - Should've really stopped there. - (BOTH CHUCKLE) It's just a phenomena that has always been there. It can be from one person to another from anyone. Writing a song for somebody and it being the greatest gift that you can give them. That's the nature of a great pop song ` just gets inside you. I mean, who doesn't love 'Your Song'? # It's a little bit funny, # this feeling inside. # I'm not one of those who can # easily hide. # It was really my first wake-up call to Elton and to Bernie, cos that's when I really realised, 'OK, who are these guys?' Incredible melody with incredible words. # ...we both could live. # # If I was a sculptor... # Did it feel special when you were writing it? Yeah. Bernie and I were living with my mum and my stepfather, and he gave me a lyric one day, I read it through, and I thought, 'God, this is an amazing lyric for a kid to have written.' I was a totally naive 17-year-old virgin. I was pretty wet around the ears. # My gift is my song and # this one's for you. # Well, and then you say you wrote it quickly. How quickly? 15 minutes. Wow. # ...this is your song. # That was a well spent 15 minutes. It was. Instead of going to Sainsbury's that day, I decided to write to that. (LAUGHS) # I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind # that I put down the words. # I took rough mixes and I was playing them to people. Everybody just got completely blown away by it. # ...while you're in the world. # By this time, we were aware that we had a smash hit record. We knew that we had produced something of exceptional quality. # I sat on the roof # and kicked off the moss... # To write your first really great song and for it to be as good a song as that one, it was, um` it was daunting, because you think, 'How am I gonna improve on that?' # ...quite kind # while I wrote this song. # That was my first memory of him, playing that song. He's written many standards, but that one, it stands the test of time. # So excuse me forgetting # but these things I do... # It's a very hard thing, I think, for performers to keep constantly repeating the same songs over and over again because you think they might lose the magic. But every time Elton goes on stage, you don't get 50%; you get 150%. # ...sweetest guys I've ever seen. # Elton's musical legacy speaks for itself. He's definitely a page in the history books, which is what any musician wants to be. # ...this is your song. # He's brought so much joy to so many people for so long ` and continues to do it. It's a different kind of genius that makes Elton. He's a great source of inspiration, I think, for all of us. # ...how wonderful life is # while you're in the world. # I just don't think he's ever gonna stop. We're gonna be doing this again in 20 years. # I hope you don't mind. # He truly is one of the most unique artists of all time, and he's one of the most beautiful human beings. # ...how wonderful life is... # I love the guy. Love ya. (SMOOCHES) When you write a song, you want it to last forever. Your music will last forever. Thank you so much. A huge honour. Thanks. Captions by Jake Ebdale. www.able.co.nz Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air.