Elton John Just Found Out What ‘Rocket Man’ Is About

Elton John has been singing "Rocket Man" for over 50 years. Only recently did he learn what the song is about.

Sir Elton shared an interview clip to Instagram of him and lyricist Bernie Taupin talking about the hit song. He recalled that writing the song's melody was pretty easy to do, " ... Because it's a song about space, so it's quite a spacious song."

This is where Taupin chimes in and says the song was actually inspired by an anthology book titled The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury. Taupin details, " ... In that book, there was a story called 'The Rocket Man,' which was about how astronauts in the future would become sort of an everyday job… so I kinda took that idea and ran with it."

Stunned, Sir Elton replies, "Do you know I never knew that?" The clip below is appropriately captioned, "You learn something new every day!"

John is currently wrapping up his "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" tour in Europe. He's playing the U.K. and Ireland through to April 17. During that time, he has a nine-night stand at London's O2 Arena. A full list of tour dates can be found at EltonJohn.com.

Elton John has some absolutely iconic hit singles, but one of the great pleasures of being a big Elton John fan is finding the lesser-known gems.

We’re partial to his hit-free album Tumbleweed Connection from 1970 (as you’ll see), as well as his criminally underrated Songs From The West Coast from 2001, and a few of the diamonds in the rough from albums that you may have overlooked.

For this list, we’re going with the best version of each song, which sometimes means a live version. And in one case, an alternate studio version that you may not have heard before. Enjoy!

In 2024, Sir Elton has earned two major honors. In January, he became an EGOT winner.

John achieved the entertainment milestone thanks to winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special (Live) for Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodger’s Stadium. The special streamed live on November 20, 2022 on Disney+. It was John's final show in North America. It was also the first time Disney+ presented a live global event.

Before his Emmy win, John won five Grammy Awards in his career. In 2000, he won a Tony Award for Best Original Score for Aida. Additionally, John has won two Oscars. The first came in 1994 for Best Original Song for "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from The Lion King. The second Oscar came in 2020 for "I'm Gonna Love Me Again" from Rocketman.

In March, just before his 77th birthday, John and his longtime songwriting partner Bernie Taupin were honored with the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.

Per the Library of Congress's website, "The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song celebrates the work of an artist whose career reflects the influence, impact and achievement in promoting song as a vehicle of musical expression and cultural understanding."

Past Gershwin Prize recipients include Joni Mitchell (2023), Lionel Richie (2022), Garth Brooks (2020), Gloria and Emilio Estefan (2019), Tony Bennett (2017), Smokey Robinson (2016) and many more iconic musicians.

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden said in a statement, "Elton John and Bernie Taupin have written some of the most memorable songs of our lives. Their careers stand out for the quality and broad appeal of their music and their influence on their fellow artists."