{"id":350453,"date":"2026-01-03T19:23:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T19:23:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/350453\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T19:23:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T19:23:14","slug":"the-one-pop-star-elton-john-called-perfect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/350453\/","title":{"rendered":"The one pop star Elton John called “perfect”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Elton<\/p>\n

(Credits: Far Out \/ YouTube Still)<\/p>\n

Sat 3 January 2026 14:42, UK <\/p>\n

As well as being a cultural juggernaut, Elton John<\/a> has constantly shown that despite his lofty status as a pop icon, he also has his finger very much on the pulse.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He might have been born in 1947, but still, year-on-year, he picks out the best emerging talent and does his best to champion them. Even in his heyday, having an ear for artistic brilliance and exciting creative developments was a tool he used alongside his talent to navigate the music industry and rise so meteorically.<\/p>\n

As an example of Elton John\u2019s understanding of what\u2019s good, look no further than his account of \u2018The Weight\u2019 by The Band, provided when appearing on BBC Radio 2\u2019s Tracks Of My Years<\/a> in 2019. He said, \u201cJohn Peel played the Music from Big Pink on his show, and I was a religious follower of John Peel in those days.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Adding, \u201cHe played all the great new music, and Bernie and I freaked out when we heard it. We\u2019d never heard anything like this before. It was Americana done in a very soulful, funky, kind of laid back way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Remembering the transformative effect \u2018The Weight\u2019 had on him, John continued: \u201c(The) next day we went up to Music Land in London and bought the import, and it changed my life again, like Elvis Presley changed my life originally. This music changed my life because of the way the songs were written, the lyrics, and the musicianship, which was a huge influence on things like\u00a0Tumbleweed\u00a0Connection\u00a0and\u00a0Madman.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Elton<\/a>Elton John at Glastonbury Festival. (Credits: Far Out \/ Raph Pour-Hashemi)<\/p>\n

Before his historic headline set at Glastonbury Festival 2023 \u2013 his final-ever show, though he has since played a fair few more \u2018final ever shows\u2019 \u2013 John again demonstrated his understanding of music and culture. <\/p>\n

Speaking to Clara Amfo on BBC Radio 1\u2019s Future Sounds, the \u2018Rocketman\u2019 singer discussed the \u201cromanticism\u201d of collecting vinyl records, saying: \u201cThe thing now is because of the resurgence, it\u2019s easier to get a record on vinyl than it is on CD, because most people don\u2019t have CDs anymore. It\u2019s such a romantic way of collecting music; it\u2019s never lost its romanticism for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

These are the kind of personable and well-informed takes Elton John has provided over the years. In 2020, when speaking to The Guardian<\/a>, he gave one of his best to date as part of a broader piece reflecting on the life and significance of the late T. Rex leader, Marc Bolan. <\/p>\n

Elton John on the brilliance of Marc Bolan<\/p>\n

Famously, Bolan was one of the definitive glam-rock heroes of the 1970s, the separate, fuzzy-haired side of the coin to his friend David Bowie, having fans rapt with his songwriting and hypersexuality. With distinct charm, he embodied the fact that a musician could exist beyond their music, becoming a cult personality with a beloved TV show. <\/p>\n

Tragically, though, in 1977, he passed away in a car accident aged 29. That might have curtailed his output, but his legacy is arguably felt as loomingly as any today. The notion of musicians being more than just their music is bigger than ever. There are a plethora of stars where millions might struggle to name a song, but know an artist familiarly. While that might now be linked to commercialism, Bolan embodied the best of it.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the power of Bolan, producer Tony Visconti, who worked with the T Rex man during his prime, said: \u201cWhat I saw in Marc Bolan had nothing to do with strings, or very high standards of artistry; what I saw in him was raw talent. I saw genius. I saw a potential rock star in Marc \u2013 right from the minute, the hour I met him.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for Elton John, speaking to The Guardian, he described Bolan as \u201cthe perfect pop star\u201d before outlining how he influenced him when he was becoming Elton John, saying that his care-free attitude had \u201ca great effect on me\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was the perfect pop star,\u201d John expressed. \u201cHis songs were great, his records rocked, he had attitude, he had performing skills, he looked fabulous, he dressed the part. At a time when I was still becoming Elton John, he was a great role model. I thought: \u2018This guy doesn\u2019t give a fuck, he\u2019s just being who he is and he\u2019s loving every single minute of it.\u2019 And that had a great effect on me.\u201d<\/p>\n

That aptly displays how Elton John sagaciously surveys the pop landscape, but he\u2019s not alone in doing so. Billy Idol hailed him for \u201cbreaking down certain walls\u201d, Ringo Starr called him \u201ca poet\u201d, and Joan Jett was all too happy to admit, \u201cThere\u2019s an amazing sexuality to Marc, I had a major crush on him.\u201d All in all, the \u201cperfect\u201d pop star.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Related Topics<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Credits: Far Out \/ YouTube Still) Sat 3 January 2026 14:42, UK As well as being a cultural…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":350454,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[6491,7465,96,111125,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-350453","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-celebrities","9":"tag-elton-john","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-marc-bolan","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=350453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350453\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/350454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=350453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=350453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}