The Elvis Presley song that “changed everything” for Elton John
Elton John has only cared about music for as long as he can remember. Back when he was known as Reg White, he was a child prodigy when it came to the piano, who everybody understood was destined for the biggest stages.
Even though he’s now retired from touring, that part of the job was always the side that he could happily live without. For him, the real joy comes from plucking a melody from thin air and carving out a hit record from the confines of his mind.
If he’s not using his spare time in the studio, then chances are, he’s listening to records and trying to find his new favourite song. While many music legends of his vintage fall out of love with discovering new artists, John is constantly on the hunt to replicate that feeling he had upon hearing ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ by Elvis Presley for the first time as a child.
It was a song that changed his life forever, and he wants others to have their lives enhanced by music, too. This feeling is the motivation, rather than money, that he presents a radio show on Apple Music that shines a light on the next generation of talent.
His love affair with music discovery was born thanks to his family members. John was raised in a home where music was an essential part of everyday life, soundtracking their every moment, thanks to his mother.
As part of their weekly routine, Elton’s mother would source a different new release, which would be appointment listening for the whole family. While it was always a special occasion, the time that she returned clutching ‘Heartbreak Hotel‘ was unmatched.
Elton was nine when he received his first introduction to ‘The King’, a core memory that remains ingrained in his brain. “My mum always used to buy a record every Friday. She came home and she had the 78 of Elvis Presley, and she said, ‘I heard this in the record shop and I’ve never heard anything like it!’ She played it to me and I’d never heard anything like it either,” he told The Guardian.
Just the week before, John came across Elvis for the first time in a magazine while at the barbers, but had no idea he was a singer, recalling seeing “a man who looked like an alien but was so handsome”.
But upon hearing the record, it suddenly clicked together who the man in the magazine was, adding, “I’d never seen anything like him, and I put two and two together and said, ‘That was the man I saw in the magazine!’ So that was the record that really changed everything.”
For the rest of his childhood, Presley seemed like an otherworldly figure who embodied perfection in every sense. It seemed absurd to John that he was even the same species as Elvis, let alone that he’d one day be in his company.
Sadly, as many others have also said, the Elvis Presley of the 1970s was not the same species of superhuman they once read about in magazine pages. Elton’s experience should have been a moment to cherish, but instead, it proved to be a wake-up call about the perils of fame and addiction.
At this time, Elton was also in the midst of addiction struggles. Seeing Presley’s decline up close made him look into his possible future if he didn’t change his ways. “It was so sad, because he turned into this big man with no eyes,” John told Oprah in 1997. “They had sunk into the back of his head and it was pathetic. In the end, there are pictures of me when I look at them and think, ‘Oh my God, you know, I turned into Elvis.’ “You just shut your door, and you gained weight, and you did this. You did that and you didn’t care how you were.’ It’s very easy to do that.”
There’s a reason why people say you should never meet your heroes. However, it did act as a reality check for Elton, proving that Elvis, who he once viewed as a handsome alien, wasn’t immune to the same plights that could come for us all.
Unlike Elvis, Elton managed to put the brakes on his reckless lifestyle before an early grave beckoned. Nevertheless, there’s a reason why he’ll forever be known as ‘The King’; he made an entire generation, including John, he made them believe in the power of rock ‘n’ roll and left a beautiful mark on culture that remains today.
