
Elton John – The Rocketman
Have you seen the new movie “Rocketman“, about Sir Elton John? I haven’t seen the movie yet, but as someone who impersonated Elton John with the Las Vegas “Legends in Concert” way back in 2002 (pre-beard, pre-kids, pre-speaker status), I learned some powerful things about him that I share in my keynote presentations, which allows me to also do one of his songs in the speech for some audience engagement and entertainment. Did you know that pretty much every word Elton John’s ever sung hasn’t been written by him? Did you know that he writes the songs, music, melody, and of course is the singer, but the words never were one of his gifts, as he’s talked about for years in interviews. The importance of collaborating with the right people is what has made Elton’s career. When I teach IDENTIFY * CLARIFY * MAGNIFY I use the example of Reginald Dwight and Bernie Taupin meeting, a singer/songwriter, and a lyricist. They clarified talents, collaborated, and became one of the most significant duos in music history. Bernie wrote the words, Reg wrote the melodies, played the song, and sang it – eventually changing his name to the more catchy Rock




