Documentary about Sir Elton John and his band in discussion with Netflix
9 min read
ROCKETMAN was one of the top films of 2019, and now a sequel featuring more of Elton John’s crazy life is to be released.
This time it will be in documentary form and will include all the bits left out of the movie.
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The Pillars Of Hercules — inspired by Elton’s middle name — will cover events in the Seventies, including never-before-seen backstage footage of the singer and John Lennon.
Elton’s long-time guitarist Davey Johnstone has been working on the documentary for years and is now hoping to do a deal with Netflix.
An Elton source said it features “stories within the Elton John Band which weren’t shown in the Rocketman biopic” and added: “Davey has Elton and his husband David Furnish’s seal of approval.”
The new documentary means Sir Elton could join pals Harry and Meghan and David and Victoria Beckham in signing a deal with the streaming giant.
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Biopic Rocketman showed the star’s struggle with drugs and alcohol amid his rise to fame, and in his autobiography Me, out last year, he detailed many of his setbacks.
Davey said he had put the project on hold for six years to avoid it clashing with the movie’s release in 2019 and Elton’s Farewell concert tour.
He added: “It was entirely right that I should do that as I did not want to get in the way of those projects.
“If it is too diluted then nothing does well.
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“I had a lovely conversation with David [Furnish] the other day in which they were really happy that I was going ahead and doing it again.
“Quite honestly I would never do anything, especially of a documentary nature, about anything we did without them being OK with it.
“So with this documentary we are in the throes right now of putting together all the last things we need.
“There are two more interviews we are looking to get and we will probably be finished with all the recording by late January and then we will go into editing and we will be ready about Easter.”
Davey told the Greatest Music Of All Time podcast: “There has been a lot of interest from various sources. The show will feature John Lennon on the night he came on stage and played Madison Square Garden with us for Thanksgiving in New York in 1974.”
I’m always rather sceptical about artists giving their seal of approval but Rocketman was excellent so this should be too.
READ ON FOR MORE OF SIMON BOYLE’S BIZARRE COLUMN
Your Roxy rox, Jack
LIFE shore is good for Roxy Horner as she messes around in the surf in a bright red mini-dress.
The model, who is dating comedian Jack Whitehall, showed off some of her best poses on a Dubai beach in a series of snaps posted online.
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And from looking at them, it’s not hard to sea why Jack is so keen on her.
Noel: Blame the egos
NOEL Gallagher has hinted it was his brother Liam’s oversized ego that sparked their bitter feud.
The former Oasis rocker, who contributes to new documentary Bee Gees: How Can You Mend A Broken Heart, explained: “Making music with family is the easiest and greatest strength and the greatest weakness you could ever have in a musical partnership.
“To get to the top or near the top you have got to be incredibly driven.
“What drives you is your ego.
“When you get there and everybody has got an ego about it, it can be tricky to stay there.”
Brits with the hits in hard year
WATCHING the industry I love being decimated by coronavirus has been a hard pill to swallow over the past ten months.
But while tours and new releases have been postponed and cancelled, more of us turned to music to get us through 2020.
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New figures from the BPI – the organisation behind the charts, Brit Awards and Mercury Prize – reveal that there were 155million UK sales and streams of albums last year, a rise of almost ten per cent on 2019.
And the booming market, which also saw 139billion audio streams worldwide, was great for British music, with some of my favourite artists coming out on top.
Overall, eight of last year’s top ten albums worldwide were created by British artists, with Divinely Un-inspired To A Hellish Extent by Lewis Capaldi coming out on top. This was followed by Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia and Harry Styles’ Fine Lines.
Stormzy’s Heavy Is The Head also made the cut, with Sir Elton John’s Diamonds compilation and Ed Sheeran’s No.6 Collaborations Project.
The increase in streams also meant a stellar year for Brits Jorja Smith, Dave and Mabel.
Our stars won out again as artists including Gerry Cinnamon, Nines, Headie One and Idles hit the UK No1 album top spot for the first time in 2020.
As we slowly start to scrape back to normal – and rescheduled gigs appear ever closer on the horizon – I think this year could be the best yet for British music.
And we can kick off with Little Mix, who are set to land their fifth No1 this Friday with single Sweet Melody.
Bring it on . . .
Robey Williams
YOU couldn’t miss Robbie Williams as he headed out on a boat trip in St Barts over the weekend.
The Rock DJ singer stood out like a sore thumb in a bright floral shirt and green shorts emblazoned with mermaids and octopuses.
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Robbie is sunning himself in the Caribbean with wife Ayda Field and their four children.
And he was pictured leading them on to a swanky boat for a day out on the water.
It’s hardly surprising that Robbie, who has homes in London and LA, was happy to splash the cash.
The Sun revealed he made £54,000 a day from his live shows in 2019 – and banked £19.8million over the year.
By my reckoning he could afford to take us all with him next year.
Rob’s a generous bloke so I’m sure he wouldn’t mind a few stragglers tagging along . . .
Herd about Geri?
SOMEONE warn Sir David Attenborough – there’s a new animal expert in town.
Spice Girls legend Geri Horner has shown she has got the Dr Dolittle touch as she was filmed walking with a herd of female elephants as part of her Rainbow Woman series.
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Geri was also seen getting up close with one of the creatures and spent some time patting and stroking her.
During the episode, which was screened today on YouTube, Geri also admitted the elephants reminded her of bandmates Mel B, Emma Bunton, Mel C and Victoria Beckham.
Not in terms of stature, obviously.
Geri explained: “When I was in the Spice Girls when I was younger, we would enter a room together. You feel a little bit more confident when you’re in a pack. It’s that female pack mentality.
“I’ve always loved being around other females. The connection I have with other females, all together, I always feel uplifted and connected. It’s a very different language. We can look after each other.
“You can have each other’s backs.
“There’s a lot of unity from that. And these elephants, they teach us that.”
Miley’s interior vibe
MILEY Cyrus has revealed she gets a buzz from interior design – but not in the way you might have imagined.
The Midnight Sky superstar admitted she used sex toys to brighten up her Los Angeles home. Speaking on Sirius XM, Miley said: “I like sex toys. I buy them for myself but I end up using them for interior design. Sex and interior design actually go hand in hand.”
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I doubt we’ll see this on the Changing Rooms reboot but each to their own, eh Miley?
Nic’s up for 2021
NICOLE Scherzinger kicked off the New Year with a high jump by the ocean.
The Pussycat Dolls singer shared the snap from an unknown holiday location on Instagram today and told fans: “New year, new beginnings, new day, new chapters, new firsts, new starts, new risks to make, new chances to take! Thank you God for another year of reNEWal!”
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Nicole is gearing up to hit the road with bandmates Ashley Roberts, Carmit Bachar, Jessica Sutta and Kimberly Wyatt later this year.
And while many musicians are still waiting to see if their gigs get the green light, Kimberly told me the group were staying positive.
In an exclusive chat, she said: “We were devastated that things have been pushed back but we’re just trying to make the best of it – and make it even bigger and better.
“We have a WhatsApp group and we’ve had Zoom sessions.
“It was so difficult to say goodbye in a way, having built our comradery again – having shared the excitement and feeling the fire of everyone’s excitement for us to be back together. But I’m looking forward to 2021 and whatever it has in store for us.”
El’s happy blue year
SIX months on from the release of fourth album Brightest Blue, Ellie Goulding has confirmed she is preparing to drop new music.
When quizzed by a fan in an Instagram Q&A today about when she was releasing new tunes, Ellie replied: “Well, what do we all have to lose . . . end of January.”
The Brit star is preparing to go on a nationwide tour later this year with Brightest Blue.
The series of gigs were rescheduled because of the pandemic and are now set to begin on April 28 at the O2 Apollo in Manchester.
Station switch
KISS FM’s Tom Green has landed a slot on Hits Radio. The DJ is changing stations to host Hits’ new Weekend Breakfast Show beginning on Saturday.
Tom told me: “This time slot means so much to me and I cannot wait to kick off 2021 in style with a brand new project.
“We have got so much planned for this show – so I will see you at 6am every weekend. Coffees and bacon butties are on me.”
Make mine a large, mate.
Zoe Covid love split
ZOE Kravitz has split from actor husband Karl Glusman after just 18 months of marriage.
A representative for the Big Little Lies star confirmed to People mag she had started divorce proceedings.
Zoe and Karl, who began dating in 2016, celebrated their first anniversary in June.
He posted a gushing tribute to Zoe on their big day but hinted lockdown had pushed them out of their comfort zones.
Karl wrote on Instagram: “Not the year we expected . . . but I feel like if we can make it through this, we can take on anything.”
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