1972 single by Elton John
For other songs of the same name, see Rocket Man (disambiguation).
\"Susie (Dramas)\"
17 April 1972 (1972-04-17)
16 January 1972
Château d\'Hérouville (Hérouville, France)
mixed at Trident Studios (London, UK)
Psychedelic pop
4:41
Uni (US)
DJM (UK)
Elton John
Bernie Taupin
Gus Dudgeon
\"Tiny Dancer\"
(1972)
\"Rocket Man\"
(1972)
\"Honky Cat\"
(1972)
Elton John – Rocket Man on YouTube
\"Rocket Man\" (officially titled \"Rocket Man (I Think It\'s Going to Be a Long, Long Time)\") is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin and performed by John. It was originally released on 17 April 1972 in the US, as the lead single to John\'s album Honky Château. The song first charted in the UK on 22 April, rising to No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart and No. 6 in the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming a major hit single for John.
On 21 January 2022, the song was certified double platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for sales and streams of 1,200,000 digital downloads and streaming equivalent sales. With sales of 3 million in the US the song was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Rolling Stone lists it at No. 149 of its 500 greatest songs of all time.
The song has been covered by many artists, most notably by Kate Bush in 1991 with a reggae-tinged version, and by Portuguese singer David Fonseca in 2007. John himself, alongside producer Pnau and singer Dua Lipa, included the song in his 2021 mashup single \"Cold Heart (Pnau remix)\". William Shatner\'s spoken-word version from 1978 has been widely parodied.
Chart (1972–73)
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)
13
Canada RPM Top Singles
8
German Singles Chart
18
Irish Singles Chart
6
New Zealand (Listener)
11
UK Singles Chart
2
US Billboard Hot 100
6
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)
39
US Cash Box Top 100
11
position
Norwegian Singles Chart
18
position
US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)
4
Year-end charts
US Billboard
40
UK Singles Chart
44
US Cash Box
83
Certifications
Platinum
90,000‡
Gold
250,000‡
Platinum
50,000‡
2× Platinum
1,200,000‡
3× Platinum
3,000,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
Kate Bush version
\"Candle in the Wind\"
25 November 1991 (1991-11-25)
Reggae
ska
5:02
Mercury
Elton John, Bernie Taupin
Kate Bush
\"Love and Anger\"
(1990)
\"Rocket Man (I Think It\'s Going to Be a Long, Long Time)\"
(1991)
\"Rubberband Girl\"
(1993)
\"Rocket Man\" on YouTube
English singer-songwriter Kate Bush released a cover of \"Rocket Man\" (with the subtitle \"I Think It\'s Going to Be a Long, Long Time\") in 1991 as part of the Elton John/Bernie Taupin tribute album Two Rooms: Celebrating the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin. Her reggae-inflected version of \"Rocket Man\" was a commercial success, reaching No. 12 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 2 in Australia. In 2007, the track won The Observer readers\' award for Greatest Cover of all time. The B-side of the single was Bush\'s recording of another Elton John classic, \"Candle in the Wind.\"
From the age of 11, Elton John was my biggest hero. I loved his music, had all his albums and I hoped one day I\'d play the piano like him (I still do). When I asked to be involved in this project and was given the choice of a track it was like being asked \'would you like to fulfill a dream? would you like to be Rocket Man?\' ... yes, I would.
— Kate Bush
Critical reception
Upon its release, Ian Gittins of Melody Maker described it as a \"real curio\" as Bush\'s \"ickle-girl quaver is applied as liberally as Elt\'s cod space-epic is unexpectedly white-reggaed up behind her\". Stephen Dalton of NME was negative in his review, noting Bush\'s \"ill-advised decision\" to \"croon breathily over an abysmal \'reggae\' arrangement\".
Track listings
All songs were written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin.
UK 7-inch and cassette single
\"Rocket Man (I Think It\'s Going to Be a Long, Long Time)\"5:02
\"Candle in the Wind\"4:29
UK 12-inch and CD single
\"Rocket Man (I Think It\'s Going to Be a Long, Long Time)\"5:02
\"Candle in the Wind\"4:29
\"Candle in the Wind\" (instrumental version)4:28
Personnel
All titles:
Kate Bush – keyboards, vocals, producer
Del Palmer – engineer
Additional musicians on \"Rocket Man\":
Davy Spillane – uilleann pipes
Del Palmer – bass
Alistair Anderson – concertina
Charlie Morgan – drums
Alan Murphy – guitar
Charts
Weekly charts
position
Australia (ARIA)
2
Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)
22
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)
32
France (SNEP)
45
Germany (Official German Charts)
36
Ireland (IRMA)
17
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)
22
Netherlands (Single Top 100)
27
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)
20
UK Singles (OCC)
12
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)
11
Year-end charts
Australia (ARIA)
100
David Fonseca version
2007
2007
Soft rock
4:38
Universal
Elton John, Bernie Taupin
\"Superstars\"
(2007)
\"Rocket Man\"
(2007)
\"Kiss Me, Oh Kiss Me\"
(2007)
\"Rocket Man\" on YouTube
Portuguese singer David Fonseca released his version of the song as a single in Portugal, reaching No. 12 in the Portuguese Top 20. The song, full title \"Rocket Man (I Think It\'s Going To Be A Long, Long Time)\", also appears on Fonseca\'s third album Dreams in Colour released in 2007 and on the Dreams in Colour: Tour Edition released in 2008. The music video was directed by Fonseca himself.
Chart performance
Position
Portuguese Singles Chart (Top 20)
12
William Shatner version
At the 5th Saturn Awards Ceremony, which aired as the \"Science Fiction Film Awards\" in January 1978, Taupin introduced William Shatner\'s spoken word interpretation of the song. It used chroma key video techniques to simultaneously portray three different images of Shatner, representing the different facets of the Rocket Man\'s character.
The performance gained notoriety as the most well-known example of Shatner\'s interpretive spoken word cover versions, and it has often been used for mockery or as an unintentionally funny novelty. It was parodied on the U.S. animated series Animaniacs, Family Guy, Freakazoid!, Futurama, The Simpsons, the Canadian CGI series ReBoot, and in the video for \"Where It\'s At\" by Beck. On a 1992 episode of Late Night with David Letterman, Chris Elliott parodied Shatner\'s performance, complete with chroma key effects.
Shatner re-recorded the song for his 2011 album, Seeking Major Tom. In his book What Were They Thinking? The 100 Dumbest Events in Television History, author David Hofstede ranked Shatner\'s performance at No. 17 on the list.
Sampling
Elton John and Dua Lipa\'s 2021 collaborative song \"Cold Heart\" samples \"Rocket Man\" for its chorus, along with snippets of other Elton John songs. It topped the charts in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, reached No. 2 in Ireland, and peaked at No. 7 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
