Elton John: Studios wanted to tone down the sex and drugs in Rocketman

Elton John (Image credit: Karwai Tang/WireImage - Getty)

Elton John says that film studios wanted to cut some of the sex and drug scenes from Rocketman to introduce the film to a younger audience.

The film, which stars Taron Egerton as Elton, carries a 15 certificate in the UK and an R rating in the US, but Elton resisted moves to scale back the content as it wouldn’t have been accurate.

Writing in The Guardian, Elton says: “Some studios wanted to tone down the sex and drugs so the film would get a PG-13 rating. But I just haven’t led a PG-13 rated life.

“I didn’t want a film packed with drugs and sex, but equally, everyone knows I had quite a lot of both during the 70s and 80s, so there didn’t seem to be much point in making a movie that implied that after every gig, I’d quietly gone back to my hotel room with only a glass of warm milk and the Gideon’s Bible for company.”

Egerton sang every song in the film, a performance which has previously drawn praise from the singer, songwriter.

In the same piece, Elton adds: “His singing really astounded me. He isn’t doing an impersonation of me, he doesn’t look uncannily like me – although they shaved his head and thinned out his hair to make it look like mine in the 70s, which he hated.

“Welcome to my world, baby – at least yours will grow back. But he’s like me, he’s captured something of me, just as Richard Maden’s got something of John Reid and Jamie Bell’s got something of Bernie.

“Jamie and Taron have even managed to capture my relationship with Bernie, which is frankly a miracle, because I really have no idea how that works.”

The Rocketman soundtrack, which features the track (I’m Gonna) Love Me Again which was performed by Elton and Egerton, is out now.

Here's everything you need to know about Rocketman, while Classic Rock have also compiled the ultimate Elton John playlist.

Scott has spent 37 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, highlights deals, and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 12 years, Scott has written more than 11,500 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from news and features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.