About this episode
Written in just 10 minutes, today’s songwriting virtuoso, Elton John had this landmark track ready to go before his bandmates woke up for breakfast… Staying in a haunted 18th-century mansion at the time, Elton John and his band were out to write the album of their lives and they did…when this album and this song launched they darted to #1 Honkey Chateau and his 70s classic Rocket Man. But as it was rising on the charts the accusations started to fly… Was this song a rip-off of another iconic track? Namely David Bowie’s Space Oddity. It’s an allegation the duo of Elton John and Bernie Taupin strongly denied. However, they did admit that it was heavily influenced by a completely different song. But despite its origins, this anthem was destined to become a standard… It’s gonna be a long, long time before we ever hear anything like this again. The story is coming up… NEXT on the Professor of Rock. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .