ELTON JOHN& HIS BANDThursday 7 June 2012Odyssey Arena Belfast

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Real-life Rocket men celebrate the 40th anniversary of Elton’s classic song

Forty years ago, in 1972, Elton John's single Rocket Man was released around the world. In April, 2012, Elton was told that European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut André Kuipers had made a special point of playing Rocket Man over the airwaves of the International Space Station (ISS) on the song’s fortieth anniversary. André said, "This song has been an inspiration to many people who are interested in space, and especially those who wanted to become astronauts, including myself. It is certainly one of the most played songs here on the ISS, and we know it will accompany more astronauts into space in the future."

So on the April 17, the exact anniversary of its release around the world, Elton played the song during his Million Dollar Piano Show in Las Vegas, and later sent a recording of that performance to the astronauts at the European Space Agency. The ESA has since created a video combining images from the space station with Elton’s live version of Rocket Man, and it can be viewed here on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa5RwoFDCxc&list=PLBEEC56653F456DC8&index=1&feature=plpp_videoor here at the ESA website: http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMGV9WW32H_FeatureWeek_0.html

Hearing about Rocket Man being played in space, Elton sent the following special message to ESA, André and the crew of the ISS:

"When I was a boy Dan Dare was a comic book hero, and space travel just a romantic idea, not a reality. I was 14 years old when Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space; my songwriting partner Bernie Taupin was just 11. Bernie and I did not meet until 1967, and two years after we met, Neil Armstrong became the first man to step on to the moon.

"Our generation was smitten with the glory and excitement of space travel. 'Rocket Man' - and indeed 'Dan Dare' on the Rock of the Westies album - came from those boyhood dreams of travelling beyond the stars and looking back on Earth.

"Not long after the Rocket Man single was released, my band and I were invited to the NASA headquarters in Texas and shown around by Al Worden, Apollo 15 command module pilot. It was thrilling to find that real astronauts liked our song, Rocket Man, which was about an imaginary astronaut.

"Now, 40 years later, it's amazing to hear from the astronauts at the European Space Agency that they like the song and that it has been on the playlist on the International Space Station. I send my best wishes to ESA and all the crew, and my thanks for keeping those boyhood dreams alive."Elton still plays Rocket Man at all his concerts.

ELTON JOHN AND HIS BAND will bring their unforgettable Greatest Hits Show to Belfast’s Odyssey Arena on Thursday 7 June – his first Show in the city since June 2007. 

www.eltonjohn.com

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