Elton John was the main guest Wednesday, December 17, on CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The pop-rock legend joined host Stephen Colbert for an in-depth interview about his life and career while promoting his new Disney+ documentary, Elton John: Never Too Late.
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An extended version of the conversation has been posted on The Late Show’s official YouTube channel.
Among the many topics Elton discussed during his appearance was how he feels about not having to prepare for another tour following the end of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road trek in 2023.
“It’s the most fantastic thing in the world,” the 77-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer said.
Elton then explained that the reason he happy about his retirement from touring is that he has more time to spend with his husband, David Furnish, and their two sons, 14-year-old Zachary and 11-year-old Elijah.
“I loved the world tours, but I’ve been going since 1970, before that even,” Elton explained. “I’ve done 55 years of touring, and … I ended on a high. My voice was great, the piano playing was great, the band was great. There are other things I want to do with my life that are more important than touring. I’m still going to make records, I’m still going to have a musical future, but I want to be with my boys and I want to be with David, because I love them more than I love touring.”
Elton Reveals That He Hates His Birth Name
Colbert also talked with John about his decision to change his birth name, Reginald Kenneth Dwight, to Elton Hercules John.
After Colbert commented that his given name also was “lovely,” John had a sharp negative response.
“It’s a s— name,” he shot back. “Who the hell calls a little baby … ‘Reginald. Oh, Reginald’? I was named after my mom’s brother, because she wanted to call me Raymond, but my father disagreed, so they had a huge argument—which wasn’t unusual—and I became Reginald. And I hated it. ‘Reggie! Reggie!’”
Elton continued, “It’s a more popular name in America, and they’ve had very many famous Reggies, but in England, it wasn’t Reggie, it was Reginald. It’s like, ‘Who the hell?’ Anyway … as soon as I could change it … I did.”
Elton then explained that he came up with his new name while he was playing in a band led by British blues-rock singer/songwriter Long John Baldry. He took Elton from the first name of Baldry’s saxophone player, Elton Dean, while John came from Baldry himself. As for Hercules, Elton said that was the name of a horse on the 1960s British TV sitcom Steptoe and Son.
Elton Lists Some of the Favorite Songs He’s Co-Written
Colbert also asked John to name the five favorite songs from his own catalog.
“Oh, for f—’s sake,” John responded, reacting to the difficulty of the question. He then said, “I would say anything off the [1975] Captain Fantastic [and the Brown Dirt Cowboy] album—‘Someone Saved My Life Tonight,’ ‘We All Fall In Love Sometimes,’ ‘Curtains.’ Obviously ‘Your Song,’ because it was the first hit I ever had.”
Elton then noted, “There’s so many, Stephen I couldn’t really think of [another] one,” before adding that his 1995 tune “Blessed” was “another one which I love.”
John then quipped, “Not f—ing ‘Crocodile Rock.’ I know that,” referencing his hugely popular, extremely poppy 1972 hit.
More About Elton’s Late Show Interview
Later in the interview, John was joined by his friend and recent collaborator Brandi Carlile, who co-wrote the title song to the new documentary, “Never Too Late,” with Elton. The tune, which featured John and Carlile duetting together, was released in November, about a month before Elton John: Never Too Late’s December premiere on Disney+.
Meanwhile, Elton promised Colbert that although he stopped touring, he is still working on new music.
“You will be getting some more [music],” he shared. “The juices have never dried up. They never want to dry up, because I’m always looking to create things. It’s just having the space now to do it at my own time. And of course there will be new Elton John music.”
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