Elton John: Rocketman

This enjoyable photographic retrospective of singer Elton John coincides with John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road Tour and follows the release of the feature-length Rocketman biopic. Archival images chronicle John’s middle-class upbringing in 1950s London, his rise to fame, and his many evolving stage personas, while discography, lyrics, and album art provide an illustrated study of his career. Music critic Roberts (Idle Worship) relates significant moments in John’s tumultuous personal life, touching on his brief first marriage to Renate Blauel, his addiction to alcohol and cocaine and subsequent recovery, the founding of the Elton John AIDS foundation, and his marriage to Canadian filmmaker David Furnish in 2014. Images of John with bandmates Dee Murray Nigel Olsson in 1969, as well as lifelong collaborator Bernie Taupin, are charming, while photos of him with other musicians—Mark Bolan and Ringo Starr in the 1972 film Born to Boogie, George Michael at Live Aid in 1985, and Cher at the 1987 MTV Music Video Awards—offer glimpses into the changing eras of pop and rock and roll music. Throughout, Roberts includes candid quotes from John (“I suppose the only regret I have about my life is that I had a bad childhood”). Fans will welcome this tribute to a showman of great vision and imagination. (Oct.)