Elton John’s early career came at “a dark time”, says new doc director: “The Beatles had broken up, the Stones weren’t touring. Jimmy was dead. Janice was dead”

nme.com:

Elton John documentary has spoken about how the early part of his career came at a “dark time”.The Disney+ film Elton John: Never Too Late follows the musician as he reflects on his life and 50-year career as he prepared for his final North American stadium show at Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium in November 2022.Speaking in a new interview with IndieWire, R.J.

Cutler, who directed the film with John’s husband David Furnish, said that despite being prolific at the start of his career in 1970, it was an uncertain time in the music industry following the deaths of Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin.He said: “I shared with David that there was a great story to be told about the first five years of his career.

Between 1970 and 1975, Elton released 13 albums in five years, seven of which went to Number One. It was a remarkable creative output at a time when rock and roll didn’t know what its future was.

The Beatles had broken up, the [Rolling] Stones weren’t touring. Jimmy [Hendrix] was dead. Janice [Joplin] was dead. It was a dark time.”Elton John: Never Too Late received its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.It will have a limited theatrical release on November 15 in the US and the UK before it is due to premiere on Disney+ on December 13 worldwide.The film will “pull back the curtain” on Elton’s life, featuring “never-before-seen concert footage of him over the past 50 years, as well as hand-written journals and present-day footage of him and his family.”“He had made the decision to come off the road, to spend more time with his family,” added Cutler. “The last great addiction of his life was performing live.