My Lion King Forum

Strange that there's no topic about him as he was a big part of what made the lion king what it was.

I know he did his own version of circle of life, can you feel the love tonight, and just can't wait to be king.

For those who are not too knowledegable on the man, he's a huge deal. John Lennon once said that "your song" was the first new thing since The Beatles. He still does concert tours around the world and he charges a lot for a ticket

He has worked with several lyricists, most famous being bernie taupin. He also wears a LOT of silly sunglasses.

Some of my favorite elton john songs outside of the lion king

-your song
-saturday nights alright for fighting
-nikita
-step into christmas
-levon
-somebody saved my life tonight
-that's why they call it the blues

He has also collaborated with a variety of famous musicians such as paul mccartney, axel rose, and oddly enough eminem.

You can hear his version of can you feel the love tonight in the end credits. You know that a movie is top quality when even the credits are worth watching.

[quote="Elton John"]You know that a movie is top quality when even the credits are worth watching.[/quote]


Exactly!

I am kinda surprised there is not so many information or threads about elton john. he did a great, what. amazing, job, on the music for the Lion King. But besides that, he is a one of a kind artist. He started back in the 70's, and I still listen to his songs. My older friends, they all know the songs and lyrics from his pre-lion king era. Goodbye Yellow brick road, crocodile rock, sacrifice, song for guy, daniel. just a few older songs that made this legend famous.
Elton john deserves a lot of respect, and I hope he will release more in the future. This voice and his piano skills. everything he does makes perfect sence.

My question is...how exactly did he become involved with this movie?

BTW, his song "Sacrifice" is beautiful. You gotta give it a listen.

I think the people behind the movie originally wanted abba, but couldn't get them. Elton had done music for an animated movie before called ferngully so they probably thought he was a good replacement.

It's doubtful that his involvement with FernGully played that much of a role in Disney's choice for him. He only really provided one song for that film's end credits and wasn't really an integral part in developing the whole movie's musical palette.

I suppose, do you have any idea why they chose elton for the music? At the time he was recovering addict from a lot of vices. Some not so legal...

Tim Rice probably just suggested the next best thing in his mind after ABBA declined due to clashing schedules or whatever it was. He wanted to go for a pop artist that would gel well with him.

ABBA? Seriously? Um...wow.

It's probably for the best that ABBA wasn't available. With all due respect to ABBA fans, their music bores the heck out of me, and I get the feeling that their songwriting would be a weird fit for a Disney film, especially one set in Africa. I mean, perhaps it would have worked, because using a British pop star worked. But I can't shake the feeling that ABBA could have easily made this film go from great to awful.

I'm glad Elton John ended up being the one to help write the songs. He feels like the better choice to me.