The “Rocketman” and Figure Skating
There are names we’ve associated with figure skating music for YEARS… names like Tchaikovsky. Rachmaninoff. Puccini. Bizet. Chopin, Vivaldi… so many others in the classical vein.
There are also a wealth of contemporary soundtrack composers that skaters have come to know and love: John Williams, Leonard Bernstein, Ennio Morricone, to name just a few.
But with the advent of vocals in elite competitive skating, the pool of well-worn names grows ever-wider: The Beatles. Queen. Celine Dion. Edith Piaf. Michael Jackson. Frank Sinatra. All are artists with deep bodies of work… all finding their way into ice arenas at an ever-increasing pace.
The reasons artists like these are used repeatedly are surely very similar…
They’re “classics” unto themselves— easily recognized melodies and/or rhythms that have near-universal appeal
It can be easy to build skating programs by way of the arrangements– “Bohemian Rhapsody” leaps to mind immediately
It allows skaters to easily slip into a character (e.g. the Edith Piaf character adopted by Kaetlyn Osmond in the 2017-18 season), or an attitude (casual, breezy vibe with any Frank Sinatra program)
Which brings us to Elton John– one of the most iconic artists, and musicians, of the past 50 years. As it happens, he’s kind of the perfect artist to bridge older skating music traditions with newer ones because of his involvement with a 1994 Disney film called The Lion King.
With its combination of timeless melodies and African-inspired rhythms, Lion King became a popular exhibition choice shortly after the original film was released.
(While the actual score was composed by Hans Zimmer— another well-known composer among figure skaters— the songs in the original film were written by John and lyricist Tim Rice, and are often if not always incorporated into any given medley from the film.)
Even Nathan Chen, as a boy, could be found performing to “I Just Can’t Wait to be King”— lion costume and all.
Lion King became a hit Broadway show in 1997 and was remade as a film in 2019, with the latter creating a resurgence in the skating world…
For instance— U.S. pairs skaters Denney/Frazier initially used it for their 2014-15 free skate, and then went back to it in the 2019-20 season around the time of the new film’s release. (Frazier formed a new pairs team with Alexa Knierim starting with the 2020-21 season.)
And with the 2021-22 Olympic season we’ve seen not one, but TWO Lion King programs… U.K. ice dancers Fear/Gibson chose it for their Free Dance, while Japan’s Wakaba Higuchi did the same when choosing her Free Skate in the Olympic season of 2021-22.
So, just as other artists from the rock era got a toehold in figure skating music by way of orchestrated versions of their work… the same can be said of Elton John by way of The Lion King. (Personally, I’ve long thought that John’s instrumental piece “Funeral For a Friend”-- the opener to his 1973 double album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road– would make an awesome free skate. If anyone’s seen it used, please post a link!)
But like other artists of the rock era, John’s songs could only be used for exhibition programs in the 80s and 90s. One of the most memorable for me was U.S. and World Champion Todd Eldredge choosing a Joe Cocker cover of “Sorry Seems to Be The Hardest Word” to skate to after winning that world title in 1996:
(OK the most memorable part is the full-body slide that comes at the 3:06 mark!)
One thing that has held true for years about figure skating is that films with great soundtracks get heard on the ice the following season. And just as both versions of Lion King have done, such is the case with the 2019 Elton John biopic Rocketman. But there’s a built-in bonus with this one: not only does music directly from the film work great for the ice, but John’s extensive song catalog (both original recordings and covers) has found new popularity. Whether it’s Ellie Goulding’s version of his very first hit (another Wakaba Higuchi program, this time her Short Program)…
…Or Canada’s ice dance champs Gilles/Poirier using Elton recordings of “I Guess That’s Why They Called it the Blues” and “I’m Still Standing” for their 2021-22 Rhythm Dance…
Or, if you’re USA’s Nathan Chen, you do a little of each! His Elton John free skate (used in 2019-20 as well as 2021-22) combines versions of “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” and “Rocket Man” from the film with a 2018 version of “Bennie and the Jets” recorded by John, P!nk, and Logic.
But when an artist had a single in the Billboard Top 40 every year between 1970 and 1999… and Elton John did exactly that… your impact is bound to be felt in all kinds of places you might not have ever expected.
