Rocket Man (song)

"Rocket Man"
One of pressings of the US single
Single by Elton John
from the album Honky Château
B-side	"Susie (Dramas)"
Released	17 April 1972 (1972-04-17)[1]
Recorded	16 January 1972
Studio	Château d'Hérouville (Hérouville, France) mixed at Trident Studios (London, UK)
Genre	Soft rock[2] psychedelic pop[2]
Length	4:41
Label	Uni (US) DJM (UK)
Songwriter(s)	Elton John Bernie Taupin
Producer(s)	Gus Dudgeon
Elton John singles chronology
"Tiny Dancer" (1972) "Rocket Man" (1972) "Honky Cat" (1972)
Audio sample
"Rocket Man" file help
Music video
Elton John – Rocket Man on YouTube

"Rocket Man" (officially titled "Rocket Man (I Think It's Going to Be a Long, Long Time)") is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin and performed by John. It was originally released on 17 April 1972 in the US, as the lead single to John's album Honky Château. The song first charted in the UK on 22 April, rising to No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart and No. 6 in the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming a major hit single for John.^[1]

On 5 April 2024, the song was certified triple platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for sales and streams of 1,800,000 digital downloads and streaming equivalent sales. With sales of 3 million in the US the song was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Rolling Stone lists it at No. 149 of its 500 greatest songs of all time.^[3] On 6 January 2024, Rocket Man surpassed 1 billion streams on Spotify.^[4]

The song has been covered by many artists, most notably by Kate Bush in 1991 with a reggae-tinged version, and by Portuguese singer David Fonseca in 2007. John himself, alongside producer Pnau and singer Dua Lipa, included the song in his 2021 mashup single "Cold Heart (Pnau remix)". William Shatner's spoken-word version from 1978 has been widely parodied.