Going Viral.

ELTON: Firing Viral Rockets

As we reported, European Space Agency astronaut Andre Kuipers played Elton John's "Rocket Man" aboard the International Space Station last month in celebration of the song's 40th anniversary. And now comes word that on April 17th, the exact anniversary, Elton played it during his Million Dollar Piano show in Las Vegas and sent that performance to the ESA, which has created a music video using images from the space station.

Elton says, "When I was a boy, Dan Dare was a comic book hero and space travel just a romantic idea, not a reality. I was 14 years old when Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space; my songwriting partner Bernie Taupin was just 11... Two years after we met [in 1967], Neil Armstrong became the first man to step on to the moon... 'Rocket Man' -- and indeed 'Dan Dare' on the Rock of the Westies album -- came from those boyhood dreams... Now, 40 years later, it's amazing to hear from the astronauts at the European Space Agency that they like the song."

Elton is in Las Vegas this Saturday and Sunday.

Source: EltonJohn.com