Elton John documentary on Disney+ goes deep on music, drug use, John Lennon and family

Within Elton John’s astonishing 60-year-career, there's one definitive decade.

John released 13 albums from his 1969 debut, “Empty Sky” to 1979’s “Victim of Love,” a head-spinning output marked by brilliant musicianship, a solidified songwriting partnership with Bernie Taupin, copious amounts of drugs, a suicide attempt, disclosure of his bisexuality in a "Rolling Stone" interview and a pair of triumphant concerts at Dodger Stadium, where he was the first person to play since The Beatles.

That period is in spotlighted in “Elton John: Never Too Late,” a Disney+ documentary streaming now. The 102-minute film co-directed by R.J. Cutler (“Martha,” “Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry”) and John’s husband, David Furnish, zips between John’s legacy era and a countdown to his career-capping, full-circle-moment 2022 shows at Dodger Stadium.

“We realized there were two extraordinary moments in Elton’s life that fit together in a deeply resonant way,” Cutler says. “One, when he began his career and had success and output unheard of except for The Beatles … And then his monumental decision to stop touring after doing it for 50 years. We built an entire film not to recreate the Wikipedia page of Elton, but to create a cinematic experience for the audience. Here we are. Our moment is a blip. How are we going to live?”

Cutler followed John, 77, to about a dozen shows of the last U.S. leg of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour in 2022, as well as some dates in Europe.

Along with concert footage, the documentary offers glimpses of John’s family life with Furnish and sons Zachary, who turns 14 this month, and Elijah, who will be 12 in January, as well as recording his Rocket Hour podcast and preparing for his finale (Dua Lipa makes a cameo as they rehearse their 2021 mashup hit “Cold Heart”).

Here are some highlights from the film.

Elton John goes back to The Troubadour

The recognition of John’s live prowess began in 1970, when he played his first American concerts at The Troubadour in Los Angeles and was an unquestionable success (Los Angeles Times rock critic Robert Hilburn wrote John would become “one of rock’s biggest and most important stars”).

Some of the still photos from the show appear for the first time in the documentary, says Cutler, who mined John’s archives.

But even more affecting is John’s return, his sons in tow, to the empty venue prior to his 2022 Los Angeles shows.

“This … was tiny,” John marvels in the film. “Look at the floor space!”

But the “atmosphere and aura” of the venue remained, John comments.

Though Cutler says, “Elton is not a man who spends time looking backward and nostalgia trips to old venues is not part of his gig,” but John wanted to share the moment with his sons.

“This was the eve of the Dodger Stadium final performance and he wanted to take Zach and Elijah there. It’s part of family lore,” Cutler says.

Why Elton John adored John Lennon

It isn’t a revelation that John Lennon wound up joining John onstage at Madison Square Garden in 1974 because he lost a bet. But it is a treat to hear John sharing the legendary story.

After Lennon asked John to sing background vocals on “Whatever Gets You Thru the Night” – which escalated into a proper duet – John bet his friend that it would hit No. 1. Lennon, ever the pessimist, disagreed. John told Lennon if the song ascended to the top of the charts, Lennon would have to join him onstage to sing it.

The rollicking song became Lennon’s only No. 1 solo hit before he was killed in December 1980 and indeed, he kept his word to John, even with a knot of nerves before his performance.

“John was terrified and physically sick before the show,” John says, primarily because the Beatles icon hadn’t been on stage in years.

The footage is grainy but effective, though most of the live track is played over still photos from the show, John shirtless under overalls and Lennon lanky and bespectacled.

Ironically, Cutler was in the audience at that show as a 13-year-old attending his first concert and said he teases Furnish that, “Elton and I will always have Madison Square Garden.”

“I love that part of the film because you get to see the joy of Elton and the power of Elton,” Cutler says.

More: Why Bruce Springsteen changed his set list to end concerts with this song

John also shares why he loved Lennon so much.

“I love people who think about tomorrow instead of yesterday,” he says. “John and I laughed and laughed and did a lot of drugs.”

Elton John became emotional at the documentary premiere

Cutler said John didn’t assert any control over filming or editing and didn’t see the final film until it was nearly completed.

“He said, ‘Play it loud!’,” Cutler recalls.

The superstar also traveled with Furnish to the Toronto Film Festival in September, sitting between his husband and Cutler, for the first public screening of the documentary. The traditional Q&A session after the film had to be delayed 10 minutes because John was so emotional after watching it with an audience.

“He was shaking,” Cutler said. “I asked him what moved him so much and he said, ‘My family.’”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Elton John Disney+ film documents music, drugs, John Lennon, family