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Elton John · S3 E6
The Costumes
Bob Mackie, platform boots, feathered boas, sequined jumpsuits. Why Reginald Dwight needed Elton John to be larger than life
Elton walks onstage in six-inch platform boots, a sequined jumpsuit, and a pair of glasses shaped like a grand piano with working lids. The shy kid from Pinner has built himself a suit of armor made of feathers and rhinestones.
Elton John, "The Bitch Is Back" (1974). Written after Maxine Taupin watched Elton throw a tantrum and said, "Oh, the bitch is back." Bernie turned the comment into a swaggering rock anthem that matched the outfits perfectly.
Armor, Not Costume
Reginald Dwight is shy, overweight, balding, and riddled with self-doubt. Elton John is none of those things. The costumes begin as a way to hide and become a way to perform: the bigger the outfit, the braver the man inside it. By 1974, audiences come as much to see what he is wearing as to hear what he is playing.
TAP TO REVEAL: Who designed Elton's most outrageous stage costumes?
The Bitch Is Back (1974)
Maxine Taupin watches Elton lose his temper backstage and mutters, "Oh God, the bitch is back." Bernie laughs, writes it down, and hands the lyric to Elton the next morning. The track is pure strut: a dirty guitar riff, pounding piano, and a vocal dripping with self-aware swagger. It peaks at number four in America and becomes an instant concert staple.
“If I'd gone on stage in jeans and a T-shirt, I'd have frozen. The costumes let me be someone else. Someone who wasn't afraid.”
— Elton John, "Me" (2019)
The Wardrobe: Key Pieces
What inspired the song title "The Bitch Is Back"?
Pinball Wizard
From the Tommy film soundtrack (1975). Elton plays the Pinball Wizard in Ken Russell's film of The Who's rock opera, wearing enormous boots and a costume so tall he can barely stand. Pete Townshend's song, reimagined with hammering piano, proves Elton can steal a scene from Roger Daltrey without breaking a sweat.
The costumes make him impossible to ignore. Next: the musicians behind him who make the music impossible to forget.
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