{"id":72285,"date":"2026-09-08T17:21:40","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T17:21:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/08\/hear-elton-john-dig-out-deep-cut-skyline-pigeon-at-rock-in-rio\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T17:21:40","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T17:21:40","slug":"hear-elton-john-dig-out-deep-cut-skyline-pigeon-at-rock-in-rio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/08\/hear-elton-john-dig-out-deep-cut-skyline-pigeon-at-rock-in-rio\/","title":{"rendered":"Hear Elton John Dig Out Deep Cut &#8216;Skyline Pigeon&#8217; at Rock in Rio"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/elton-john\/\" id=\"auto-tag_elton-john\" data-tag=\"elton-john\">Elton John<\/a> played a rare post-farewell tour concert Monday night at Brazil\u2019s Rock in Rio \u2014 appearing on a bill that also included Foo Fighters, Maroon 5, Twenty One Pilots, Demi Lovato, Black Eyed Peas, and Halsey \u2014 and his 23-song set included the first live rendition of his 1969 deep cut \u201cSkyline Pigeon\u201d since 2019.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t\u201cThis next song is the first good song I wrote with Bernie [Taupin],\u201d John told the audience. \u201cAnd Brazil is the only place it\u2019s ever been popular, so here we go.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Elton John, Skyline Pigeon (Rock in Rio 2026) 07\/09\/2026\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/D-HVQBQv5C0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t\u201cSkyline Pigeon\u201d appears on Elton John\u2019s 1969 debut LP, <em>Empty Sky<\/em>. \u201cWe wrote lots of other songs before then which were sort of really esoteric, sort of gibberish,\u201d <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=sGlU5BqFHMQ\">John told David Frost in 1991.<\/a> \u201cYou had to realize it was flower power at this time and a lot of pretentious high lyrics, but \u2018Skyline Pigeon\u2019 was a nice song. The lyrics are so beautiful. \u2018Turn me loose\/ From your hands\/Let me fly to distant lands\/Over green fields, trees and mountains.\u2019 So those four lines for me sound like a hymn. It\u2019s the sort of thing you sing in church. So immediately, I saw that I went, oh, let\u2019s get a chord sequence that sounds like a hymn.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t\u201cSkyline Pigeon\u201d was largely ignored in 1969 since <em>Empty Sky<\/em> was a commercial dud. But once John broke through the following year with his self-titled LP, many fans went back and rediscovered it. In 1972, John and his touring band re-recorded \u201cSkyline Pigeon\u201d during the <em>Don\u2019t Shoot Me I\u2019m Only the Piano Player<\/em> sessions and released it as the B-side to \u201cDaniel.\u201d That version appeared on the Brazilian soap opera <em>Carinhoso<\/em>, which turned it into a hit in Brazil.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tThat\u2019s why his previous 17 live renditions of \u201cSkyline Pigeon\u201d took place in Brazil, Ecuador, or Chile. He last played it in America at a Ryan White tribute concert in Indianapolis on April 28, 2010. Back in 1990, shortly before he went to rehab, Elton sang an emotional \u201cSkyline Pigeon\u201d at White\u2019s funeral.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Elton John - Skyline Pigeon (Ryan White funeral)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IQNSZNnV7XE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s very hard to choose the appropriate song to sing at something like that,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.northcountrypublicradio.org\/news\/npr\/156550286\/addict-to-activist-how-elton-john-found-his-cure?utm_source=chatgpt.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">John told NPR in 2012.<\/a> \u201cIt was a song about release and freedom, and death is [a] kind of release and freedom. It\u2019s a very pretty song, a very pretty lyric. And so I sang it then, and it seemed the most appropriate thing to sing and the lyrics seemed to go beautifully with the passage of crossing over to the other side, as it were.\u201d<\/p>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ recirculation-modules trending-in-article lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ editors-pick-module lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tJohn has been off the road since his 330-date Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour concluded in July 2023. But he continues to play private events and the occasional one-off charity or festival gig. On June 4 of this year, he played at the McDonald\u2019s Worldwide Convention at the Convention Center in Las Vegas. The set included the McDonald\u2019s jingle \u201cYou Deserve a Break Today.\u201d He also performed at a private 60th birthday party at the Dallas House of Blues for Elizabeth Walraven, wife of Texas businessman Marc Walraven on Valentine\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Elton John - Live At The House of Blues, Dallas, TX (February 14th, 2026) [FULL SHOW]\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/yqTqND-2chk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tHe\u2019s next playing October 2 and October 3 at Estadio Banorte in Mexico City, while also working on a new record. \u201cI literally don\u2019t know when that is,\u201d <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.northcountrypublicradio.org\/news\/npr\/156550286\/addict-to-activist-how-elton-john-found-his-cure?utm_source=chatgpt.com\" target=\"_blank\">Bernie Taupin told <em>Rolling Stone<\/em> in July.<\/a> \u201cHe did it with Andrew Watt again \u2026 he basically came up with instrumental tracks and threw basically three or four of them at me and said, \u2018Can you do something with these?\u2019 Which I contributed to. But he\u2019s also worked with a couple of other people on there, which is great. So it\u2019s a whole different ballgame for him.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-news\/elton-john-dig-skyline-pigeon-rock-in-rio-1235622664\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Elton John played a rare post-farewell tour concert Monday night at Brazil\u2019s Rock in Rio \u2014 appearing on a bill that also included Foo&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":72286,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pop","article","has-excerpt","has-avatar","has-author","has-date","has-comment-count","has-category-meta","has-read-more","thumbnail-"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72285\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}