In the Fall of 1974, Elton John and his band embarked on their biggest tour to date. Supporting Caribou (which had been released six months after it was recorded in January) and Elton’s first Greatest Hits album (issued in November), the tour comprised 45 concerts in 31 North American cities over a period of just 70 days.
Elton's popularity was staggering at the time; he was in the midst of a flurry of #1 albums and hit singles. During most weeks of the tour, Elton had two songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and three albums on the Top 200. Caribou and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road remained throughout; Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player was replaced by Elton John's Greatest Hits (all four were #1 albums). Tickets were nearly impossible to get, and the people lucky enough to obtain them often had to sleep out overnight at the venue's box office window for days.
While Elton was the biggest musical act of the ’70s, he was just as known for his extravagant outfits. His onstage attire stemmed from a wide variety of sources, including costume designer extraordinaire Bob Mackie. Elton's costume selections have always gone beyond pageantry, acting as expressions of his inner self:
"Any good costume makes you feel ready to perform. I arrive at a venue, take a nap, then wake up and pick my outfit. Then I put it on. And that’s the moment when I become Elton John.”
We wanted to create a print from this era that combined the electricity of Elton's live performances and his signature costumes; and had southern-California based artist Maxx242 take the reigns to create this amazing 6 color screenprint that did just that! According to Elton's resident historian, this extravagantly feathered costume was worn at a variety of shows during the 1974 tour of North America, and was worn (or a very similar costume) on the Muppet Show which was taped on October 25, 1977, and was first broadcast on February 6, 1978.
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