Little Big Town Takes ‘Rocket Man’ to New Heights

Little Big Town's harmonies were at the forefront of their performance of "Rocket Man" for the Elton John: I’m Still Standing TV special.

Written by Lauren Laffer
Little Big Town Takes ‘Rocket Man’ to New Heights
Music stars honor Elton John's illustrious career spanning five decades with a rockin' tribute on ELTON JOHN: I'M STILL STANDING A GRAMMY SALUTE, to be broadcast Tuesday, April 10 (9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Pictured: Little Big Town Photo: Michele Crowe/CBS ©2017 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Little Big Town has long been acclaimed for their harmonies, ones that shined through during their performance of Elton John’s “Rocket Man.” The quartet covered the iconic song as part of the Recording Academy’s Elton John: I’m Still Standing—A GRAMMY Salute, which aired on CBS Tuesday night (4/11).

As Sir Elton John looked on from the audience, the country super-group graced the stage for their cover, with the band’s Jimi Westbrook taking the lead. The group stood side by side as smoke poured across the floor around them.

The performance wasn’t the first time the band took on the 1972 hit. The group also recorded their own version of “Rocket Man” for the Elton John tribute album, Restoration.

“One of the main reasons why we chose ‘Rocket Man’ was because we were so intrigued by not just, of course, Elton John, but by using the sounds from the Juno project, so we had all these Jupiter noises,” says LBT’s Karen Fairchild (quote via NASH Country Daily). “We were like, ‘What if we did the a capella version of ‘Rocket Man’ on the Elton record?’ Frank Liddell [producer] loved that idea, and we were off to the races.”

Check out LBT’s performance above.

Little Big Town’s rendition of “Rocket Man” is featured on the Restoration: The Songs of Elton John and Bernie Taupin, which is out now.